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Athlete Bio#
Age
Died (Aged 75)
1930-2006
Hometown
Tulare, CA
Education
Tulare High School (Tulare, Calif.) Stanford University
Quick Facts
- One of four children
- Raised in a small farming town of 12,000
- Father was a doctor and former football player at the University of Oklahoma
- Suffered from anemia in early childhood and had to take frequent naps to conserve strength
- Ran track and played basketball and football in high school
- Track coach suggested trying the decathlon
- Became the first athlete to ever play in the Rose Bowl (for Stanford’s football team) and compete in the Olympics in the same year in 1952
- Was a Marines officer, Hollywood actor and director of a boys’ camp before getting elected to Congress and serving four terms
- Served as the president of the American Kids Sports Association.
Olympic Experience
- 2-time Olympian; 2-time Olympic medalist (2 gold)
- Olympic Games Helsinki 1952, gold (Decathlon - Men)
- Olympic Games London 1948, gold (Decathlon - Men)
Hall Of Fame Bio #
Bob Mathias was the first athlete to win the gold medal in consecutive Olympic decathlons. The Tulare, California, native was a track and field star in multiple disciplines in high school, but didn’t try decathlon until 1948. That summer, he became the youngest men’s winner of a Track and Field event in Olympic history when at age 17, he took gold in the decathlon at the Olympic Games London 1948. Four years later, Mathias broke another Olympic record, becoming the first athlete to win back-to-back Olympic decathlons with his victory at the Helsinki Games. Unbeaten in 11 decathlons throughout his career, Mathias also won four national Amature Athletic Union championships. He would later serve four terms in the House of Representatives as a Republican congressman from California after starring in Hollywood films and serving as an officer in the Marines. After Congress, Mathias was director of the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
