Johnson, Olympic champion, dies at 86

FILE - In this Sept. 7, 1960, file photo, Rafer Johnson of Kingsburg, Calif., is flanked by runners-up, Chuan-Kwang Yang, left, of Taiwan, and Vasily Kuznetsov of Russia, as they join in three-way handshake after receiving medals for the decathlon event of the Olympics in Rome, Italy. Rafer Johnson, who won the decathlon at the 1960 Rome Olympics and helped subdue Robert F. Kennedy's assassin in 1968, died Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020. He was 86. He died at his home in the Sherman Oaks section of Los Angeles, according to family friend Michael Roth. (AP Photo)
FILE - In this Sept. 7, 1960, file photo, Rafer Johnson of Kingsburg, Calif., is flanked by runners-up, Chuan-Kwang Yang, left, of Taiwan, and Vasily Kuznetsov of Russia, as they join in three-way handshake after receiving medals for the decathlon event of the Olympics in Rome, Italy. Rafer Johnson, who won the decathlon at the 1960 Rome Olympics and helped subdue Robert F. Kennedy's assassin in 1968, died Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020. He was 86. He died at his home in the Sherman Oaks section of Los Angeles, according to family friend Michael Roth. (AP Photo)

LOS ANGELES -- Rafer Johnson, who won the decathlon at the 1960 Rome Olympics and helped subdue Robert F. Kennedy's assassin in 1968, died Wednesday. He was 86.

He died at his home in the Sherman Oaks section of Los Angeles, according to family friend Michael Roth. No cause of death was announced.

Johnson was among the world's greatest athletes from 1955 through his Olympic triumph in 1960, winning a national decathlon championship in 1956 and a silver medal at the Melbourne Olympics that same year.

His Olympic career included carrying the U.S. flag at the 1960 Games and lighting the torch at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to open the 1984 Games. Johnson set world records in the decathlon three different times amid a fierce rivalry with his UCLA teammate C.K. Yang of Taiwan and Vasili Kuznetsov of the former Soviet Union.

Johnson won a gold medal at the Pan American Games in 1955 while competing in just his fourth decathlon. At a welcome home meet afterward in Kingsburg, Calif., he set his first world record, breaking the mark of two-time Olympic champion and his childhood hero Bob Mathias.

On June 5, 1968, Johnson was working on Kennedy's presidential campaign when the Democratic candidate was shot in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. Johnson joined former NFL star Rosey Grier and journalist George Plimpton in apprehending Sirhan Sirhan moments after he shot Kennedy, who died the next day.

Johnson later called the assassination "one of the most devastating moments in my life."

Born Rafer Lewis Johnson on Aug. 18, 1934, in Hillsboro, Texas, he moved to California in 1945 with his family, including his brother Jim, a future NFL Hall of Fame inductee.

They eventually settled in Kingsburg, near Fresno in the San Joaquin Valley. It was less than 25 miles from Tulare, the hometown of Mathias, who would win the decathlon at the 1948 and 1952 Olympics and prove an early inspiration to Johnson.

Johnson was a standout student and played football, basketball, baseball and track and field at Kingsburg Joint Union High. At 6-3 and 200-plus pounds, he looked more like a linebacker than a track and field athlete.

As a freshman at UCLA, Johnson won gold at the the 1955 Pan Am Games, and set a world record of 7,985 points.

After winning the national decathlon championship in 1956, Johnson was the favorite for the Olympics in Melbourne, but pulled a stomach muscle and strained a knee while training. He was forced to withdraw from the long jump, for which he had also qualified, but tried to gut out the decathlon.

Johnson's teammate Milt Campbell, a virtual unknown, gave the performance of his life, finishing with 7,937 points to win gold, 350 ahead of Johnson.

It was the last time Johnson would ever come in second.

Kuznetsov, a two-time Olympic bronze medalist who the Soviets called their "man of steel," broke Johnson's world record in May 1958 with 8,016 points.

