Randy Matson
 Matson in 1968 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | James Randel Matson | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | March 5, 1945 Pampa, Texas, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 7 in (201 cm) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 265 lb (120 kg) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | Shot put, discus throw | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Atletica Pistoia | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal best(s) | SP – 71–5½ (21.78 m, 1967) DT – 213–9 (65.15 m, 1967) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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James Randel "Randy" Matson (born March 5, 1945) is an American track and field athlete who mostly competed in the shot put. Matson won a silver medal at the 1964 and a gold medal at the 1968 Olympics.[1]
Early years
The son of Charles and Ellen Matson, Randy Matson was reared in
Amateur career
Matson is one of the greatest shot putters in the history of the sport, based predominantly on his one meter improvement of the world record in 1965. He attended Texas A&M University, where he continued to work on his shot put skills, and in his first full year of using the heavier college (adult or Senior) shot (16 pounds), Matson won the Olympic Silver Medal in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
From 1965 through 1971, Matson entered 79 competitions, winning 73. During a two-month span in 1965 he broke the world record three times, adding over two feet to the previous mark, until it stood at 21.52 m (70 ft 7 in). During this time he had a considerable rivalry with Neal Steinhauer, but usually came out on top.
Matson earned his BBA in marketing from Texas A&M in 1967. He was selected in the 5th round (120th pick overall) by the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League,[4] and the 11th round (122nd overall) by the Seattle SuperSonics of the National Basketball Association.[5] Matson turned down both opportunities to concentrate on track and field.
Matson improved his world record to 21.78 m (71 ft 5 in) in 1967, and was rewarded with the
In 1967 he threw the
He narrowly missed making the 1972 Olympic team when he finished fourth at the Olympic Trials.[1] Matson retired after that contest as the only man who, up to that time, had ever put the shot over 70 feet. He was inducted into the Texas A&M Hall of Fame in 1972, the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1974, the National Sports Hall of Fame in 1981, the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1984,[7] the National High School Sports Hall of Fame in 1988 and the Texas Track and Field Coaches Hall of Fame in 2012.[8]
Career highlights
- Personal Record: 21.78 m (71 ft 5 in)
- Olympic Gold Medal, 1968: 20.54 m (67 ft 5 in)
- Olympic Silver Medal, 1964: 20.20 m (66 ft 3 in)
- US National Champion in 1964, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1970, and 1972
- NCAA Shot Put Champion 1966 and 1967
- NCAA Discus Champion 1966 and 1967
- Broke Shot Put World Record four times – annual bests for those years:
- 1965: 21.52 m (70 ft 7 in)
- 1967: 21.78 m (71 ft 5 in)
Post-retirement
Matson has dedicated his post-sports career to Texas A&M University. He joined
In 2003, the
Matson is married to the former Margaret Burns, a 1966 graduate of Abilene Christian University, where she served as a cheerleader. They have three children, Jessica, who is married to Russell Camp of Amarillo, Jim, and Cole, all of whom graduated from Texas A&M. Matson and his family live in College Station, Texas.
References
- ^ a b c Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Randy Matson". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on December 3, 2016. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
- ^ "T&FN's High School Boys Athletes of the Year, 1947–2019". Retrieved January 11, 2019.
- ^ "T&FN's World Men's Athletes of the Year". Retrieved January 11, 2019.
- ^ "1967 NFL Draft". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
- ^ "1967 NBA Draft". Basketball Reference. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
- ^ Past Covers 1970. Trackandfieldnews.com. Retrieved on July 13, 2015.
- ^ Hall of Fame. USATF. Retrieved on July 13, 2015.
- ^ "Texas Track and Field Coaches Association Hall of Fame Inductees". Retrieved January 11, 2019.
External links
- Randy Matson at Mt. San Antonio College Relays Athletes Hall of Fame Archived 2006-09-14 at the Wayback Machine
- Randy Matson at World Athletics
- Randy Matson at the USATF Hall of Fame (archived)
- James Randel Matson at Olympics.com
- Randy Matson at Olympic.org (archived)
- Randy Matson at Olympedia
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