Jim Hines
Jim Hines is one of the select few men to possess the title of “World’s Fastest Human” and has the sole distinction of being the “first person to break the 10 second barrier”. Hines earned that distinction while representing the United States in the 1968 summer Olympics in Mexico City. A product of Oakland’s McClymonds […]
Payton Jordan
Payton Jordan coached track and field at Stanford from 1957 through 1979, his athletes winning six individual NCAA titles and setting five world records. He was the head coach of the 1968 U.S. Olympic team that won a record 24 medals, including 12 Golds, and established six world records. He was also the director of […]
Bruce Jenner
Bruce Jenner lived in San Jose, where he trained at the San Jose Community College Track. In 1975, he established a world record of 8,524 points in an international meet at Oregon University’s Hayward Field. He was a gold medal winner in 1976 at Montreal, with a world record score of 8,634 points. Jenner won […]
Lee Evans
Lee Evans attended Overfelt High School in San Jose. At San Jose State, he was a member of the school’s NCAA 1969 Championship Team. He set a record for 43.86 for 400 meters in 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, which stood for 20 years. He won another gold medal for anchoring the USA 4×400 […]
Tommie Smith
Tommie Smith entered San Jose State on a basketball scholarship but concentrated on track under Coach Bud Winter and became the only man, all time, to hold 11 simultaneous World and Olympic records: 200-meter dash, Olympic and World record, set in Mexico City in 1968, 19.83; 220-yard dash, 19.5; 400 meters, 44.5; 440-yard indoor, 46.2; […]
Cornelius “Dutch” Warmerdam
Dutch Warmerdam began vaulting for the San Francisco Olympic Club in 1939. On April 13, 1940, at the University of California Edwards Field, he became the first man to vault 15 feet using a bamboo pole. He cleared 15 feet 3/4 inches on May 23, 1943, at the Modesto Relays and 15 feet 8 1/2 […]
Robert “Bob” Bruce Mathias
On August 6, 1948, 17-year-old Bob Mathias of Tulare High School competed in a grueling 10-event test of heart and muscle to become “the world’s greatest all-around athlete” at the Olympic Games decathlon. Four years later, the stronger and more experienced Mathias became the first ever to win the decathlon twice, setting a world record […]