- Milt Campbell
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This article is about the decathlete of the 1950s. For the blues vocalist, see Little Milton. For the 400 meter runner, see Milton Campbell.
Medal record [[Image:|Center|220px]]
Milt Campbell at a Civitan International sports clinic.Men's athletics Competitor for the United States Olympic Games Gold 1956 Melbourne Decathlon Silver 1952 Helsinki Decathlon Milton Gray Campbell (born December 9, 1933 at Plainfield, New Jersey) is an American decathlete of the 1950s. In 1956, he became the first African American to win the gold medal in the decathlon of the Summer Olympic Games.
At Plainfield High School he competed in track and swimming.[1] He then enrolled at the Indiana University (Bloomington). While a student at Plainfield High School, Campbell won a place on the 1952 Olympic team in the decathlon. Although just 18 years old, Campbell finished second to Bob Mathias in the decathlon.
Campbell set New Jersey state records in the high and low hurdles and in the high jump, and scored 140 points as fullback in football. He was inducted into the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 1997.[2]
In 1956 at Melbourne, Campbell won the gold medal. He narrowly missed a world record. Many observers believe he would have set the record if not for a subpar performance in the pole vault.
Campbell was also an excellent swimmer as a youth. An all around athlete, Campbell briefly played in the National Football League for the Cleveland Browns and in 1959 for the Montreal Alouettes in the Canadian Football League. Among Campbell's 3 children, his son Grant is a winner of the World Karate Championships.
In 2008, a degree of Doctor of Public Service, honoris causa, was conferred upon him by Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey.
References
- ^ "CAMPBELL CAPTURES TWO NEWARK EVENTS", The New York Times, February 28, 1953. Accessed November 6, 2007. "Milt Campbell, Plainfield High School star, won the first two events in the twenty-ninth Newark Athletic Club track and field championships today."
- ^ Hall of Fame, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed August 26, 2008.
Olympic champions in the men's all-around, pentathlon and decathlon As all-around 1904: Tom Kiely (GBR)
As pentathlon 1912: Jim Thorpe (USA) / Ferdinand Bie (NOR) · 1920: Eero Lehtonen (FIN) · 1924: Eero Lehtonen (FIN)
As decathlon 1912: Jim Thorpe (USA) / Hugo Wieslander (SWE) · 1920: Helge Løvland (NOR) · 1924: Harold Osborn (USA) · 1928: Paavo Yrjölä (FIN) · 1932: James Bausch (USA) · 1936: Glenn Morris (USA) · 1948: Bob Mathias (USA) · 1952: Bob Mathias (USA) · 1956: Milt Campbell (USA) · 1960: Rafer Johnson (USA) · 1964: Willi Holdorf (EUA) · 1968: Bill Toomey (USA) · 1972: Mykola Avilov (URS) · 1976: Bruce Jenner (USA) · 1980: Daley Thompson (GBR) · 1984: Daley Thompson (GBR) · 1988: Christian Schenk (GDR) · 1992: Robert Změlík (TCH) · 1996: Dan O'Brien (USA) · 2000: Erki Nool (EST) · 2004: Roman Šebrle (CZE) · 2008: Bryan Clay (USA)
Categories:- 1933 births
- Living people
- African American track and field athletes
- Olympic track and field athletes of the United States
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1952 Summer Olympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics
- People from Plainfield, New Jersey
- Olympic gold medalists for the United States
- Olympic silver medalists for the United States
- American decathletes
- Olympic medalists in athletics (track and field)
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