Bobby Coffman

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Bobby Coffman (born February 17, 1951) is an American former track and field athlete who competed in the decathlon. He set his personal record of 8274 points in Quebec City on August 12, 1979. [1] [2]

Track and field sport involving various running, jumping and throwing disciplines

Track and field is a sport which includes athletic contests established on the skills of running, jumping, and throwing. The name is derived from the sport's typical venue: a stadium with an oval running track enclosing a grass field where the throwing and some of the jumping events take place. Track and field is categorized under the umbrella sport of athletics, which also includes road running, cross country running, and race walking.

Decathlon athletic track and field competition

The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα and ἄθλος. Events are held over two consecutive days and the winners are determined by the combined performance in all. Performance is judged on a points system in each event, not by the position achieved. The decathlon is contested mainly by male athletes, while female athletes typically compete in the heptathlon.

Quebec City Provincial capital city in Quebec, Canada

Quebec City, officially Québec, is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. The city had a population estimate of 531,902 in July 2016, and the metropolitan area had a population of 800,296 in July 2016, making it the second largest city in Quebec after Montreal, and the seventh largest metropolitan area and eleventh largest city in the country.

Contents

Coffman competed at two major international events and won gold in both. He first took the decathlon title at the 1979 Pan American Games with a championship record total of 8078 points. [3] The following year he 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 especially for the spurned athletes. [4] and was the winner of the Olympic boycott games known as the Liberty Bell Classic with a score of 8058 points. [5]

1979 Pan American Games eighth edition of the Pan American Games

The 8th Pan American Games were held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from July 1 to July 15, 1979. The 1980 documentary film A Step Away showcased a number of athletes competing in the Games.

1980 Summer Olympics boycott

The 1980 Summer Olympics boycott was one part of a number of actions initiated by the United States to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The Soviet Union, which hosted the 1980 Summer Olympics, and other countries would later boycott the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

The Liberty Bell Classic was a 1980 track and field athletics event organized by The Athletics Congress as part of the 1980 Olympic boycott and held at Franklin Field in Philadelphia on July 16 and 17, 1980. It was named after Philadelphia's Liberty Bell.

At national level he won at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in both 1979 and 1980, having placed fifth earlier in his career in 1975. [1]

USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships

The USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships is an annual track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field, which serves as the American national championships for the sport. Since 1992, in years which feature a Summer Olympics, World Championships in Athletics or a IAAF Continental Cup, the championships serve as a way of selecting the best athletes for those competitions.

International competitions

YearCompetitionVenuePositionNotes
1979 Pan American Games San Juan, Puerto Rico 1st8078 pts
1980 Liberty Bell Classic Philadelphia, United States1st8058 pts

National titles

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 Bobby Coffman. Track and Field Brinkster. Retrieved on 2016-02-11.
  2. ↑ Bobby Coffman. All Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-02-11.
  3. ↑ Pan American Games. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-02-11.
  4. ↑ Caroccioli, Tom; Caroccioli, Jerry. Boycott: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. Highland Park, IL: New Chapter Press. pp. 243–253. ISBN   978-0942257403.
  5. ↑ Olympic Boycott Games. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-02-11.
  6. ↑ USA Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-02-11.
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