Yang Chuan-kwang, or
C.K. Yang () (10 July 1933 in
Taitung,
Taiwan – January 27, 2007 in
Los Angeles, California, at the age of 73), was an Olympic
decathlete from the
Republic of China.
Known as the "Iron Man of Asia," Yang won the
gold medal in the decathlon at the
1954 Asian Games, and he again won the gold medal in the decathlon in the
1958 Asian Games, and in addition, the
silver medals in both the
110 m hurdles and the
long jump, and the
bronze medal in the
400 m hurdles. Yang's first Olympic Games competition was at the
1956 Summer Olympics in
Melbourne, Australia, where he finished in eighth place in the decathlon.
Yang's most memorable decathlon competition was a duel with
Rafer Johnson, his good friend and fellow track and field teammate at
University of California at Los Angeles, during the
1960 Summer Olympics in
Rome. Going into the final event of the decathlon, the
1500 meter run, Yang trailed Johnson by just 67 points in the decathlon competition, but Johnson hung on to win the gold medal, with Yang winning the silver medal. Yang actually topped Johnson in all four track events, plus the three jumping or vaulting events, but the large margins in points that Johnson attained in the three throwing events (the
shot put, the
discus throw, and the
javelin throw) was big enough to make Johnson the winner, and to put Yang in second place - the decathlon silver...
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