Gold Medal-Winning Decathlete Rafer Johnson Passes Away

Gold Medal-winning U.S. decathlete Rafer Johnson, who "helped bring Summer Games to L.A," passed away today at age 86. Johnson’s legacy was interwoven with L.A.’s history, "beginning with his performances as a world-class athlete at UCLA, and punctuated by the night in 1968 when he helped disarm Robert F. Kennedy’s assassin." Johnson had a "short career as a TV reporter, covering the 1964 Olympics for NBC and then working as a sports anchor for KNBC" in L.A. In '79, L.A. Mayor Tom Bradley asked Johnson to "join the board of the committee bringing the 1984 Olympics to the city." As the Games approached, speculation "swirled about who would be the final torchbearer." About 10 days before the ceremony, Johnson was chosen to "light the flame" (L.A. TIMES, 12/2).