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During the 1948 London Olympics, Bob Mathias from the United States became the Youngest Decathlete to win the Decathlon title. He was only 17 years old. Four years later he won gold in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. He set a world record there and became the first man to retain the 10 sports crown.
He started practicing just three months before the 1948 Olympics and made it to the U.S. Olympic team. However, his naivety during the decathlon was pretty obvious as he was unaware of the rules of shot put. He almost lost out in the high jump event, but managed to recover. He went on to win gold inspite of all these initial hiccups.
He retired from athletic competition after the 1952 Olympics and ended up becoming the first director of the United States Olympic Training Center. He died in Fresno on September 2, 2006 due to cancer.
Edwin Corley Moses (born on August 31, 1995) from the united states was the most successful 400m hurdler. He won gold during the 1976 and 1984 Olympics. He could not compete in the 1980 Moscow Olympics as a result of the American boycott of the Moscow Olympics. He won bronze during the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
It has to be mentioned that he achieved all this by maintaining a strict vegetarian diet. He has also been a key person to bring reforms in areas of Olympic eligibility and also has been an instrumental person in ushering in a number of anti-drug policies.
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