Dallas Long, the 1964 Olympic gold medalist in the men's shot put at Tokyo, died November 10 in Whitefish, Montana. He was 84.
Long was one of the top shot putters in history, setting seven ratified world records from 1959-1964 as he earned bronze at the Rome 1960 Olympic Games before ascending to the top of the podium at Tokyo four years later. He won the 1961 AAU national title and added Olympic Trials wins in 1960 and 1964.
While at USC, Long won three straight NCAA titles, setting meet records each year, culminating in a best of 64-7.
Born June 13, 1940, in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, Long attended Long High School in Phoenix, where he was one of the top shot putters in the nation. In 1958 he was named the High School Athlete of the Year by Track & Field News, setting a national prep record of 69-3.125 with the 12-pound implement and throwing the 16-pound international implement 61-0.5 when he was only 17 years old.
His 61-0.5 toss ranked him second in the world in 1958 and he placed second at the AAU Championships behind world record holder Parry O'Brien. That summer, Long toured with the U.S. national team and finished second to O'Brien in meets against the Soviet Union, Poland, Hungary, and Greece.
Long set his first world record with a 63-2 (~19.25m) performance at the Easter Relays in Santa Barbara on March 28, 1959, beating O'Brien in the process, and at a dual meet between the USC freshman team and the UCLA freshmen, he twice bettered that mark with throws of 19.26 and 19.38. Those throws were not submitted by the AAU to the IAAF for ratification, though. O'Brien retook the WR on August 1 and went on to take gold at the Pan American Games in Chicago, with Long nabbing silver.
Ramping up for the Rome Olympic Games in 1960, Long set his second world record at Los Angeles on March 5 at the Southern Pacific AAU meet, going 63-7 (~19.38), and then reclaimed the record from Bill Nieder with a 64-6.5 (~19.67) in a dual meet at USC on March 26. He captured the biggest win of his young career at the Olympic Trials at Stanford on July 1, taking down O'Brien by a foot with a 63-3.75 toss.
At Rome, the three Americans -- Nieder, O'Brien and Long -- broke the Olympic record five times in the final, with Nieder coming out on top at 19.68. O'Brien garnered silver with a best 19.11, while the 20-year-old Long earned bronze at 19.01.
Winning his only AAU title in 1961 with a 62-2 throw, Long was runner-up in 1962 and 1964. He cracked the 20-meter barrier in 1962 with a 20.08 at the Coliseum Relays in Los Angeles on May 18 to set his fourth world record. Two years later at a dual meet at Occidental College in Los Angeles, Long hit his fifth WR with a 20.10 throw. He upped that to 20.20 at the SP-AAU Championship in Los Angeles on May 29, 1964, and then smashed that with a 20.68 to win against the Soviet Union at the Coliseum on July 25. That mark would end up as his career best.
After winning the final Olympic Trials at Los Angeles on September 12 by almost a foot with a workmanlike 19.74, Long was the favorite to take gold in Tokyo. He was challenged by another American youngster, Randy Matson of Texas A&M, who twice broke the Olympic record in rounds three and four before Long responded with a 20.33 in the fourth round to seal the victory and lead a 1-2 U.S. finish.
Long earned a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from USC and followed with a Doctor of Medicine degree from Washington University (St. Louis). When he retired from track and field competition, he was a dentist and then moved to emergency medicine.
Long was inducted into the National Track & Field Hall of Fame in 1996 and is also a member of the National High School Sports Hall of Fame, USC Athletics Hall of Fame, and the Arizona Hall of Fame.
He is survived by four children, nine grandchildren, and two great grandchildren. Services are pending.
Photo Credit: USC Athletics