Yang C. K.

C. K. Yang is considered the greatest all-around athlete produced by the island nation of Taiwan. He first came to notice in 1954 when he won the decathlon at the 1954 Asian Games. He competed at the 1956 Olympics, placing eighth in the decathlon. In 1958 he repeated his win at the Asian Games in the decathlon, and also won silver medals in the high hurdles and long jump, and a bronze medal in the 400 hurdles. Yang attended UCLA where he competed on the track team alongside his good friend Rafer Johnson. At the 1960 Olympic Games the battle between Yang and Johnson was one of the highlights of the Olympics. Yang was superior in the running and jumping events, but Johnson’s strength in the throwing events gave him a small lead going into the 1,500. Yang was a better 1,500 runner, but Johnson hung on Yang’s tail throughout the race and managed to narrowly win the gold, Yang taking silver. In 1963 Yang set a world indoor record in the pole vault (4.96 m) and also broke the decathlon world record with 9,121 points. He was expected to be favored for the 1964 decathlon gold medal but a change in the scoring tables devalued his superiority in the pole vault and he placed only fifth in Tokyo. Yang returned to Taiwan where he later became President of the National Sports Training Center.

Personal Bests: HJ – 2.02 (1956); PV – 5.00 (1963); Dec – 8089/(9121) (1963).