Bob Mathias

Robert Bruce Mathias was born in Tulare in California's San Joaquin Valley. A frail, anemic child who suffered frequent illnesses, his physician father built an athletic track in their backyard to build his strength. At Tulare Union High School, Mathias became a football and track star. In the spring of 1948, his coach suggested he try the decathlon; just four months later, seventeen-year-old Mathias qualified for the US Olympic team.

At the 1948 London Olympic Games at Wembley Stadium, competing in rain, mud, and gloom that forced the competition to finish past 10:30 p.m. illuminated only by car headlights, Mathias won the decathlon gold medal, becoming the youngest male Olympic champion in track and field history.

Attending Stanford University, Mathias starred in the 1952 Rose Bowl before preparing for the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. In Helsinki, Mathias performed in a league of his own, breaking the world decathlon record with 7,887 points and finishing an astonishing 912 points ahead of second place, becoming the first two-time Olympic decathlon champion. Retiring undefeated in every decathlon he ever entered, Mathias was elected to the United States Congress in 1966, serving four terms representing California's 18th district.