Mac Wilkins
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![]() Wilkins in 1976 | |
Personal information | |
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Full name | Maurice Malcolm Wilkins |
Nationality | American |
Born | November 15, 1950 Eugene, Oregon,U.S.[1] | (age73)
Height | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) |
Weight | 115 kg (254 lb) |
Sport | |
Country | ![]() |
Sport | athletics |
Event(s) | Discus throw,shot put,hammer throw,javelin throw |
Club | Pacific Coast Club, Long Beach Athletics West, Eugene Oregon Ducks, Eugene |
Achievements and titles | |
Personalbest(s) | DT – 70.98 m (1980) SP – 21.06 m (1977) HT – 63.65 m (1977) JT – 78.43 m (1970)[1][2] |
Medal record |
Maurice Malcolm "Mac" Wilkins(born November 15, 1950) is an Americanathlete,who competed mainly in thediscus throw.He was born inEugene, Oregonand graduated in 1969 fromBeaverton High Schoolin Beaverton, Oregon.
College
[edit]Distance running coachBill Bowermanrecruited Wilkins to the University of Oregon, where he threw the javelin 257' 8 "(78.43m) as a 19-year-old freshman. As a senior, he was NCAA champion in the discus and won the first of eight U.S. national championships in the discus. He was inducted into theOregon Sports Hall of Famein 1994.
Olympics
[edit]Wilkins competed for the United States in the1976 Summer OlympicsinMontreal,Quebec,Canada in the discus throw, where he won thegold medalwith a distance of 221' 5 "to defeatWolfgang SchmidtofEast Germanyby four feet. Wilkins qualified for the 1980 U.S. Olympic team but did not compete due to the1980 Summer Olympics boycott.He did however receive one of 461Congressional Gold Medalscreated especially for the spurned athletes.[3]
Wilkins won asilver medalin the discus throw at the1984 Summer Olympicsheld inLos Angeles.He placed 5th in the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea.
World records
[edit]Wilkins broke the world record four times in his career. During his discus throw series on May 1, 1976 inSan Jose, California,he set theworld recordthree times with consecutive throws of 69.80 m, 70.24 m, and 70.86 m. In 1976 and 1980, Wilkins was ranked #1 in the world in the discus throw. In 1977, he was the indoor national champion in the shot put, with a throw of 69' 1.5 "(21.06 m).[2]
Coaching
[edit]From 2006 thru 2013, Wilkins was thethrowscoach atConcordia University,an NAIA school inPortland, Oregon.His throwers won 26 individual national championships and earned 94 All-American honors. WhenAl Oerterdied on 1 October 2007, Wilkins became the earliest surviving Olympic champion in the men's discus. He is not the oldest;Viktor Rashchupkin—the 1980 champion—is almost a month older. In August 2013, Wilkins left Concordia University to coach for USATF in Chula Vista, California.[4]
References
[edit]- ^abEvans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen;Mallon, Bill;et al."Mac Wilkins".Olympics at Sports-Reference.com.Sports Reference LLC.Archived fromthe originalon 2020-04-17.
- ^ab"Maurice" Mac "Wilkins".trackfield.brinkster.net.
- ^Caroccioli, Tom; Caroccioli, Jerry (2008).Boycott: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games.Highland Park, IL: New Chapter Press. pp. 243–253.ISBN978-0942257403.
- ^"Olympic Champion & Former World Record Holder".Coach Tube.Retrieved22 August2016.
External links
[edit]- 1950 births
- Living people
- American male discus throwers
- Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field
- Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics
- Oregon Ducks men's track and field athletes
- Track and field athletes from Oregon
- World record setters in athletics (track and field)
- Concordia University (Oregon)
- Track and field athletes from California
- Track and field athletes from San Jose, California
- Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics
- Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics
- Congressional Gold Medal recipients
- Beaverton High School alumni
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1979 Pan American Games
- Medalists at the 1979 Pan American Games
- Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in athletics (track and field)
- New Zealand Athletics Championships winners
- NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners