Randy Matson
Randy Matson was born in Kilgore, Texas, United States on March 5th, 1945 and is the Athletics Competitor. At the age of 79, Randy Matson biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.
At 79 years old, Randy Matson has this physical status:
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, and the 11th round (122nd overall) by the Seattle SuperSonics of the National Basketball Association. 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 James E. Sullivan Award, given to the nation's outstanding amateur athlete. He earned the Olympic Gold Medal at the Mexico City Games in 1968, and was named the 1970 Track and Field News Athlete of the Year. He was on the June 1970 and January 1971 covers of Track and Field News.
In 1967 he threw the discus to within three inches (8 cm) of the (then) world record, and was briefly considered as a possible double Olympic champion in shot and discus—like Bud Houser in 1924—but Matson only competed in the shot in Mexico City. On that same day Matson put the shot over 70 feet three times and the discus over 200 feet three times.
He narrowly missed making the 1972 Olympic team when he finished fourth at the Olympic Trials. 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, the National High School Sports Hall of Fame in 1988 and the Texas Track and Field Coaches Hall of Fame in 2012.