Bob Mathias

Athlete

• Born: November 17, 1930
• Birthplace: Tulare, California
• Died: September 2, 2006
• Place of death: Fresno, California

Sport: Track and field (decathlon)

Early Life

On November 17, 1930, Robert “Bob” Bruce Mathias was born in the small agricultural town of Tulare, in central California. His father, Dr. Charles Mathias, was a physician and surgeon of Scotch-Irish ancestry. Bob’s father met his future wife, Lillian Harris, when they were students at the University of Oklahoma, where Charlie Mathias was an all-state football player.

Bob was the second-born in the family of three boys and one girl. Even as a youngster, Bob became known for his remarkable all-around athleticism. In spite of suffering from childhood anemia, Bob played whatever sport was in season. While in grade school, he built a small track in his backyard. There he practiced jumping, running, and throwing. Even though he was frail from his blood disorder, the gangling twelve-year-old still managed to high-jump 5 feet 6 inches.

The Road to Excellence

By the time Bob entered high school, his parents’ long-term efforts to combat their son’s anemia with a proper diet and iron supplements began to pay off. The handsome, blue-eyed high school student grew to a strapping 6 feet and 190 pounds before graduation.

Bob earned a reputation as one of California’s outstanding high school athletes in basketball, football, and track. By the time he was a senior, his track and field versatility had won him forty first-place finishes and twenty-one high school records. He was also the California Interscholastic Federation discus and shot-put champion in 1947.

Tulare High School’s track coach, Virgil Jackson, had a hunch that Bob might be a potential Olympic athlete. Shortly before Bob graduated, the coach suggested that he enter the decathlon event at the annual Pacific Coast games in Pasadena, California. With his coach’s help, Bob quickly trained for the grueling ten-event competition. The child from Tulare amazed everyone in California by not only competing well but also winning his first-ever decathlon.

Shortly afterward, Coach Jackson and Bob were on their way to the National Decathlon and Olympics tryouts in New Jersey, thanks to financial contributions from Bob’s hometown. There Bob won again, stunning the nation by landing a berth on the Olympic team. In the space of a few months, this seventeen-year-old had gone from regional prep star to the youngest member ever on the U.S. Olympic track team.

The Emerging Champion

In August, 1948, at Wembley Stadium in London, England, Bob lined up with thirty-four other decathletes from nineteen nations to compete in the Olympic decathlon. The two-day competition was held in spite of terrible weather conditions. Between his events, Bob spent most of the time huddled under a blanket as he tried to protect himself from the cold and heavy rain. Because of the large number of competitors, the final three events lasted well into the night.

When the 1,500-meter run finally concluded, Bob had done the incredible. He not only had won the gold medal but also had become the youngest men’s track and field gold medal winner in the history of the modern Olympic Games.

After his triumphant return home, Bob concentrated on his academic studies. Although still a dedicated decathlete while he was a student at Stanford University, Bob also played football. As a fullback, he once ran 96 yards for a touchdown against the University of Southern California (USC) and was a member of Stanford’s Rose Bowl team on January 1, 1952.

By the summer of 1952, Bob was the national decathlon champion for the fourth time in his career. Now 6 feet 3 inches tall and 205 pounds, he led the American decathletes in Helsinki, Finland, the site of the fifteenth modern Olympic Games. Given his international reputation as the reigning world-record holder, Bob was the man to beat in 1952.

No one, however, could match his remarkable performance. Overcoming a leg injury suffered during the competition, Bob still won the decathlon gold medal by the largest margin in Olympic history. In the process, he broke his own world record and achieved the then-unprecedented feat of winning the Olympic decathlon for the second time.

Continuing the Story

To the ancient Greeks, the way to find the best athlete of the times was to hold an all-around competition. The modern decathlon, a track meet within a track meet, is just such a competition because it tests skill, stamina, speed, strength, and even character.

Until Bob won back-to-back decathlons, most observers of the sporting world had agreed that Jim Thorpe, winner of the 1912 Olympic decathlon and pentathlon, was the greatest all-around athlete. Bob’s eight-year dominance of the modern decathlon caused the sporting press to speculate that Bob may have been even better than Thorpe. The two athletes shared a common character trait. They both could relax anywhere, anytime. One competitor said of Bob that he seemed to relax so completely between his events that one thought he had actually gone to sleep.

Bob’s later career opportunities called for as much versatility as the decathlon demanded of him. He served as an officer in the Marine Corps, was a Hollywood actor, and directed his own boys’ camp. Bob’s reputation eventually took him to Washington, D.C., where he served four terms as a representative to the U.S. Congress.

After Congress, his leadership skills carried him to the directorship of the Olympic Training Center and, later, of the National Fitness Foundation. Continuing his interest in helping American youth by promoting healthy sporting activities, he later served as the president of the American Kids Sports Association.

Summary

After overcoming childhood illness, Bob Mathias came out of nowhere to win the decathlon gold medal in the 1948 Olympic Games. As a young man, four years later, he became the first athlete ever to repeat the feat with his victory at the Helsinki Games.

Bob’s athletic accomplishments helped glamorize the decathlon. He was a role model for countless youngsters who were inspired by his good character habits, his belief in fair play, and his old-fashioned determination and hard work. Bob was a champion in every sense of the word.

Bibliography

“Bob Mathias Obituary.” Track and Field News 59, no. 11 (2006): 52.

Mathias, Bob, and Bob Mendes. A Twentieth-Century Odyssey: The Bob Mathias Story. Champaign, Ill.: Sports, 2000.

Terrence, Chris. Bob Mathias: Across the Fields of Gold—Tribute to an American Hero. Lenexa, Kans.: Addax, 2000.