- Cyrus Young
Cyrus C. Young (born
23 July ,1928 ) was an American athlete who competed mainly in thejavelin throw .Young competed in the javelin throw for the
U.S. at the 1952Summer Olympic Games inHelsinki ,Finland where he won the gold medal; no other American male athlete had ever won the Olympic javelin event - nor since.Cyrus Young set an Olympic record in 1952, breaking the long dominance by Finland in that event. Young, who was the 1956 USA Open javelin champion, was also favored to win the 1956
Olympics , but twisted an ankle the day before competition. Incredibly, Young only toyed with the javelin for two years injunior college and only took it seriously after enteringUCLA in 1948. In 1950, he placed second in theNCAA Championships, and in 1952 Young set a new U.S. record of 78.12meters in the javelin. [http://uclabruins.cstv.com/genrel/091698aaa.html]In 1998, Cyrus Young was inducted within the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame.He was also a memeber of the Olympic Club in San Francisco, and was inducted into the Olympic Club Hall of fame in 2008.
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