Rafer Johnson, who won the gold medal … Rafer Johnson, who won the decathlon at the 1960 Rome Olympics and helped subdue Robert F. Kennedy’s assassin in 1968, died Wednesday. Born Rafer Lewis Johnson on Aug. 18, 1934, in Hillsboro, Texas, he moved to California in 1945 with his family, including his brother Jim, a future NFL Hall of Fame inductee. When he was 9, Johnson’s parents, in search of a fresh start and better opportunities for their children, moved to the California San Joaquin Valley town of Kingsburg, where most of the residents were of Swedish descent. When he was about 18 … Finally, after nine events, Johnson led Yang by a small margin, but Yang was known to be better in the final event, the 1500 m. According to The Telegraph (UK), "legend has it" that Drake gave coaching to both men, with him advising Johnson to stay close to Yang and be ready for "a hellish sprint" at the end, and advising Yang to put as much distance between himself and Johnson before the final sprint as possible. For a while, they were the only black family in the town. FILE: Former Olympian and gold medal-winning decathlete Rafer Johnson dies at the age of 86. Johnson was born in Hillsboro, Texas on August 18, 1934. He also won the 1953 and 1954 California state high school decathlon meets. USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, The Foundation for Global Sports Development, "Rafer Johnson, Olympic champ who helped subdue RFK's assassin, dies at 86", "Rafer Johnson, 1960 Olympic decathlon champion, dies at 86", "Ch. [6], Due to injury, Johnson missed the 1957 and 1959 seasons (the latter due to a car accident), but he broke the world record in 1958 and again in 1960. “His performance in New York, along with his stature as the gold medal favorite in the decathlon, convinced the officials that Johnson should be the U.S. captain in Rome and the first black athlete to carry the U.S. flag at an Olympic opening ceremonies. [24], In 2010, Johnson received the Fernando Award for Civic Accomplishment from the Fernando Foundation and in 2011, he was inducted into the Bakersfield City School District Hall of Fame. “I found myself affected by the political overtones despite my efforts to ignore them.”. Within six years, however, Muhammad Ali was being prosecuted for refusing the draft and denied the right to box for almost four years. Regarded as one of the world's greatest athletes, Johnson died Wednesday at age 86. [a][3][4] His family moved to Kingsburg, California, when he was aged nine. The latter school, which has classes for special education students from the ages of birth-5, also puts on an annual Rafer Johnson Day. Despite this handicap, he managed to take second place in the decathlon behind compatriot Milt Campbell. [2] Johnson, along with a small group of volunteers, founded California Special Olympics in 1969 by conducting a competition at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for 900 individuals with intellectual disabilities. Johnson is survived by his wife of 49 years Elizabeth Thorsen and their children Jenny Johnson Jordan and Josh Johnson, (who were athletes themselves), son-in-law Kevin Jordan, and four grandchildren. The decathlon is a grueling two-day, 10-event sport that tests versatility, strength, speed and endurance that includes sprints, high hurdles, pole-vaulting, the high jump and broad jump, the javelin and discus throws, and the 1,500-meter run. A versatile athlete, he played on Kingsburg High School's football, baseball and basketball teams. Additionally, Rafer acted as the athletic advisor to Dan Guerrero, Director of Athletics at UCLA. [11], While training for the 1960 Olympics, his friend Kirk Douglas told him about a part in Spartacus that Douglas thought might make him a star: the Ethiopian gladiator Draba, who refuses to kill Spartacus (played by Douglas) after defeating him in a duel. The induction ceremony was on December 1, 2009, in Sacramento, California. He studied at Kingsburg High School, and as he was a talented athlete, he competed in three sporting teams for the school – these were basketball, baseball, and football. Rafer Lewis Johnson was born during the Depression, on Aug. 18, 1934, in Hillsboro, Texas, the second of six children born to Lewis Johnson, a cotton picker and farm handyman, and Alma Gibson Johnson. The board worked together to raise funds and offer a modest program of swimming and track and field. In 1968, Johnson, football player Rosey Grier, and journalist George Plimpton tackled Sirhan Sirhan moments after he had fatally shot Robert F. Kennedy. [7] Johnson told his coach, "I could have beaten most of those guys. DEATH DATE Dec 2, 2020 (age 86) Popularity . [17], Johnson was named Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year in 1958[18] and won the James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States in 1960, breaking that award's color barrier. 