Sim Iness

Sim Iness

Iness, circa 1950
Personal information
Born	July 9, 1930 Keota, Oklahoma,U.S.
Died	May 23, 1996 (aged 65) Porterville, California,U.S.
Height	198 cm (6 ft 6 in)
Weight	108 kg (238 lb)
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event	Discus throw
Club	LAAC, Los Angeles
Achievements and titles
Personalbest	57.93 m (1953)
Medal record RepresentingtheUnited States Olympic Games 1952 Helsinki Discus throw

Simeon "Sim" Garland Iness(July 9, 1930 – May 23, 1996) was an Americandiscus throwerwho won a gold medal at the1952 Summer Olympics,breaking the Olympic record several times in the process.Next year he set a new world record at 57.93 m.

Early life and education

As a child of sharecroppers, in 1934 his family leftOklahomadue to the onset of the dust bowl and moved to the smallSan Joaquin Valleytown ofTulare,California.There he became lifelong friends with classmate and teammate atTulare Union High Schooland Olympic teammate, decathlon championBob Mathias. Weeks after his high school graduation, and on his 18th birthday, Iness placed sixth in the discus in the 1948 Olympic Trials.

Iness first attended college atCompton Junior College,where he won the National Junior College discus championship in 1949. He was also a member of the winning Compton football squad along with future NFL Hall of Famer "Hurricane"Hugh McElhenny,which won the 1948 Junior Rose Bowl game, becoming National Junior College champions. He then transferred to theUniversity of Southern Californiawhere he won theNCAAdiscus championship in 1952 and 1953.While at the University of Southern California, Iness was a member ofTau Kappa Epsilon.

Career

Iness competed for the United States in the1952 Summer Olympicsheld inHelsinki,Finland,here he won the gold medal with a throw of 55.03 m. His gold medal triumph started the longest USA winning streak in the discus event in modern Olympic history. He set the discus world's record on June 28, 1953 inLincoln,Nebraskaat 57.93 m, being the first man to throw over 190 feet.He went on to appear in two Hollywood films,Sign of the Pagan(1954) withJack PalanceandJeff ChandlerandLady Godiva of Coventry(1955) withMaureen O'Hara.He was an Olympic torch bearer for the 1960 Squaw Valley Winter Olympics.

After his Olympic and world record triumph, Iness worked the rest of his life as a high school and college physical education teacher, track and football coach,and education counselor. "Sim Iness Gymnasium" can be found on the campus of Sim's alma-mater,Tulare Union High School.The Sim Iness Collection is housed at the Tulare City Historical Museum.

External links

• Official website