C.K. Yang, the 1960 Olympic decathlon silver medalist for Taiwan and former UCLA track and field star, has died. He was 74. Yang died Saturday in Los Angeles of complications from a massive stroke, UCLA spokesman Marc Dellins said Sunday. A chance meeting in his native Taiwan with two-time Olympic decathlon champion Bob Mathias set C.K. Yang on a quest to become the world's greatest decathlete. He pursued that dream as a UCLA student, where he was a teammate of 1956 Olympic silver medalist Rafer Johnson. At the 1960 Olympics in Rome, the two locked in what is considered one of the greatest duels in decathlon history. C.K. trailed Rafer by only 67 points going into the final event, the 1500m. If he could beat Rafer by more than 10 seconds, he would win the gold medal. C.K. chances looked good, as his 1500m PR was more than 18 seconds faster than Rafer's. But Rafer rallied to run a PR by more than 5 seconds, and finished fewer than two seconds behind C.K., to clinch the gold medal.
C.K. warmed up for his epic 1960 battle with Rafer by winning his first Mt. SAC title. He returned to Mt. SAC in 1963 with a performance that literally changed the record books. His World Record score of 9121 forced a revision in decathlon scoring tables, with points now more evenly distributed among events. This proved to be a detriment to C.K., as it removed the huge pole vault advantage (he was the first decathlete to clear 16 feet) he typically held over his competitors.
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