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Rafer Lewis Johnson (August 18, 1934 – December 2, 2020) was an American decathlete and film actor. He was the 1960 Olympic gold medalist in the decathlon, having won silver in 1956. He had previously won a gold at the 1955 Pan American Games.
Rafer Johnson (born August 18, 1934, Hillsboro, Texas, U.S.—died December 2, 2020, Los Angeles, California) was an American athlete and actor, who won a gold medal in the decathlon at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome.
Dec 2, 2020 · Rafer Johnson, who carried the American flag into Rome’s Olympic Stadium in August 1960 as the first Black captain of a United States Olympic team and went on to win gold in a memorable decathlon...
Dec 2, 2020 · Olympic gold medalist Rafer Johnson, who helped bring Summer Games to L.A., dies at 86. Rafer Johnson prepares to light the Olympic flame at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to open the 1984...
Dec 1, 2020 · World Athletics is deeply saddened to hear that 1960 Olympic decathlon champion Rafer Johnson – widely regarded as one of the all-time greats in the combined events – died on Wednesday (2) at the age of 86.
Dec 2, 2020 · R afer Johnson, a UCLA alumnus and two-time Olympic medalist whose work helping to found the Special Olympics and advance racial and social justice transcended his athletic achievements, died today at his home in Sherman Oaks. He was 86.
Dec 3, 2020 · Rafer Johnson, who was crowned the world's greatest athlete after winning the decathlon gold medal at the 1960 Olympics and later helped tackle Robert F. Kennedy's assassin,...
Dec 3, 2020 · Rafer Johnson, who won the decathlon at the 1960 Rome Olympics and helped subdue Robert F. Kennedy’s assassin in 1968, died Wednesday. He was 86.
Johnson was the flagbearer for Team USA at the Rome Olympic Games and was the cauldron lighter for the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. He was a member of the inaugural class of his sport's national hall of fame in 1974.
Rafer Johnson made his decathlon début in 1954 and the next year won the Pan American Games title and set the first of his three world decathlon records.
