Mike Gonzales

Michael "Mike" Gonzales is a former United States decathlete.

Gonzales attended Bishop Montgomery High School in Redondo Beach, California, where he played both football and track and field. He was inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame in 2013.^[1]

Gonzales was offered multiple football

Track and Field from University of Southern California with the intention of becoming an Olympic athlete. At USC Gonzales was a standout in decathlon, where he held the USC Decathlon School record from 1984-2019.^[2] He competed and won the gold medal in decathlon at the 1987 Pan American Games

in Indiana.

Gonzales tried four times to make the USA Olympic Team in Decathlon (1984 1988, 1992,1996) but was plagued by injury in each attempt. Gonzales was recruited by Olympian Liston Bochette to participate in the 1998 Winter Olympics representing Puerto Rico in the four-man bobsled team. At 2002 Winter Olympics Michael Gonzales did not meet Puerto Rico Olympic Committee rules about eligibility; after this, the Puerto Rico Olympic Committee withdrew the recognition of the Winter Sports Federation for the island, effectively ending any hopes for athletes competing at the Winter Olympics until 2018.

Gonzales later became a competitive amateur golfer, competing in over 400 tournaments.^[3] In 2016 Mike Gonzales began to complete as a professional golfer, completing in Champion Tour Event qualifiers and 3 of the Champion Tour Qualifying School Tournaments. Today he is the CEO for TOPIMR, a web-based Internet Marketing Company.

Honors and awards

2014 USC Track and Field Hall of Fame; Heritage Award recipient
2013 Bishop Montgomery High School, Athletic Hall of Fame
1988 Personal Record Decathlon 8,203 points
1987 Gold Medalist, Pan American Games Decathlon
1987 United States Olympics Festival Decathlon Gold Medalist
1984 USC All-American, Decathlon
1984 USC Track and Field Record, Decathlon (8,022), Held Record 1984-2019
1983,1984, 1985 3 Time All-Pac-10 Decathlon
1980 United States Junior Olympics National Decathlon
1980 United States National Age Group Decathlon Record 16 years and under

Education

Bishop Montgomery High School, Torrance CA (1982)
University of Southern California, BS in Communications(full scholarship, track and field)^[1]

Personal life

Gonzales resides in Southern California with his wife, Debra and his son Tanner.

References

^ ^a ^b "Bishop Montgomery High School". Bmhs-la.org. 2013-09-09. Retrieved 2014-02-07.
^ USC Track and Field Records
^ "Mike Gonzales - Profile - Golf Channel Amateur Tour 2014". Thegolfchannel.bluegolf.com. Retrieved 2014-02-07.

[bmhs-la1-1] "Bishop Montgomery High School". Bmhs-la.org. 2013-09-09. Retrieved 2014-02-07.

[2] USC Track and Field Records

[3] "Mike Gonzales - Profile - Golf Channel Amateur Tour 2014". Thegolfchannel.bluegolf.com. Retrieved 2014-02-07.

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