Yang Chuan-kwang, or C.K. Yang (born 10 July 1933 in Taitung, Taiwan – died January 27, 2007 in California, United States, at the age of 73), was an Olympic decathlete from Taiwan.
Known as the "Iron Man of Asia," Yang won the gold medal in the decathlon at the 1954 Asian Games. At the 1958 Asian Games, he again won gold in the decathlon, as well as silver in the 110m hurdles and the long jump, and bronze in the 400m hurdles. Yang's first Olympic Games competition was at the 1956 Summer Olympics, where he finished in eighth place in the decathlon.
Yang's most memorable competition was a duel with his friend and fellow UCLA schoolmate Rafer Johnson at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. Going into the final event of the decathlon, the 1500m run, Yang trailed Johnson by just 67 points, but Johnson hung on to win the gold medal, with Yang winning the silver. Yang actually beat Johnson in all seven track events, but the losing margin to Johnson in the three field events was big enough to cost Yang the title.
In 1963, Yang set a new world record in the pole vault 
, and the next year, he competed again in the decathlon in the 1964 Summer Olympics, finishing in fifth place.
Yang was a member of the Amis tribe of Taiwanese aborigines. He had a wife, Daisy, and two sons: Cedric Yang (Yang Sui-yuen) and C.K. Yang, Jr.
Yang, who was diagnosed with liver cancer in 2001, died on January 27, 2007, due to a massive stroke. He died in Los Angeles, California, and was laid to rest in Ventura, California.
External links
- The Games of the XVII Olympiad, Rome 1960: Official Report of the Organizing Committee, The Organizing Committee of the Games of the XVII Olympiad, 1960.
- Volume 1, Yang's entry and vital statistics in the List of Athletes, p. 832
- Volume 2 Part 1, results and nine photographs of Yang during and after the decathlon competion, pp. 160–178
- Database Olympics
- UCLA notice about C.K. Yang's death
- Asian Iron Man: Yang Chuan-kuang dies of illness, Apple Daily, January 29, 2007
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Thursday September 18, 2008 at 06:38:34 PDT (GMT -0700)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation
Yang Chuan-kwang, or C.K. Yang (born 10 July 1933 in Taitung, Taiwan – died January 27, 2007 in California, United States, at the age of 73), was an Olympic decathlete from Taiwan.
Known as the "Iron Man of Asia," Yang won the gold medal in the decathlon at the 1954 Asian Games. At the 1958 Asian Games, he again won gold in the decathlon, as well as silver in the 110m hurdles and the long jump, and bronze in the 400m hurdles. Yang's first Olympic Games competition was at the 1956 Summer Olympics, where he finished in eighth place in the decathlon.
Yang's most memorable competition was a duel with his friend and fellow UCLA schoolmate Rafer Johnson at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. Going into the final event of the decathlon, the 1500m run, Yang trailed Johnson by just 67 points, but Johnson hung on to win the gold medal, with Yang winning the silver. Yang actually beat Johnson in all seven track events, but the losing margin to Johnson in the three field events was big enough to cost Yang the title.
In 1963, Yang set a new world record in the pole vault , and the next year, he competed again in the decathlon in the 1964 Summer Olympics, finishing in fifth place.
Yang was a member of the Amis tribe of Taiwanese aborigines. He had a wife, Daisy, and two sons: Cedric Yang (Yang Sui-yuen) and C.K. Yang, Jr.
Yang, who was diagnosed with liver cancer in 2001, died on January 27, 2007, due to a massive stroke. He died in Los Angeles, California, and was laid to rest in Ventura, California.
External links
- The Games of the XVII Olympiad, Rome 1960: Official Report of the Organizing Committee, The Organizing Committee of the Games of the XVII Olympiad, 1960.
- Volume 1, Yang's entry and vital statistics in the List of Athletes, p. 832
- Volume 2 Part 1, results and nine photographs of Yang during and after the decathlon competion, pp. 160–178
- Database Olympics
- UCLA notice about C.K. Yang's death
- Asian Iron Man: Yang Chuan-kuang dies of illness, Apple Daily, January 29, 2007
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Thursday September 18, 2008 at 06:38:34 PDT (GMT -0700)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation
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