Bill Toomey
American decathlete
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
William Anthony Toomey (born January 10, 1939) is an American former track and field competitor and was the 1968 Olympic decathlon champion.[1]
Bill Toomey in 1968 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 10, 1939 |
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) |
| Weight | 87 kg (192 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Athletics |
Event | Decathlon |
| Club | Southern California Striders |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personal best(s) | 100 – 10.3 (1966) 200 – 21.2 (1966) 400 – 45.6 (1968) 1500 – 4:12.7 (1964) 110H – 14.2 (1969) 400H – 51.7 (1961) HJ – 6–6¾ (2.00) (1969) PV – 14–0¼ (4.27) (1969) LJ – 26–0¼ (7.93) (1969) SP – 47–2¼ (14.38) (1969) DT – 154–2 (46.99) (1969) JT – 225–8 (68.78) (1969) Dec – 8309 (1969) |
Medal record | |
Athletic and broadcast career
Toomey was an All-American for the Colorado Buffaloes track and field team, finishing 7th in the 400 meters hurdles at the 1961 NCAA track and field championships.[2]
He won 23 of the 38 decathlons he competed in, scoring over 8,000 points a dozen times. He was on the cover of the October 1969 issue of Track and Field News.[3]. His 400m time of 45.68 set during the 1968 Olympics was the decathlon world best until 2015 when it was surpassed by Ashton Eaton's 45.00.
Toomey was head coach in track and field at the University of California at Irvine in the early 1970s. Before that he worked as a television broadcaster and marketing consultant.[1]
Toomey also competed in Masters Track and Field.[4]
He married British 1964 Olympic long jump champion Mary Rand.[5]
