BOB MATHIAS WAS OLYMPIC DECATHLON CHAMPION AT 17 !!!
THEN SUCCESSFULLY DEFENDED.
I MET THIS GUY IN STOCKHOLM IN THE EARLY 90S. WHAT A LEGEND. A NICE GUY WITH IT. kk
By Elliott Almond
San Jose Mercury News
(MCT)
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Bob Mathias, a San Joaquin Valley decathlete whose exploits as an Olympian and Stanford football player reached mythological stature, died Saturday in Fresno after a lengthy battle with throat cancer. He was 75.
A two-time gold medalist, Mathias was one of the most heroic and beloved Olympians in history.
His victories in the 1948 Games in London and '52 Olympics in Helsinki, Finland, inspired a nation that once embraced the decathlon like baseball.
Mathias is the youngest man to win an Olympic gold medal in track and field; he was 17 when he finished first in London.
In Helsinki, he became the first decathlete to defend an Olympic title.
A few months before, Mathias had led Stanford to the Rose Bowl by returning a kickoff 96 yards to help defeat USC and win the Pacific Coast Conference title. He sidestepped the Trojans’ Frank Gifford near the end zone on the play.
But even more than his athletic achievements, Mathias was the consummate Olympic ambassador.
``I can’t fathom anybody who competed with him who didn’t love him,’’ said Rafer Johnson, the 1960 Olympic decathlon gold medalist who grew up near Mathias in Kingsburg.
Mathias also enjoyed success beyond the sporting arena. In 1954, he played the title role in a movie about his life, ‘The Bob Mathias Story.’’
His wife, Melba, also played herself. Mathias acted in other films then moved into politics where he served four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 1960s and '70s.
``The hardest thing about being a politician was learning to say no,’’ he once told the Los Angeles Times.
``Probably the toughest part for me was getting used to going from sports, where everyone likes you and you don’t make an enemy, to politics, where if 51 percent of the people like you, you can stay in office. In that world, people stomp on you and say bad things about you.’’
After leaving Washington, Mathias returned to the friendly confines of sports by becoming director of the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Johnson recalled the time in 1959 when he and his brother got into a car accident while driving to Kingsburg for their sister’s high school graduation. After hearing about the accident, Mathias called Johnson to make sure he was OK. Such a simple gesture, but it spoke volumes to Johnson, who also won the silver medal at the 1956 Games.
He was a real gentleman,'' Johnson said. He was just a rare breed.’’
How Mathias became an Olympic champion was a Hollywood-tale-in-waiting.
He suffered from anemia as a child and needed special diets and iron pills. Despite being chronically tired, Mathias played football and basketball and competed in track at Tulare High.
By his sophomore year, his condition faded and his strength increased, helped by summers of lifting 100-pound bags of sulfur into crop-dusters.
Not even his coach, however, guessed he could qualify for the London Games.
Two months before the Olympics, the Tulare teenager had never competed in a decathlon - Mathias hadn’t even competed in six of the 10 events. Four months before his historic victory, Mathias hadn’t seen a javelin.
In London, he was surprised when called for a foul after leaving the ring in the shot put.
Mathias didn’t know the rules, according to Olympic historian David Wallechinsky.
Former columnist Jim Murray once wrote of Mathias in the Los Angeles Times: ``He gripped the spear like a guy killing a chicken. He went over the vault like a guy falling out of a moving car and his high jump looked like a guy leaving a banana peel. All he did was win.’’
Rain delayed the second day of competition in London, turning it into a 12-hour marathon.
Famed Wembly Stadium didn’t have infield lights, so officials used car headlights to illuminate the field for the javelin. It didn’t faze Mathias who scored a tight victory.
In Helsinki, Mathias led an American sweep as Milton Campbell won the silver and Floyd Simmons the bronze.
His Olympic feats were so great, Mathias’ achievements in football were almost overlooked - except for Stanford aficionados.
Mathias sprained his ankle a week before the 1952 Rose Bowl, which Stanford lost 40-7 to Illinois.
``I was really looking forward to having a great game,’’ he once said. But his ankle was so swollen trainers injected it with painkillers that left him groggy.
``Bob Mathias was the real champion,’’ said Sammy Lee, who won diving gold medals in '48 and '52. ‘’
In 1956, President Eisenhower sent Mathias and Lee on a goodwill tour to Southeast Asia.
While in Kuala Lumpur, Lee relaxed in an air-conditioned hotel room after a diving exhibition.
Mathias came in from the sweltering heat asking, ``What are you doing here?’’
Lee, now 86, said he was done for the day.
Said Mathias: ``I just finished five events and now I have to race every Tom, Dick and Harry in the next five events.’’
He left with a smile. Mathias never could say no to someone in need.
During a stop in Taiwan, he met C.K. Yang, who was starting to learn about the decathlon.
After a three-day demonstration, Mathias gave Yang one of his wooden javelins. The Taiwanese athlete practiced with it for a year.
When it broke, he cried.
``It was like I lost somebody,’’ Yang said.
[WE LOST A MAN IN BOB MATHIAS, kk]