Rafer Johnson is the classic American story. Raised in poverty in Hillsboro, Texas, he was victimized by segregation and discrimination, memories that still arouse his anger. With the dream of a better life, his family moved to Kingsburg, Calif., a small town about 20 miles south of Fresno, where Johnson blossomed.

	Rafer Johnson lights the Olympic flame to open the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles.

In high school, he won varsity letters in football, basketball, baseball and track. He averaged nine yards a carry as a halfback in leading Kingsburg High to three league championships; he scored 17 points a game in basketball; and he was a .400 hitter for the baseball team. But he was even better in track and field.

Kingsburg was not far from Tulare, the home of Bob Mathias, the 1948 and '52 Olympic decathlon champion. When Johnson was a junior in high school, he saw Mathias compete, and he promptly became a decathlon man. He earned a scholarship to UCLA, where he became not only a star athlete but student body president, as well.

By the 1960 Olympics, Johnson already had the world record, three national AAU championships and a silver medal in the Olympics on his resume. Missing was the gold. In Rome that year, he led his former UCLA teammate, C.K. Yang of Taiwan, by just 55 points after the first day of the two-day competition. On the second day, the title still was in doubt entering the final event, the 1,500 meters, with Johnson leading Yang by only 67 points.

The 1,500 was Johnson's least-favorite event, but if he came within 10 seconds of Yang's time, the gold would be his. But it was no sure thing. Yang's personal best of 4:36 was 18.2 seconds better than Johnson's top time.

Johnson's strategy was to stay close, and he dogged Yang throughout. When Yang attempted desperately to pull away in the final lap, Johnson wouldn't let him. He finished only six yards and 1.2 seconds behind Yang, coming home in a personal best of 4:49.7. Johnson had the gold medal, setting a then-Olympic record of 8,392 points.

For his efforts, he was named the 1960 Associated Press Athlete of the Year.

Johnson appeared in several movies and was a television sportscaster before turning to politics. In 1968, he was active in the presidential campaign of his good friend Robert Kennedy, and on June 5 of that year was one of several who helped disarm Sirhan Sirhan, Kennedy's assassin.

He helped to establish the California chapter of the Special Olympics in 1969, and in the '70s was a member of the President's Commission on Olympic Sports. He also is a member of the National Track and Field and U.S. Olympic Halls of Fame.

To many athletes, giving their best means something physical. For Johnson, it has always meant much more. NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw called Rafer Johnson the quintessential American hero.