Rafer Johnson, the 1960 olympic gold medalist (and 1956 silver medalist) and former world record holder, passed away on December 2nd. He is one of the greatest decathletes, joining now Jim Thorpe in the Pantheon of the best athletes of all times. The Rome decathlon where Johnson fought for the title with his team mate C. K. Yang (who died in 2007) till the very last metre of the 1500 m is probably the most gripping decathlon ever contested.
World Athletics has a short article announcing the sad news. RunBlogRun has a most interesting tribute to Johnson where all the great US decathletes reminisce about their meeting with Johnson. I highly recommend it. But the best article is the one of Decapassion. So, if you can read french don't hesitate to visit the site, curated by two great decathlon specialists, and read the article on this fantastic decathlete who is no more among us.
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