(Redirected from C.K. Yang)
'Yang Chuan-kwang', or 'C.K. Yang' () (born
10 July 1933 in
Taitung,
Taiwan – died
January 27,
2007 in
California,
United States) was an Olympic
decathlete from
Taiwan. Known as the "Iron Man of Asia," Yang won the gold for Taiwan in decathlon at the
1954 Asian Games. His most memorable competition was a duel with his friend and fellow
UCLA schoolmate
Rafer Johnson at the
1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. Going into the final event of the decathlon, the
1500 metres run, Yang trailed Johnson by 67 points, but Johnson hung on for the win. However, Yang actually beat Johnson in the seven track events, but the losing margin to Johnson in the three field events was big enough to cost him the title. In 1963, Yang set a new world record in
pole vaulting [1]. He belonged to the
Ami tribe of the
Taiwanese aborigines.
He also had a wife and two sons: Cedric Yang (Yang Sui-yuen) and C.K. Yang, Jr.
Yang, suffering from liver cancer since
2001, died on January 27, 2007, due to a massive stroke. He died in Los Angeles, California; he was laid to rest in Ventura, California.
External links
★
Database Olympics
★
UCLA site about Yang Chuan Kwang
★
Asian Iron Man: Yang Chuan-kuang dies of illness, ''
Apple Daily'', January 29, 2007