Personal information | |
---|---|
Full name | Maurice Malcolm Wilkins |
Nationality | American |
Born | November 15, 1950 74) Eugene, Oregon, U.S. [1] | (age
Height | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) |
Weight | 115 kg (254 lb) |
Sport | |
Country | United States |
Sport | athletics |
Event(s) | Discus throw, shot put, hammer throw, javelin throw |
Club | Pacific Coast Club, Long Beach Athletics West, Eugene Oregon Ducks, Eugene |
Achievements and titles | |
Personal best(s) | DT – 70.98 m (1980) SP – 21.06 m (1977) HT – 63.65 m (1977) JT – 78.43 m (1970) [1] [2] |
Medal record |
Maurice Malcolm "Mac" Wilkins (born November 15, 1950) is an American athlete, who competed mainly in the discus throw. He was born in Eugene, Oregon and graduated in 1969 from Beaverton High School in Beaverton, Oregon.
Distance running coach Bill Bowerman recruited Wilkins to the University of Oregon, where he threw the javelin 257' 8" (78.43m) as a 19-year-old freshman. As a senior, he was NCAA champion in the discus and won the first of eight U.S. national championships in the discus. He was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1994.
Wilkins competed for the United States in the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in the discus throw, where he won the gold medal with a distance of 221' 5" to defeat Wolfgang Schmidt of East Germany by four feet. Wilkins qualified for the 1980 U.S. Olympic team but did not compete due to the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott. He did however receive one of 461 Congressional Gold Medals created especially for the spurned athletes. [3]
Wilkins won a silver medal in the discus throw at the 1984 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles. He placed 5th in the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea.
Wilkins broke the world record four times in his career. During his discus throw series on May 1, 1976 in San Jose, California, he set the world record three times with consecutive throws of 69.80 m, 70.24 m, and 70.86 m. In 1976 and 1980, Wilkins was ranked #1 in the world in the discus throw. In 1977, he was the indoor national champion in the shot put, with a throw of 69' 1.5" (21.06 m). [2]
From 2006 thru 2013, Wilkins was the throws coach at Concordia University, an NAIA school in Portland, Oregon. His throwers won 26 individual national championships and earned 94 All-American honors. When Al Oerter died on October 1, 2007, Wilkins became the earliest surviving Olympic champion in the men's discus. He is not the oldest; Viktor Rashchupkin—the 1980 champion—is almost a month older. In August 2013, Wilkins left Concordia University to coach for USA Track & Field in Chula Vista, California. [4]
Michael Marx is an American foil and epee fencer and fencing master. He is the brother of Robert Marx, who has also represented the U.S. in multiple Olympic fencing events. Michael and his brother were taught to fence by their mother, fencing coach Colleen Olney, who is considered by many prominent fencers to be "the mother of fencing in Oregon".
Louise Dorothy Ritter is an American former track and field athlete who won the gold medal in the high jump at the 1988 Olympic Games.
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Walter Harrison ("Ben") Plucknett was an American track and field athlete, known primarily for the discus throw. Plucknett qualified for the 1980 U.S. Olympic team but was unable to compete due to the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott. He did however receive one of 461 Congressional Gold Medals created specifically for the athletes. In 1981, he broke the existing world record with a throw of 233'7", and broke the record again with a throw of 72.34 m (237'4") on July 7, 1981. However, on July 13, 1981, the International Association of Athletics Federations banned Plucknett from further competition after he had tested positive for anabolic steroid use, and the records were removed. Even though he was stripped of his World Record breaking throws the IAAF still recognizes his throw of 71.32m thrown on June 4, 1983, in Eugene, Oregon as the current North American record. He died at the age of 48 due to a brain aneurysm on his farm.
The men's discus throw event at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea had an entry list of 29 competitors from 20 nations, with two qualifying groups before the final (12) took place on Saturday October 1, 1988. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Jürgen Schult of East Germany, the nation's first victory in the men's discus throw and first medal since 1976. Romas Ubartas of the Soviet Union took silver, while Rolf Danneberg of West Germany earned bronze. Danneberg was the 10th man to win multiple discus throw medals, adding to his 1984 gold. For the first time, the United States competed in the event but did not make the podium.
The men's discus throw at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California had an entry list of 20 competitors from 14 nations, with two qualifying groups before the final (12) took place on August 10, 1984. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Rolf Danneberg of West Germany, the nation's first medal in the men's discus throw and the first victory by any German athlete in the event. Mac Wilkins and John Powell of the United States won silver and bronze; they were the eighth and ninth men to win multiple discus throw medals. The United States continued its 19-Games streak of earning at least one medal every time it appeared, missing the podium only in the boycotted 1980 Games; however, this would be the last Games in that streak—and, in fact, the last medals the United States would earn in the event through at least 2020.
The men's discus throw event at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Soviet Union had an entry list of 18 competitors from 12 nations, with one qualifying group and the final (12) held on Monday July 28, 1980. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Viktor Rashchupkin of the Soviet Union, the nation's first medal and first victory in the men's discus throw. Imrich Bugár put Czechoslovakia back on the podium in the event after a one-Games absence, taking silver. Luis Delís earned Cuba's first men's discus throw medal with his bronze. The United States, which had earned at least one medal in every appearance of the event prior to 1980, missed the podium due to the boycott.
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Lorna Joann Griffin is a retired female shot putter and discus thrower from the United States. She was a two-time silver medalist at the 1983 Pan American Games. Griffin qualified for the 1980 U.S. Olympic team but was unable to compete due to the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott. She did however receive one of 461 Congressional Gold Medals created especially for the spurned athletes. She competed for the United States at the 1984 Summer Olympics, finishing in 9th and 12th place (discus).
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Maren Elizabeth Seidler is a retired American track and field athlete. She dominated the shot put from the mid-1960s through 1980. She won the event at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships eleven times starting in 1967, including nine in a row from 1972 to 1980. She was the American champion indoors nine times, 1968–9, 1972, 1974-5 and 1977 to 1980. She won her event at the United States Olympic Trials four straight times 1968–1980, a feat only equalled by only one woman, Madeline Manning, Edwin Moses is the only man to achieve four. Jackie Joyner Kersee is the only woman who has won more events at the Olympic Trials, split between the long jump and heptathlon. She competed in the Olympics three times, making the final twice. Her 1980 selection was quashed by the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott. Seidler did however receive one of 461 Congressional Gold Medals created especially for the spurned athletes.
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Rod Ewaliko is an American track and field athlete known for the Javelin throw. He was the 1983 National Champion and won the 1980 Olympic Trials to become a member of the team that did not participate in the Olympics due to the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott. He was one of 461 athletes to receive a Congressional Gold Medal instead. Ewaliko would finish in second place in the National Championships five times. He threw in two other Olympic Trials, finishing sixth in 1976 and was unable to land a legal throw in the finals of 1984.