Larry Young (athlete)

Larry Young (athlete) medal table
Walker
United States
Olympic Summer Games
bronze	1968 Mexico City	50 km
bronze	1972 Munich	50 km
Pan American Games
gold	1967 Winnipeg	50 km
gold	1971 Cali	50 km
bronze	1975 Mexico City	20 km

Larry Young (actually Lawrence Dean Young; born February 10, 1943 in Independence , Missouri ) is a retired American athlete and two-time Olympic medalist in 50 km walking .

Young is considered the most successful American walker in history. After high school, he served in the United States Navy until 1965 before turning to competitive sports. He soon recognized his talent for the longer distances. On his parade route, the 50 kilometers, he dominated the national championships in the following years and celebrated nine victories in twelve events here between 1966 and 1977 (1966–1968, 1971–1972, 1974–1977). In addition, he won once each over 20 kilometers and on the track over 10,000 meters, 5000 meters (1972) and two miles (1971).

Young won his first international medal at the 1967 Pan American Games in Winnipeg. In his sovereign victory over 50 kilometers, he set a national record with 4:26:21 hours. At the Olympic Games in 1968 he won the bronze medal in 4:32:55 hours behind the East German Christoph Höhne (4:20:14 hours) and the Hungarian Antal Kiss (4:30:17 hours). Young started the race relatively slowly and was able to overtake many of his competitors in the final kilometers, who had underestimated the effects of the mountain air in Mexico City.

The following year Young began studying art with a major in sculpture at Columbia College of Missouri. He was the first walker to receive an athlete's scholarship from an American college.

Young successfully defended his title at the 1971 Pan American Games in Cali. At the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, he finished third again with a personal best of 4: 00: 46.0 hours, over half an hour than in Mexico City. West German Bernd Kannenberg won (3: 56: 11.6 hours) ahead of Weniamin soldiersko from the Soviet Union (3: 58: 24.0 hours). In addition, Young was tenth in the 20-kilometer competition. Over this distance he won the bronze medal at the Pan American Games in Mexico City in 1975 . After that, he did not get any further podium finishes at major international events. Over 50 kilometers, he finished 21st at the 1976 World Cup in Malmö and 13th at the 1977 World Cup in Milton Keynes.

Larry Young is 1.78 m and had a competition weight of 67 kg. After the end of his competitive sports career, he worked as a sculptor.

Top performances

• 20 km: 1:30:10 h, 1974
• 50 km: 4:00:46 h, September 3, 1972, Munich

Web links

• Larry Young in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Athlete portrait of Larry Young on racewalk.com ( Memento from August 19, 2003 in the Internet Archive )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ gbrathletics.com: United States Championships (Men 1943–)