Stories of Former Olympic Throwing Stars

Randy Matson:

Matson won the 1968 Olympic gold medal after earning the silver in 1964. He won the Sullivan Award as the nation's top amateur athlete in 1967. Matson won four NCAA championships, in both the shot and discus, at Texas A & M, plus six National AAU shot put titles. He was the first shot-putter to break the 70-feet barrier, in 1965.

The A & M graduate has served his alma mater in several areas, as a director and later executive director of the school’s Association of Former Students from 1972-99. He was Texas A & M’s Senior Philanthropic Officer through 2007. Matson lives with his family in College Station, Texas.

Mac Wilkins:

Wilkins qualified for four Olympic Games and competed in 1976, 1984-88, missing the 1980 Games due to the U.S. boycott. He won the gold medal in 1976 and the silver in 1984. Wilkins, who owned the world discus record for more than two years, also won the 1979 Pan-American Games and placed second in the 1977 and 1979 World Cup events.

Wilkins was the first throws coach at Concordia University in Portland. He also founded the Oregon Throwers Academy to develop throwers from ages 10 through high school age in the Pacific Northwest. He also serves as the U.S.A. Track and Field’s technical adviser to elite male and female discus throwers and has been involved in technology sales, public speaking and fund-raising for the U.S. Olympic Committee.

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