LOS ANGELES — Dallas Long, a three-time NCAA shot put champion who won a gold medal at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, has died. He was 84.
He died of natural causes Sunday in Whitefish, Montana, USC said Tuesday after being informed by a family member. No further details were provided.
Long ruled the shot put in the 1960s, winning three consecutive NCAA titles from 1960-62.
His gold-medal performance in Tokyo included a then-Olympic record throw of 66 feet, 8.50 inches. He earned a bronze medal at the 1960 Rome Games behind fellow Americans Bill Nieder and Parry O’Brien.
Long set the shot put world record 11 times from 1959 to 1965 and was ranked No. 1 in the world three times. His best effort was 67-10.25.
He was a member of USC’s 1961 NCAA championship team. His throw of 65-10.50 set in 1962 still ranks sixth on USC’s all-time list. His freshman mark of 63-7 set in 1959 stood until 2015.
Long was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1996, as well as the Arizona Hall of Fame in 1964, the National High School Sports Hall of Fame in 1993 and the USC Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003.
Born Dallas Crutcher Long on June 13, 1940, in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, he first came to national prominence in the event as a senior at North High in Phoenix, Arizona, where he set a national prep record in the shot put.
Long earned a dental degree from USC and a doctor of medicine degree from Washington University in St. Louis. He worked as a dentist and then practiced emergency medicine.
He served as a defense witness in the Rodney King trial against Los Angeles Police Department officers Laurence Powell and Stacey Koon in early 1993. Long did not treat King, whose beating by officers was captured on videotape in 1991.
He is survived by children Kristen Long, Kelly Nordell, Karin Grandsire and Ian Long, nine grandchildren and two great grandchildren. He was twice divorced.
