LOSS OF A LEGEND

Rafer Johnson, 1960 Olympics Decathlon Hero and Kennedy Family Friend, Dies at 86

He is survived by his wife and his brother, Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback Jimmy Johnson, as well as two children.

Rafer Johnson, the first Black captain of a U.S. Olympics team who famously took home Gold in the 1960 Games’ decathlon, died Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 86. A multi-talented athlete, Johnson played basketball under John Wooden at UCLA, becoming student body president at the university. After his athletic career was over, Johnson went on to help start the California Special Olympics, and starred alongside Elvis Presley in a 1961 movie Wild in the Country. A close friend of the Kennedy family, Johnson helped disarm Sirhan Sirhan after he fatally shot Sen. Robert Kennedy during the 1968 presidential campaign. He had one last moment of Olympic glory in 1984, lighting the torch to start that year’s Games in his native Los Angeles. He is survived by his wife and his brother, Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback Jimmy Johnson, as well as two children.