They called it the most exciting five minutes in Olympic Games history. The event was the decathlon—the scene was the 1960 Games in Rome. The participants were Rafer Johnson, representing the
United States, and C. K. Yang, who represented Taiwan.
Rivals on the field, these two were close friends who had gone to school and worked out together at UCLA for two years in
preparation for the '60 Olympics.
The decathlon's 10 events require an athlete to master the diverse techniques of sprinting, jumping, hurling, vaulting, and
hurdling. And at the end of Day Two, when their strength is almost gone, the competitors are required to run at their top speed
for a metric mile (1,500 meters).
Yang and Johnson were so close in total points after nine events that Yang had to run the 1,500 meters only 10 seconds faster
than Johnson to win the gold medal for the decathalon. Since the Taiwanese had previously posted a best time of 4:36.9 in the
event, compared to the American's 4:54.2, it looked as though Yang would take the gold.
It was almost 9:30 p. m. before the final event began. Yang took the lead and tried to widen it. But Johnson shadowed him,
gliding easily. Spectators forgot the other runners in the race, concentrating on the fierce duel between these two competitors.
At the beginning of the final lap, Yang made his move. Slowly, he widened the gap. Johnson fought to close it. With 110 meters
to go, Yang gave it his final effort.
Coming down to the wire, Yang's head wobbled as he fought for air. The struggling Taiwanese had stretched his lead to six
meters at the finish line.
But it wasn't enough. The difference in time was only 1.2 seconds. Rafer Johnson had run the fastest 1,500 meters of his life
and had defeated C. K. Yang by 58 points to win the 1960 Olympic decathlon.
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