V 14 N. 71 Dallas Long R.I.P. 1940-2024

 

                                                       Dallas Long

                                               ( from USC Athletics )

Dallas Long has passed away on Tuesday this week in Whitefish, Montana.  He was 84 years old,  a two time Olympic medallist in the shot put including a gold in 1964 in Tokyo.  He graduated from North High School in Phoenix, Arizona, and along with is coach Vern Wolfe migrated on to the University of Southern California where he set numerous national and world records and was a member of the 1961 NCAA national championship team.   Between Dallas, Perry O'Brien, and Bill Nieder, the world record exchanged hands numerous times. Randy Matson was coming on the scene by 1964, but Long prevailed in Tokyo.   There was the occasional interloper from outside the US in the event such as Arthur Rowe of Great Britain, but when confronted by that trio of monsters for the first time in Rome, Rowe quickly knew he was over matched and faded to the sidelines in 17th place.  Ironically, one of my teammates at the University of Oklahoma, Mike Lindsay, from Scotland, representing Great Britain, who competed regularly against Long, O'Brien, and Nieder threw his customary 57 or so feet and got a fifth place at Rome.  Lindsay was a pretty decent discus thrower as well and I remember dodging his discus skipping across the track while running intervals.  Not to take anything away from talent in the rest of the world,  Vilmos Varju of Hungary was able to snag a bronze in Tokyo behind Long and Matson.

Dallas Long was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, the son of a doctor who moved a few years later to Phoenix where he began his track career and was soon to set the national high school record in the shot put.  Long went into dentistry before the 1964 Olympics and cut back on his competitions in 1963, but came back in 1964 and went hog wild in the event eventually winning the gold at Tokyo.  

A very interesting biography of Long can be found in the Arkansas Encyclopedia at the following link.   For a much better look at his throwing record and some other very interesting aspects of his life, including how  he got involved in the Rodney King trial,  I encourage you to open the following link.  Those of you who are metrically challenged may find the stats a bit difficult to digest.  But if Arkansas can  make the adjustment, you can too.  

Dallas Long Bio, Arkansas Encyclopedia

And from Dallas Long's Alma Mater   Trojan Force

USC Track and Field Release

University of Southern California Sports Information Offi ce, Heritage Hall 103, L.A., CA 90089-0601 - Phone: (213) 740-8480 - Fax: (213) 740-7584

LEGENDARY USC TRACK & FIELD OLYMPIAN DALLAS LONG DIES

- Three-Time NCAA Champion Won Shot Put Gold At The 1964 Olympics -

LOS ANGELES – Three-time NCAA shot put champion and USC Olympic gold medalist Dallas Long died of natural causes at the age

of 84 in Whitefi sh, Mont. on November 10.

Long ruled the shot put world in the 1960s, winning three consecutive NCAA titles in the event (1960-61-62) and winning the shot put gold

medal at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics with an Olympic record at the time of 66-8.50. He also won the bronze medal in the shot put at the

1960 Rome Olympics and set the shot put world record 11 times from 1959 to 1965 (with a best of 67-10.25).

He was ranked No. 1 in the shot put in the world in 1961, 1962 and 1964. The three-year letterman (1960-61-62) was a member of USC’s

1961 NCAA championship team and captained the 1962 squad. His USC record throw of 65-10.50 set in 1962 stood for 10 years and

still ranks sixth on USC’s all-time shot put list. Long also set the USC freshman mark of 63-7 in 1959 which stood until the 2015 season.

Long was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1996, as well as the Arizona Hall of Fame in 1964, the National High

School Sports Hall of Fame in 1993 and the USC Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003. He prepped at North High in Phoenix (Ariz.), where he

became the fi rst high schooler to throw the 16-pound shot past 60 feet to set a national prep record.

Long, oringinally from Pine Bluff , Ark., earned his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from USC and then earned a Doctor of Medicine degree

from Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. After his competing days, he became a dentist, then a doctor practicing emergency medicine.

Long is survived by his four children Kristen Long, Kelly Nordell, Karin Grandsire and Ian Long, nine grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

Funeral services are pending.