Randy Matson
 |
|
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | James Randel Matson |
| Born |
March 5, 1945 Pampa, Texas, United States |
| Height | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) |
| Weight | 265 lb (120 kg) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Athletics |
| Event(s) | Shot put, discus throw |
| Club | Atletica Pistoia |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personal best(s) | SP – 71–5½ (21.78 m, 1967) DT – 213–9 (65.15 m, 1967) |
|
Medal record
|
|
James Randel "Randy" Matson (born March 5, 1945) is an American track and field athlete who mostly competed in the shot put. He won a silver medal at the 1964 and a gold medal at the 1968 Olympics.
The son of Charles and Ellen Matson, Randy Matson was reared in Pampa, the seat of Gray County in the Texas Panhandle. At the age of twelve, he participated in his first track meet. He won the 50-yard dash, the 100-yard dash, the long jump and the high jump and finished sixth in the shot put. He attended Pampa High School, where he was a three-sport standout in American football, basketball, and track and field. He won All-District football honors, and was a two-time All-District and one-time All-State basketball player, averaging 15 points per game. In track and field, he was a two-time State Champion in both the shot put and the discus and could run the 100 yard dash in 10.2 seconds. This led him to be named an All-State and All-American in track and field. He was Track and Field News "High School Athlete of the Year" in 1963.
Matson is considered by many to be the greatest shot putter of all time, considering his massive improvement of the world record. He chose to attend Texas A&M University, where he continued to work on his shot put skills. In his first full year of using the heavier college (adult or Senior) shot (16 pounds), Matson won the Olympic Silver Medal in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
From 1965 through 1971, Matson entered 79 competitions and won 73 of them. In a two-month span in 1965 he broke the world record three times, adding over 2 feet to the previous mark, until it stood at 21.52 m (70 ft 7 in). He earned his B.B.A. in Marketing from Texas A&M in 1967, and was then drafted by teams in the National Football League, National Basketball Association, and the American Basketball Association. He turned them all down to concentrate on track and field. He had a considerable rivalry with Neal Steinhauer, but usually came out on top.
...
Wikipedia