Later that year at a U.S.-Soviet dual meet in Moscow, Johnson beat Kuznetsov by 405 points and reclaimed the world record with 8,302 points. Johnson won over the Soviet audience with his gutsy performance in front of what had been a hostile crowd.

Yang was his primary competition in Rome. Yang won six of the first nine events, but Johnson led by 66 points going into the 1,500 meters, the decathlon's final event.

Johnson had to finish within 10 seconds of Yang, which was no small feat as Yang was much stronger running at distance than Johnson.

Johnson finished just 1.2 seconds and 6 yards behind Yang to win the gold. Yang earned silver and Kuznetsov took bronze.

At UCLA, he was elected student body president in 1958, the third Black person to hold the office in school history.

Johnson retired from competition after the Rome Olympics. He began acting in movies, including appearances in "Wild in the Country" with Elvis Presley, "None But the Brave" with Frank Sinatra and the 1989 James Bond film "License to Kill."

In 1984, Johnson lit the Olympic flame for the Los Angeles Games. He took the torch from Gina Hemphill, granddaughter of Olympic great Jesse Owens, who ran it into the Coliseum.

"Standing there and looking out, I remember thinking 'I wish I had a camera,' " Johnson said. "My hair was standing straight up on my arm. Words really seem inadequate."

FILE - In this July 20, 2015, file photo, Olympic gold medalist and philanthropist Rafer Johnson lifts his arm to mimic the lighting of the Olympic torch as he recalls the first Special Olympics World Games he attended, during a news conference in Los Angeles. Rafer Johnson, who won the decathlon at the 1960 Rome Olympics and helped subdue Robert F. Kennedy's assassin in 1968, died Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020. He was 86. He died at his home in the Sherman Oaks section of Los Angeles, according to family friend Michael Roth.(AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
FILE - In this July 20, 2015, file photo, Olympic gold medalist and philanthropist Rafer Johnson lifts his arm to mimic the lighting of the Olympic torch as he recalls the first Special Olympics World Games he attended, during a news conference in Los Angeles. Rafer Johnson, who won the decathlon at the 1960 Rome Olympics and helped subdue Robert F. Kennedy's assassin in 1968, died Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020. He was 86. He died at his home in the Sherman Oaks section of Los Angeles, according to family friend Michael Roth.(AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
FILE - In this Sept. 5, 1960, file photo, Rafer Johnson of the United States, center, finishers the fourth heat of the decathlon 100 meter dash at the Olympics in Rome, Italy. Eef Kamerbeek of Netherlands is at left, and Gurbachan Singh Randhawa of India is at right. Rafer Johnson, who won the decathlon at the 1960 Rome Olympics and helped subdue Robert F. Kennedy's assassin in 1968, died Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020. He was 86. He died at his home in the Sherman Oaks section of Los Angeles, according to family friend Michael Roth. (AP Photo/Olympic Pool, File)
FILE - In this Sept. 5, 1960, file photo, Rafer Johnson of the United States, center, finishers the fourth heat of the decathlon 100 meter dash at the Olympics in Rome, Italy. Eef Kamerbeek of Netherlands is at left, and Gurbachan Singh Randhawa of India is at right. Rafer Johnson, who won the decathlon at the 1960 Rome Olympics and helped subdue Robert F. Kennedy's assassin in 1968, died Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020. He was 86. He died at his home in the Sherman Oaks section of Los Angeles, according to family friend Michael Roth. (AP Photo/Olympic Pool, File)
FILE - In this Sept. 5, 1960, file photo, Rafer Johnson of the United States competes in the shot put event of the Olympic decathlon competition in Rome, Italy. Rafer heaved the shot 51 feet 10 3/4 inches to score 976 points and lead the field in this event. Rafer Johnson, who won the decathlon at the 1960 Rome Olympics and helped subdue Robert F. Kennedy's assassin in 1968, died Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020. He was 86. He died at his home in the Sherman Oaks section of Los Angeles, according to family friend Michael Roth.(AP Photo/FIle
