The town of Tulare, Calif, (pop. 14,000) is often called "Mathiasville," in honor of its No. i citizen. Last week, playing host to the U.S. decathlon championship contest for the second time, 5,000 Tulareans packed the stands of the local high-school stadium to watch Olympic Decathlon Champion Bob Mathias in action against 25 topflight U.S. athletes, all aiming for U.S. Olympic berths.
As a gawky 17-year-old kid at the 1948 London Olympics, Mathias won the decathlon gold medal with a margin of 165 points over his nearest competitor. Now, a poised and handsome 21, a veteran fullback of Stanford's 1951 Rose Bowl...