Dave Edstrom

Dave Edstrom won the Pan American Games gold medal in the decathlon in 1959, with his other major decathlon title coming at the 1963 Kansas Relays. At the AAU decathlon, he was runner-up in 1957, 1959, and 1961, and placed third in 1958 and 1963. Edstrom finished fourth at the 1960 US Olympic Trials, which doubled as the AAU Championship, but he made the team as the third American, as C. K. Yang of Chinese Taipei finished second to Rafer Johnson. Edstrom was world ranked in the top seven for five consecutive years (1957-61). He competed for the University of Oregon, the Emerald Empire TC, the Oregon TC, and the US Air Force.

Edstrom and his family later moved to Colorado Springs where he was a track coach at the US Air Force Academy. He later returned to school, receiving a masters’ degree in education from Boston University, and then earning a law degree from the University of Denver, with sub-specialization work done at Fordham Law School. He later practiced law as a municipal bond attorney in Denver, specializing in public financing of municipalities, first with Lamm, Edstrom, Falacienski, Jordan & Bieber, and then with Spencer, Fane & Grimshaw.

Personal Bests: 120yH – 13.8 (1960); HJ – 1.95 (6-5) (1958); LJ – 7.29 (23-11¼) (1958); SP – 15.23 (49-11¾) (1960); DT – 52.83 (173-4) (1963); JT – 65.33 (214-4) (1958); Decathlon – 7,870 (1960).