Russ Hodge
American decathlete
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Russell Arden Hodge (born September 12, 1939)[1][3] is an American track and field athlete, world record holder in decathlon (1966–1967), Olympic competitor from 1964, and silver medalist from the Pan American Games (1971).
Hodge in 1966 | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | September 12, 1939 Roscoe, New York, U.S. | |||||||||||
| Height | 190 cm (6 ft 3 in) | |||||||||||
| Weight | 102 kg (225 lb) | |||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | |||||||||||
Event | Decathlon | |||||||||||
| Club | Santa Clara Valley Youth Village | |||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||
| Personal best(s) | 100y – 9.6 (1966) 100 m – 10.2 (1970) 400 m – 47.9 (1970) LJ – 7.69 m (1966) SP – 18.56 m DT – 53.13 m (1969) JT – 64.49 m (1966)[1][2] | |||||||||||
Medal record
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Track and field career
Hodge competed at the 1963 Pan American Games in São Paulo, where he finished 4th in decathlon.[1] He competed in decathlon at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, where he placed ninth.[1][4][5] In July 1966 he set a world record in decathlon at a competition in Los Angeles, with 8,230 points, a record which lasted until May 1967.[1][4] Hodge received a silver medal in decathlon at the 1971 Pan American Games in Cali, Colombia with a score of 7314, behind winner Rick Wanamaker.[6]
He finished fourth in the AAU National Championship in decathlon in 1963 and in 1964, and second in 1965 and 1966.[7] In 1970 he finished second again, as he did in 1971, after a close race with Rick Wanamaker.[7][8]
Hodge was an All-American athlete for the UCLA Bruins track and field team, finishing 7th in the shot put at the 1968 NCAA University Division outdoor track and field championships.[9]
Hodge did not compete at the Olympics after 1964. He became injured before the U.S. trials both in 1968 and 1972, and again in 1976.[4][10]
Family
Hodge is son of Alice Arden, who placed ninth in high jump at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.[11][12] His father Russel "Rusty" Hodge was a semi-professional basketball player, playing center for the Liberty Emeralds.
Awards
In August 2003, both Hodge and his mother were honoured with the Sullivan County Historical Society "History Maker" award.[13] They are the only mother-son Olympians in the United States' Olympic history.[13]
