Milt campbell biography

Athletics competitor

This article is about the decathlete of the 1950s. For the 400 meter runner (born 1976), see Milton Campbell. For the blues vocalist, see Little Milton.

American football player

Milton Gray Campbell (December 9, 1933 – November 2, 2012)^[1] was an American decathlete of the 1950s. In 1956, he became the first African American to win the gold medal in the decathlon of the Summer Olympic Games.^[2]

Personal life

Campbell was born in Plainfield, New Jersey. At Plainfield High School he competed in track, football and swimming.^[3] He then enrolled at the Indiana University (Bloomington), where he played football and ran track.^[4]

Milton Gray Campbell, more commonly known as “Milt”, was born on December 9, 1933, in Plainfield, New Jersey. While Campbell's love for sports was apparent from a very young age - always competing with and trying to outperform his older brother, Tom - his athletic prowess was first noticed in high school. He attended Plainfield High School (class of '53) where he participated in track and field, played football, and swam at a time where it was a widely accepted idea in the sports world that African-Americans were unable to properly swim.^[5]

Track and fi

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More Notable & Famous Death

Milton Gray Campbell was an American decathlete of the 1950s. In 1956, he became the first African American to win the gold medal in the decathlon of the Summer Olympic Games.
Campbell was born in Plainfield, New Jersey. At Plainfield High School he competed in track, football and swimming. He then enrolled at the Indiana University (Bloomington), where he played football and track. While a student at Plainfield High School, Campbell won a place on the 1952 Olympic team in the decathlon. Although just 18 years old, Campbell finished second to Bob Mathias in the decathlon.

Campbell set New Jersey state records in the high and low hurdles and in the high jump, and scored 140 points as fullback in football. He was inducted into the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 1997.

In 1956 at Melbourne, Campbell won the gold medal. He narrowly missed a world record.

Campbell was also an excellent swimmer as a youth. An all around athlete, Campbell was drafted by the NFL Cleveland Browns in 1957 and played one season in the same backfield as Jim Brown. He then played for several years in the Canadian Football League, ending his football career in 1964.

In 2008, a degree of Doctor of Public Service, honoris causa, w

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Milton Campbell

• 1986:  United States (Campbell, Process, Waddle, Communist, Carter*)
• 1988:  United States (Carr, Nelloms, Colonist, Carrington)
• 1990:  United States (Mills, Samuels, Writer, Nelloms)
• 1992:  United States (Porter, Mallard, Nichols, Minor)
• 1994:  United States (Johnson, Wheeler, Mythologist, Clay, Harrison*)
• 1996:  United States (Johnson, Jazzman, Martin, Moore)
• 1998:  Australia (McFarlane, Batman, Be aware of, Vincent, Barnwell*)
• 2000:  Jamaica (Clarke, Sappleton, Coley, Simpson, Barrett*)
• 2002:  United States (Ferguson, Williamson, Collins, Fortenberry, Jackson*)
• 2004:  United States (Johnson, Merritt, Craig, Clement, Hinnant*, Ramirez*)
• 2006:  United States (Summers, Oliver, Nellum, Carter, Explorer Jr.*, Lockhart*)
• 2008:  United States (Boyd, Writer, Wilder, Writer, Bailey*, Taylor*)
• 2010:  United States (Mance, Nolan, Verburg, Drupelet, Heriot*, Edmonds*)
• 2012:  United States (Downing, Lexicographer, Okezie, Corridor, Futch*)
• 2014:  United States (Lyles, Brown, Biologist, Cherry, Parish*)
• 2016:  United States (Allison, Cogdell, Montgomery, London)
• 2018:  Italy (Gjetja, Romani, Sibilio, Scotti, Benati*)
• 2021:  Botswana (Kebinatshipi, Pesela, Masede, Majama, Gabanatlhong*)
• 2022: