Yang, Taiwan Olympian and former UCLA star, dies at 74
Posted Monday, 29 January, 2007
LOS ANGELES -- C.K. Yang, the 1960 Olympic decathlon silver medalist for Taiwan who became a UCLA track and field star, has died. He was 74.
Yang died Saturday in Los Angeles of complications from a massive stroke, UCLA spokesman Marc Dellins said Sunday.
Yang (Yang Chuan-kwang) took the silver medal in the Rome Olympics, with Bruins teammate Rafer Johnson winning the gold.
Yang's Olympic medal was the first for Taiwan. He also won two gold medals for his country in the Asian Games in the 1950s.
He finished fifth in the decathlon in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
Yang set a decathlon world record of 9,121 points in 1963, before the grading formula for the event was changed.
At UCLA, he was the Bruins' team captain in 1963 and finished fifth in the high hurdles in the NCAA championship. He still holds the UCLA freshman record of 7,986 points for the decathlon, set in 1960. His UCLA decathlon best of 8,089 points is third in the Bruins' record books.
"Taiwan has lost someone who may be the greatest athlete of all time, and the rest of us have lost a great friend," Johnson said in a statement released by UCLA.
"I had a competitive career with C.K. that lasted over a number of years and he was always the most prepared, the most competitive and one of the smartest athletes on the field of competition."
Johnson said he became a better athlete because of Yang.
Although the competition between them was fierce, Johnson said, "I was always a little ambivalent in my feelings in terms of how bad I wanted to win when I competed against him because he was such a good friend of mine."
After ending his competitive career, Yang served on Taiwan's Olympic Committee and spent time there each year helping develop the Olympic program.
He is survived by his widow, Daisy, and sons Cedric and C.K. Jr. Funeral arrangements are pending, but Yang had hoped to have his remains buried at the national track and field training center in Taiwan.
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