Hall of Fame

Bob Mathias was the first athlete to win the gold medal in consecutive Olympic decathlons. The Tulare, California, native was a track and field star in multiple disciplines in high school, but didn’t try decathlon until 1948. That summer, he became the youngest men’s winner of a track and field event in Olympic history when at age 17, he took gold in the decathlon at the Olympic Games London 1948. Four years later, Mathias broke another Olympic record, becoming the first athlete to win back-to-back Olympic decathlons with his victory at the Helsinki Games. Unbeaten in 11 decathlons throughout his career, Mathias also won four national Amature Athletic Union championships. He would later serve four terms in the House of Representatives as a Republican congressman from California after starring in Hollywood films and serving as an officer in the Marines. After Congress, Mathias was director of the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.