1960 Olympic decathlete gold medallist Rafer Johnson of … In 2006, the NCAA named him one of the 100 Most Influential Student Athletes of the past 100 years. In 1983, Rafer ran for President of the Board to increase Board participation, reorganize the staff to most effectively use each person's talents, and expand fundraising efforts. Born Rafer Lewis Johnson on Aug. 18, 1934, in Hillsboro, Texas, he moved to California in 1945 with his family, including his brother Jim, a future NFL Hall of Fame inductee. Johnson was born in Hillsboro, Texas on August 18, 1934. The LA84 Foundation—of which Johnson was a founding member—announced the news Instead, they raised him on their shoulders and shouted his name. I bowed my head and said a prayer of … [6] He pledged Pi Lambda Phi fraternity, America's first non-sectarian fraternity, and was class president[6] at UCLA. Johnson was a four-sport star in high school, lettering in football, baseball, basketball and his favorite, track and field. He was 86. Following the first California Games in 1969, Johnson became one of the original members of the Board of Directors. Rafer Johnson was born during the Depression, on August 18, 1934, in Hillsboro, Texas, the second of six children born to Lewis Johnson, a cotton … Johnson is a gold medal Olympian - … Rafer Johnson … "[6] Dodson and Johnson drove back a month later to watch Mathias's victory parade. Johnson managed to grab the gun from the gunman preventing others from being shot. He had previously won a gold in the 1955 Pan American Games. [6] The summer between his sophomore and junior years in high school (age 16), his coach Murl Dodson drove Johnson 24 miles (40 km) to Tulare and watched Bob Mathias compete in the 1952 U.S. Olympic decathlon trials. [22], Rafer Johnson Junior High School in Kingsburg, California is named after Johnson,[23] as are Rafer Johnson Community Day School and Rafer Johnson Children's Center, both in Bakersfield, California. The Johnsons were the only black family. Biography African American athlete Rafer Johnson was but a few years out of UCLA when he distinguished himself at the 1960 Olympics, scoring 8,392 points in the Olympic Decathalon. Johnson, however, retired from athletics and subsequently embarked on a film and television career as well as a sportscaster. Rafer Johnson’s cause of death is stroke. Rafer Lewis Johnson was born on Aug. 18, 1934, in Hillsboro, Texas, south of Dallas, to Lewis and Alma (Gibson) Johnson. Olympic gold medalist, NFL draftee and college basketball player Rafer Johnson died on Wednesday at the age of 86. Late Rafer was blessed with a towering height of 6 feet 3 inches (1.90 meters). At UCLA he joined the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps and pledged Pi Lambda Phi fraternity; he was, in fact, the first African American to pledge a national fraternity at UCLA. He was elected president and served in the capacity until 1992, when he was named Chairman of the Board of Governors. When I read the news, I shuddered. [8] With this victory, Johnson ended his athletic career. A distinguished American athlete and occasional actor with many other strings to his bow, Rafer Johnson was a UCLA basketball star who went on to become Pan American decathlon champion in 1955, a two time decathlon silver medallist at the Melbourne Olympics (despite injuries) and winner of gold four years later in Rome. There could be no more valuable figure in the propaganda war with the Soviet Union, which wasted no opportunity to denounce the racial inequities of the United States.”. This was the first Olympics to be televised in the United States and Johnson was to be prominently featured as one of the world’s great athletes and the favorite to win the gold medal in the decathlon. [15], Johnson participated in the Art of the Olympians program. Johnson received numerous college athletic scholarships and chose UCLA, in part because its alumni included Jackie Robinson, who broke the racial barrier in Major League Baseball, and Ralph Bunche, the first black American to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. American Track and Field Rafer Johnson was born Rafer Lewis Johnson on 18th August, 1935 in Hillsboro, Texas, USA and passed away on 2nd Dec 2020 aged 85. He made several film appearances, mostly in the 1960s. But Vitray, unlike Johnson, is a very short man. In 1998, he was named one of ESPN’s 100 Greatest North American Athletes of the 20th Century and in 2006, the NCAA named him one of the 100 Most Influential Student Athletes of the past 100 years. Rafer Johnson was born during the Depression, on August 18, 1934, in Hillsboro, Texas, the second of six children born to Lewis Johnson, a cotton picker and farm handyman, and Alma Gibson Johnson. Rafer Johnson estimated Net Worth, Biography, Age, Height, Dating, Relationship Records, Salary, Income, Cars, Lifestyles & many more details have been updated below. He joined the Campus Crusade for Christ and eventually chaired th… Rafer Johnson, a Los Angeles legend