Whatever It Takes

His handsome, ebony face lined with strain and bathed with sweat, Rafer Johnson collapsed wearily on a folding chair at the University of Oregon's track field last Saturday. "It's ridiculous," he muttered. "The whole thing's ridiculous.'' The 4,500 cheering spectators sympathized--but disagreed. In his first competitive fling at the decathlon--among the most grueling of all sports events--since he injured his back in an automobile accident last year, Johnson had just turned in the greatest individual performance in modern track history. In last week's Olympics decathlon trials, Johnson amassed 8,683 points and eclipsed by a fantastic 326 points the world record, set in 1959 by Russia's Vasily Kuznetsov. To do it, Johnson had to beat the best decathlon field ever. Seven men scored more than 7,000 points, and Nationalist China's C. K. Yang, a student at U.C.L.A. and the 1959 U.S. champion, also bettered Kuznetsov's record by 69 points.

Johnson was superb. On the first day, he ran the loo-meter dash in 10.6 sec., broad-jumped 24 ft. 9 1/4 in., put the shot 52 ft., high-jumped 5 ft. 10 in., and ran the 400 meters in 48.6 sec. Next day. he returned to spring the no-meter high hurdles in 14.5 sec., hurl the discus 170 ft. 6 1/2 in. (almost 10 ft. farther than he had ever thrown it before), pole-vault 13 ft. 1/4 in., throw the javelin 233 ft. 3 in. and run 1,500 meters in 5 min. 9.9 sec. Yet even though Rafer Johnson had broken Kuznetsov's ten-event record after only nine events. Johnson's victory was still in doubt. C. K. Yang had not yet run his 1,500-meter heat; a time of 4 min. 34.8 sec. would earn him enough points to beat Johnson. As the heat started, Yang, terribly tired, faltered and fell back. Johnson, watching from the sidelines, leaped to his feet, dashed to the edge of the track and, in a memorable display of sportsmanship, shouted. "Keep going, Yang. Keep going.'' As Yang staggered toward the finish, Johnson urged him on, grabbed him as he crossed the line (in 5 min. 9.3 sec.), walked him solicitously around the field.

Polite and articulate, Johnson graduated last year from U.C.L.A., where he is now seeking a master's degree in physical education. As an undergraduate he was a straight B student, president of the student body, a star basketball player. Johnson, 24, hopes to work for the U.S. State Department: ''I want to travel, meet people, teach them physical education, show them how we live in America." But in the meantime, he has only one concern: the 1960 Olympics. Says Johnson: "I'm prepared to win--whatever that takes." After last week's performance, few doubted he would. Said Oregon's Track Coach Bill Bowerman: "I don't think anyone doubts for a minute that Rafer Johnson is the best athlete in the world."

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