Olympic legend Rafer Johnson, who won the gold medal in the decathlon at the 1960 Rome Olympics and helped subdue Robert F. Kennedy´s assassin in 1968, died Wednesday. He was 86.
Johnson passed away Wednesday morning at his home in Sherman Oaks section of Los Angeles surrounded by his family. No cause of death was announced.
Johnson was among the greatest athletes in the world from 1955-1960 winning the gold medal in the decathlon at the 1960 Rome Olympics. At that same Olympics, Johnson was the U.S. team’s flag bearer, the first Black American so honored. Johnson won the silver medal in 1956 Melbourne Olympics and had previously won gold in the 1955 Pan American Games.
In June 5, 1968, Johnson tackled and subdued gunman Sirhan Sirhan seconds after he shot and killed Robert Kennedy at the Ambassador Hotel in L.A. Johnson was working on Kennedy’s presidential campaign.