who won the 1960 Olympic decathlon gold medal, helped organize the 1984 Games in L.A. and wrestled the … He was Inducted into the Texas Track and Field Coaches Hall of Fame, Class of 2016. Also, he had a bodyweight of 91 kgs (201 lbs). Classic Olympic Moment “ Their Own Dreams ” Second Generation of Olympians. Johnson read for and got the role, but was forced to turn it down because the Amateur Athletic Union told him it would make him a professional and therefore ineligible for the Olympics. Johnson went on to win the decathlon in dramatic fashion by narrowly beating his UCLA teammate, C.K. These included gold medals won by Muhammad Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, in boxing, Wilma Rudolph, who won three golds in track and field, and Oscar Robertson in basketball, among others. [21] Johnson was a member of The Pigskin Club of Washington, D.C. National Intercollegiate All-American Football Players Honor Roll. degree from Whittier College.[27]. Johnson worked full-time as a sportscaster in the early 1970s. At UCLA, Johnson played basketball for legendary coach John Wooden, but excelled in track and field in the decathlon. Sources. He would often accompany Kennedy at many of his campaign events and was with Kennedy in Los Angeles on the night of June 5, 1968, when Kennedy was shot to death after giving a victory speech for winning the California primary. DEATH DATE Dec 2, 2020 (age 86) Birth Sign Leo. [6] A versatile athlete, he played on Kingsburg High School's football, baseball and basketball teams. A fun adventure with a Hungarian journalist. “I was fully aware of the irony that a black man was an emissary of a nation where discrimination raged and racists got away with lynchings,” he said. Rafer Johnson, Actor: Licence to Kill. Rafer Lewis Johnson (August 18, 1934 – December 2, 2020) was an American decathlete and film actor. He was a weekend sports anchor on the local NBC affiliate in Los Angeles, KNBC, but seemed uncomfortable in that position and eventually moved on to other things. John Wooden was his coach when he played at UCLA. - IMDb Mini Biography By: I.S.Mowis Spouse (1) On December 2, 2020, he took his last breath. "[6], Johnson was selected by the Los Angeles Rams in the 28th round (333rd overall) of the 1959 NFL Draft as a running back. (CNN) Rafer Johnson, who ended his famed track and field career with an exciting win in the 1960 Olympic decathlon, died Tuesday in Los Angeles, according to … But a knee injury and torn stomach muscle hampered Johnson and he finished second at the Games in Melbourne, Australia, a bitter disappointment. At the age of 86, he passed away in Sherman Oaks, California. [1] His son Joshua Johnson followed his father into track and field and had a podium finish in the javelin throw at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Athlete. In 1962, he received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. He was the USA team's flag bearer at the 1960 Olympics and lit the Olympic cauldron at the Los Angeles Games in 1984. He later became a film actor. His family moved to Kingsburg, California, when he was aged nine. [26], In 2005, Johnson was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters (L.H.D.) [12], Johnson worked on the presidential election campaign of United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and on June 5, 1968 with the help of Rosey Grier, he apprehended Sirhan Sirhan immediately after Sirhan had assassinated Kennedy at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California. When it was all done, the Soviet crowd rushed the field, and Johnson thought they were going to attack him. [5], Johnson served on the organizing committee the first Special Olympics competition in Chicago in 1968, hosted by Special Olympics founder, Eunice Kennedy Shriver and the next year he led the founding of the California Special Olympics. Birthday August Aug 18, 1934. Every year Johnson himself spoke at the event and cheered on hundreds of students with special needs as they participated in a variety of track and field events. © Provided by RADIO.COM One of the greatest American athletes has died. Tamás Vitray, one of the most outstanding personalities of the Hungarian television profession, conducted the first interview of his life with Rafer Johnson on August 5, 1958 at an athletics competition. American Olympic decathlete who won gold in the 1960 Rome Olympics and silver in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. And so the height difference was no longer a problem. He was also elected class president in both junior high and high school. ... Boost Birthday August Aug 18, 1934. Johnson, who aspired to become a dentist, enrolled at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA). Birthplace Hillsboro, TX . Rafer Johnson’s age is 85. Cause of Rafer Johnson Death. When Johnson was a youngster, his family relocated to California. 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