Yang Chuan-kwang

Yang Chuan-kwang

Chuan-kwang at the 1960 Olympics
Personal information
Born	(1933-07-10)July 10, 1933 Taitung, Taiwan
Died	January 27, 2007(2007-01-27) (aged 73) Los Angeles, U.S.
Height	186 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	80 kg (176 lb)
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	Decathlon
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	HJ – 2.02 m (1956) PV – 5.00 m (1963) Decathlon – 8089/(9121) (1963)
Medal record Representing  Republic of China Olympic Games 1960 Rome Decathlon Asian Games 1954 Manila Decathlon 1958 Tokyo Decathlon 1958 Tokyo 110 m hurdles 1958 Tokyo Long jump 1958 Tokyo 400 m hurdles

Yang Chuan-kwang, or C.K. Yang (Chinese: 楊傳廣; pinyin: Yáng Chuánguǎng) (July 10, 1933 – January 27, 2007), was an Olympic decathlete from the Republic of China. Yang attended college at UCLA where he trained and competed with team mate and Olympian Rafer Johnson and was coached by Elvin C. Drake.

Known as the "Iron Man of Asia," Yang won the decathlon event at the 1954 and 1958 Asian Games, as well as silver medals in the 110 m hurdles and long jump and the bronze medal in the 400 m hurdles. At the 1956 Summer Olympics he placed eighth in the decathlon. He also competed in the high jump.

Yang's most memorable decathlon competition was a decathlon duel with Rafer Johnson, his friend and teammate at University of California at Los Angeles, during the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. Going into the final event of the decathlon, the 1500 meter run, Yang trailed Johnson by just 67 points, but Johnson hung on to win the gold medal, with Yang placing second. Yang topped Johnson in all four track events and three jumping or vaulting events, but Johnson gained a large margin in the three throwing events (the shot put, the discus throw, and the javelin throw). Yang was the first Olympic medallist in his country's history.