Dallas Long, a Pine Bluff-born Olympic field athlete who bettered a bronze-medal performance in the 1960 Summer Games with a gold-medal shot put toss four years later, died Nov. 10 in Whitefish, Mont., of natural causes. He was 84.
The University of Southern California, where Long attended and won three NCAA individual championships, announced his passing.
Long was one of only five men originally from Pine Bluff — Bill Carr (1932), Charles Greene (1968), Lee Palles (1980) and Kenny Evans (2000) being the others — who qualified for the Games. Carr and Greene, both track stars, also won gold medals.
Long moved from Pine Bluff to Phoenix at a young age. It was while attending North High School when he became the first prep athlete to throw past 60 feet, according to USC.
At USC, Long set a school freshman record of 63 feet, 7 inches in 1959, a mark that stood until 2015. His 65-10 ½ throw in 1962 set a school record that stood for 10 years and still ranks sixth at USC. He lettered three years (1960-62) at USC, won a team national championship in 1961 and captained the Trojans the next year.
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Long set the world record 11 times through 1965, according to USC. His personal best was 67-10.25, the university reports.
In international competition, Long won silver in the 1959 Pan American Games in Chicago and threw 62 feet, 4 inches the next year to win bronze at the Rome Olympics. Bill Nieder, who won gold, and Parry O’Brien, who took silver, completed an American sweep of the medals.
Long was ranked the No. 1 shot putter in the world in 1961, 1962 and 1964, according to USC. In 1964, he threw 66-8 ½ to win gold in the Tokyo Olympics.
He earned a doctor of dental surgery degree from USC and doctor of medicine degree from Washington University in St. Louis. He was inducted into the Arizona Hall of Fame in 1964, National High School Sports Hall of Fame in 1993, National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1996 and USC Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003.
The Associated Press reported Long served as a defense witness in a 1993 federal trial of two Los Angeles police officers who were acquitted in state court of beating Rodney King on videotape in 1991. The officers were then found guilty in federal court.
Survivors include four children, Kristen Long, Kelly Nordell, Karin Grandsire and Ian Long; nine grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren, according to USC. Funeral services are pending.