Yang Chuan-kwang
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| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
 Yang Chuan-kwang |
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| Men's Athletics | ||
Competitor for  Republic of China |
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| Olympic Games | ||
| Silver | 1960 Rome | Decathlon |
| Asian Games | ||
| Gold | 1954 Manila | Decathlon |
| Gold | 1958 Tokyo | Decathlon |
| Silver | 1958 Tokyo | 110m Hurdles |
| Silver | 1958 Tokyo | Long Jump |
| Bronze | 1958 Tokyo | 400m Hurdles |
- This is a Chinese name; the family name is Yang.
Yang Chuan-kwang, or C.K. Yang (simplified Chinese: 杨传广; traditional Chinese: 楊傳廣; pinyin: Yáng Chuánguǎng) (10 July 1933 in Taitung, Taiwan – January 27, 2007 in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 73), was an Olympic decathlete from the Republic of China.
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 the gold medal in the decathlon, as well as silver medals in the 110 meter hurdles and the long jump, and a bronze medal in the 400 meter hurdles. Yang's first Olympic Games competition was at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, where he finished in eighth place in the decathlon.
Yang's most memorable competition was a duel with his friend and fellow UCLA college mate and teammate Rafer Johnson at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy. 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 winning the silver. Yang actually topped Johnson in all four track events, plus the three jumping or vaulting events, but the large losing margins to Johnson in the three throwing events (the shot put, the discus throw, and the javelin throw) was big enough to cost Yang first place and send him home with the decathlon silver medal.
[Note, the high jump, the broad jump, and the pole vault are also considered to be "field events", along the throwing events of the shot put, the javelin throw, and the discus throw. Thus, the decathlon consists of six field events and four track events. This article formerly stated that there were seven "track events", which was not correct.]
In 1963, Yang set a new world record in the pole vault among decathlon competitors [1], and the next year, he competed again in the decathlon in the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, 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 contracted liver cancer in 2001 while he was the president of the National Sports Training Center at Kaohsiung, died on January 27, 2007, due to a massive stroke. He died in Los Angeles, California, and was laid to rest in the Ivy Lawn Memorial Park in Ventura, California.
[edit] 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 competition, pp. 160–178
- Database Olympics
- UCLA notice about C.K. Yang's death
- (Chinese) Asian Iron Man: Yang Chuan-kuang dies of illness, Apple Daily, January 29, 2007
- Taiwan Culture Portal: The Life and Legend of Taiwan's first Olympic medalist "Asian Iron Man" C.K. Yang (in English)
| Records | ||
|---|---|---|
Preceded by Rafer Johnson |
Men's Decathlon World Record Holder April 28, 1963 – July 24, 1966 |
Succeeded by Russ Hodge |
| Awards | ||
Preceded by Peter Snell |
Track & Field Athlete of the Year 1963 |
Succeeded by Peter Snell |
