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Rafer Johnson and Yang Chuan-kwang: Friendly Competition
With its 10 grueling events over two days, the decathlon pushes track-and-field athletes to new levels of achievement. The duel between Rafer Johnson and Yang Chuan-kwang at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome exemplified this in dramatic fashion. The two came from very different backgrounds—Rafer Johnson was a young African American from California, while Yang Chuan-kwang was from Taiwan—but their paths crossed at UCLA, where the two became friends and training partners. In 1960, however, the two athletes met in Rome as fierce rivals for the gold. After a long first day Johnson led Yang by 55 points, despite the ...(100 of 294 words)