FILE - In this Sept. 5, 1960, file photo, Rafer Johnson of the United States competes in the shot put event of the Olympic decathlon competition in Rome, Italy. Rafer heaved the shot 51 feet 10 3/4 inches to score 976 points and lead the field in this event. Rafer Johnson, who won the decathlon at the 1960 Rome Olympics and helped subdue Robert F. Kennedy's assassin in 1968, died Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020. He was 86. He died at his home in the Sherman Oaks section of Los Angeles, according to family friend Michael Roth.(AP Photo/FIle
FILE - In this Sept. 6, 1960, file photo, the top three finishers in the decathlon of the 1960 Rome Summer Olympics stand on the podium while wearing their medals at Olympic Stadium in Rome. Rafer Johnson, center, won the gold; Taiwan's Yang Chuan, left, the silver; and Russia's Vasili Kuznetsov the bronze. Rafer Johnson, who won the decathlon at the 1960 Rome Olympics and helped subdue Robert F. Kennedy's assassin in 1968, died Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020. He was 86. He died at his home in the Sherman Oaks section of Los Angeles, according to family friend Michael Roth.(AP Photo/File)
FILE - In this Sept. 6, 1960, file photo, the top three finishers in the decathlon of the 1960 Rome Summer Olympics stand on the podium while wearing their medals at Olympic Stadium in Rome. Rafer Johnson, center, won the gold; Taiwan's Yang Chuan, left, the silver; and Russia's Vasili Kuznetsov the bronze. Rafer Johnson, who won the decathlon at the 1960 Rome Olympics and helped subdue Robert F. Kennedy's assassin in 1968, died Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020. He was 86. He died at his home in the Sherman Oaks section of Los Angeles, according to family friend Michael Roth.(AP Photo/File)
FILE - In this July 28, 1984, file photo, Rafer Johnson, winner of the gold medal for the decathlon in 1960, lights the Olympic torch during opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Rafer Johnson, who won the decathlon at the 1960 Rome Olympics and helped subdue Robert F. Kennedy's assassin in 1968, died Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020. He was 86. He died at his home in the Sherman Oaks section of Los Angeles, according to family friend Michael Roth. (AP Photo/FIle)
FILE - In this July 28, 1984, file photo, Rafer Johnson, winner of the gold medal for the decathlon in 1960, lights the Olympic torch during opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Rafer Johnson, who won the decathlon at the 1960 Rome Olympics and helped subdue Robert F. Kennedy's assassin in 1968, died Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020. He was 86. He died at his home in the Sherman Oaks section of Los Angeles, according to family friend Michael Roth. (AP Photo/FIle)
FILE -  In this July 28, 1984, file photo, 1960 U.S. gold medal decathlete Rafer Johnson carries the Olympic torch through the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum before lighting the Olympic flame and formally launching the 1984 summer games. Rafer Johnson died Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020. He was 86. He died at his home in the Sherman Oaks section of Los Angeles, according to family friend Michael Roth. (AP Photo/Peter Leabo, File)
FILE - In this July 28, 1984, file photo, 1960 U.S. gold medal decathlete Rafer Johnson carries the Olympic torch through the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum before lighting the Olympic flame and formally launching the 1984 summer games. Rafer Johnson died Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020. He was 86. He died at his home in the Sherman Oaks section of Los Angeles, according to family friend Michael Roth. (AP Photo/Peter Leabo, File)
FILE - Rafer Johnson of Kingsburg, Calif., is congratulated by International Olympic Committee President Avery Brundage after presentation of the gold medal for the decathlon event at the Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy, in this Sept., 7, 1960, file photo. Rafer Johnson died Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020. He was 86. He died at his home in the Sherman Oaks section of Los Angeles, according to family friend Michael Roth  (AP Photo)
FILE - Rafer Johnson of Kingsburg, Calif., is congratulated by International Olympic Committee President Avery Brundage after presentation of the gold medal for the decathlon event at the Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy, in this Sept., 7, 1960, file photo. Rafer Johnson died Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020. He was 86. He died at his home in the Sherman Oaks section of Los Angeles, according to family friend Michael Roth (AP Photo)

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