Sim Iness
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Olympic medal record | |||
| Men’s athletics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | 1952 Helsinki | Discus throw | |
Simeon Garland 'Sim' Iness (Jul 9, 1930, Keota, Oklahoma - May 23, 1996, Porterville, California) was an American athlete who competed in the discus throw.
In 1934 his family moved from Oklahoma because of the dust bowl to the small San Joaquin Valley town of Tulare, California. There he became lifelong friends with and both a former high school classmate and high school and Olympic teammate of Olympic decathlon champion Bob Mathias.
He went to college at the University of Southern California and won the NCAA discus championship in 1952 and 1953.
He competed for the United States in the 1952 Summer Olympics held in Helsinki, Finland in the discus throw where he won the gold medal with a throw of 55.03 m. He set the discus world's record on June 28 1953 in Lincoln, Nebraska at 57,93 m, being the first man to ever throw over the 190' foot barrier.
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.
[edit] External link
| Olympic champions in men's discus throw |
|---|
| 1896: Robert Garrett | 1900: Rudolf Bauer | 1904: Martin Sheridan | 1906: Martin Sheridan | 1908: Martin Sheridan | 1912: Armas Taipale | 1920: Elmer Niklander | 1924: Clarence Houser | 1928: Clarence Houser | 1932: John Anderson | 1936: Ken Carpenter | 1948: Adolfo Consolini | 1952: Sim Iness | 1956: Al Oerter | 1960: Al Oerter | 1964: Al Oerter | 1968 Al Oerter | 1972: Ludvík Daněk | 1976: Mac Wilkins | 1980: Viktor Rashchupkin | 1984: Rolf Danneberg | 1988: Jürgen Schult | 1992: Romas Ubartas | 1996: Lars Riedel | 2000: Virgilijus Alekna | 2004: Virgilijus Alekna |
