At the 1948 Olympics in London, Bob Mathias became
the youngest gold medalist to win a track and field event. British journalists
asked the 17-year-old decathlon champion how he planned to celebrate.
Bob Mathias [File
Photo] |
"I guess I'll start shaving," he said.
Mathias died of cancer Saturday in Fresno at age 75, his record intact.
An Olympic historian said Sunday that Mathias' achievements, which included a
second gold medal in decathlon at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, came at a simpler
time in the history of sports.
"There were no sponsors. There was no money. There were no drugs," said David
Wallechinsky, author of `The Complete Book of the
Summer Olympics.' "He
was just doing it to perform well — not to be in an advertisement."
Mathias' 1948 medal came in only his third decathlon. He qualified for the
Olympics by winning two events in the United States.
At the 1952 Helsinki Games, he became the first athlete to repeat as Olympic
champion in the decathlon. A Stanford star who led that team to the Rose Bowl,
Mathias was drafted by the
Washington Redskins but never signed. He won
the 1948 Sullivan Award as America's top amateur athlete.
Eugene Mathias said his brother was a gifted athlete from childhood, often
outperforming older children.
"I tried jumping the high jump and I couldn't make it. He was three years
younger and he said, 'Let me try it.' He did it and he made it," Eugene Mathias
recalled. "We knew then that he could just do anything athletic."
Although fans marveled at his athleticism, Mathias worked determinedly at
both sports and academics. As a child, he suffered from anemia and had to eat
special foods, take vitamin supplements and frequent naps, and he fell ill to
measles, whooping cough and scarlet fever.
He spent a year at The Kiski School, an all-boys boarding college in
Saltsburg, Pa., before entering Stanford in 1949. The 6-foot-3, 204-pound
Mathias led Stanford to a Rose Bowl appearance in 1952.
After retiring from sports, he served four terms as a Republican congressman
representing California's San Joaquin Valley from 1967-74. After his political
career, Mathias became the first director of the U.S. Olympic Training Center in
Colorado Springs, Colo.
He also is a member of the U.S. Olympic and national track and field halls of
fame.
"Bob Mathias was one of those rare individuals with the ability to inspire a
nation through his determination and perseverance. He was a champion in every
aspect of life, and he embraced the values that make our country and the
worldwide Olympic movement special," U.S. Olympic Committee chairman Peter
Ueberroth said in a statement.
Mathias is survived by his wife, Gwen, and several children.
