LOS ANGELES – Rafer Johnson, who ended his famed track and field career with an exciting win in the 1960 Olympic decathlon, died Tuesday in Sherman Oaks, according to UCLA and USA Track & Field.

He was 86. No cause of death was given. A statement from the school said he died at his home surrounded by family.

Johnson was a man whose legacy was interwoven with Los Angeles’ history, beginning with his performances as a world-class athlete at UCLA and punctuated by the night in 1968 when he helped disarm Robert F. Kennedy’s assassin at the Ambassador Hotel.

Johnson was forever a civic booster in the metropolis where he lived.

The son of Texas farm workers who moved to California when he was young, Johnson rose to become the World’s Greatest Athlete, the unofficial title bestowed on the winner of the Olympic decathlon at a time when track and field stars received the adulation that today is bestowed on the best of the NFL and NBA.

Story Date: December 7, 2020