C.K. YANG PASSES

 

                                     
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The International Medalist Association received the following sad email on January 28, 2007:

It is with great sadness that I report that C.K. passed away at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, January 27, 2007, of a massive stroke. He had a stroke last Saturday and when he went into the hospital, he had 3 more mini strokes. A couple of days ago, he had a massive stroke that not many people can live through.
 

I am not sure of funeral arrangements at this time.  Thank you for your friendship to C.K. and for all you do for us. Please tell the newspapers C.K. did not die of cancer, but of a massive stroke.  Please pray for C.K. to go to Heaven.

Daisy


C.K. Yang, 1933-2007, age 74

Profile:

A chance meeting in his native Taiwan with two-time Olympic decathlon champion Bob Mathias set C.K. Yang (Yang Chuan-kwang) on a quest to become the world's greatest decathlete. He pursued that dream as a UCLA student, where he was a teammate of 1956 Olympic silver medalist Rafer Johnson. At the 1960 Olympics in Rome, the two locked in what is considered one of the greatest duels in decathlon history. C.K. trailed Rafer by only 67 points going into the final event, the 1500m. If he could beat Rafer by more than 10 seconds, he would win the gold medal. C.K. chances looked good, as his 1500m PR was more than 18 seconds faster than Rafer's. But Rafer rallied to run a PR by more than 5 seconds, and finished fewer than two seconds behind C.K., to clinch the gold medal.

C.K. warmed up for his epic 1960 battle with Rafer by winning his first Mt. SAC title. He returned to Mt. SAC in 1963 with a performance that literally changed the record books. His World Record score of 9121 forced a revision in decathlon scoring tables, with points now more evenly distributed among events. This proved to be a detriment to C.K., as it removed the huge pole vault advantage (he was the first decathlete to clear 16 feet) he typically held over his competitors.

He returned to Mt. SAC in 1964, again in preparation for the upcoming Olympics. C.K. recorded his third Relays victory. He went on to finish 5th in Tokyo.

For the majority of his life after his competition years ended, Yang served on Taiwan's Olympic Committee, and spent the better part of every year in Taiwan helping cultivate the development of their Olympic program. He was a national hero and a real inspiration to the youth of Taiwan.

C.K.'s 1963's World Record score at Mt. SAC remains Taiwan's national record, by far the oldest record still in existence.

  • PR: 9121 (8009 adjusted to 1985 scoring tables)
  • World Record, 1963
    • 9121 points (8009 adjusted)
  • Olympic Silver Medal, 1960
    • 8334
  • Olympic 5th place finish, 1964
    • 7650
  • U.S. National Champion:
    • 1959: 7549
    • 1962: 8249
    • 1964: 8641
  • Asian Games Champion, 1954
    • 5454
  • Asian Games Champion, 1958
    • 7101

Donations can be made in memory of C.K.'s nephew at:
Cyrus Jue Lam Fund
Ventura High School
c/o Ventura High School Educational Partnership
255 W. Stanley Road
Ventura, CA 93001