1
GOLD
1
SILVER
0
BRONZE
Athlete Bio#
Age
Died (Aged 78)
1933-2012
Hometown
Plainfield, NJ
Education
Plainfield High School (Plainfield, N.J.) Indiana University
Personal
Was an All-American swimmer at Plainfield High School...Named world’s greatest high school athlete in 1952...Practiced karate at an elite level throughout his life...Excelled in football and track at Indiana University...Played professional football with the Cleveland Browns in the NFL and several teams in the Canadian Football League...Named the greatest athlete of the 20th century by the Newark Star-Ledger...Member of the National Track & Field Hall of Fame and the Black Athletes’ Hall of Fame.Olympic Experience
- 2-time Olympian; 2-time Olympic medalist (1 gold, 1 silver)
- Olympic Games Melbourne 1956, gold (Decathlon - Men)
- Olympic Games Helsinki 1952, silver (Decathlon - Men)
Hall Of Fame Bio #
Milton “Milt” Campbell was the first African American athlete to win an Olympic gold medal in the decathlon. The Plainfield, New Jersey, native was 22 years old when he won the decathlon at the Olympic Games Melbourne 1956, beating then-world record holder Rafer Johnson. Campbell also earned the silver medal in the event at the Olympic Games Helsinki 1952 and won the decathlon at the 1953 U.S. Championships. Excelling in other sports as well, Campbell set world records in the indoor 60-yard high hurdles and the outdoor 120yd high hurdles in 1957, was an All-American swimmer, as well as a professional football player with the Cleveland Browns. Campbell played for a number of professional football teams in Canada before retiring from professional sports in 1964. He is the only athlete to be enshrined in both the National Track & Field Hall of Fame and National Swimming Hall of Fame. Campbell passed away Nov. 2, 2012 in Gainesville, Georgia, due to cancer and diabetes.
