Samuel Harrison Mattis (born March 19, 1994) is an American Olympic

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete who competes in the

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field sport in which the participant athlete throws an oblate spheroid weight (object), weight called a discus in an attempt to mark a further distance than other competitors. It is a ...

, and has a personal record of 68.69 meters.Personal Best
nj.com. Accessed March 19, 2016 At the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, he came in 11th. Mattis represented the

United States at the 2024 Summer Olympics The United States of America (USA), represented by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC), competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris from July 26 to August 11, 2024. U.S. athletes have appeared in every Summer Olympic Games ...

in Men's discus throw in Paris.

Early and personal life

Mattis was born in

Manhattan, New York City Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the smallest county by area in the U.S. state of New York. Located almost entire ...

, the son of Marlon and Marcie Mattis, and is Jewish as is his mother. His father was born in Jamaica and moved to New York as a child. He has one brother, Jake, who also attended the University of Pennsylvania. His father was the captain of the William & Mary track & field team in 1985, held the 35-lbs weight throw record, and ranks No. 3 in the hammer. Mattis grew up in

East Brunswick, New Jersey East Brunswick is a Township (New Jersey), township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The suburban bedroom community is part of the New York metropolitan area and is located on the southern sho ...

, and attended East Brunswick High School, where he started competing in

events as a teenager.Sam Mattis
. Penn Quakers. Accessed March 19, 2016. He attended the

Wharton School of Business The Wharton School ( ) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia. Established in 1881 through a donation from Joseph Wharton, a co-founder of Bethlehem Steel, the Wharton ...

at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

, and graduated with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

in Finance and Operations Management. Mattis is 6 feet tall.Emily Burack (July 28, 2021)
"18 Things to Know About Track Athlete Sam Mattis; The Jewish discus thrower is set to compete at his first Olympics in Tokyo,"
''Hey Alma''. He lives in

Fleetwood, Pennsylvania Fleetwood, also called :pdc:Schlegelschteddel, ''Schlegelschteddel'' in Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch, is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,049 at the 2020 cens ...

."Samuel Mattis,"
Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

Career

Mattis won the 2011 New Jersey Meet of Champions, and the 2012 New Balance Nationals, in the discus throw. Mattis competed for the University of Pennsylvania Quakers in college for four years. He won the gold medal at the 2015 NCAA National Championships.2015 NCAA Nationals
Penn Athletics. Accessed March 19, 2016 His throw of to win the 2016 Philadelphia College Classic is the American Collegiate record, and the second-best mark in history by a college student. Mattis also earned three

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

n honors, and was named the USATFCCA/NCAA National Scholar of the year. The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association selected him as the 2015 Male Scholar Athlete of the Year for Division I.DI Men's Track & Field Scholar Athletes of the Year
USTFCCCA. Accessed March 19, 2016 He is a four-time Heps Outdoor Champion in the discus throw, and received First-Team All-Ivy honors for each of his four outdoor seasons. Mattis won the gold medal at the 2019 Outdoor USA Track and Field Championships, with a throw of 218-9. At the World Championships in

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

, Qatar, in 2019, he placed 11th. In June 2021, Mattis became an Olympian after finishing top three at the 2020 United States Track and Field Olympic Trials. At the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

in Tokyo, he came in 11th. Mattis won the gold medal in the discus throw with a throw of 65.93 m (216 ft 3 in) at the 2023

USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships is an annual track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field, which serves as the American national championships for the sport. Since the year 1992, in the years which feature a Summer Oly ...

Hayward Field Hayward Field is a track and field stadium in the Northwestern United States, located on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon. It has been the home of the university's track and field teams since 1921, and was the on-campu ...

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

in July 2023. He won the silver medal with a throw of 64.69m at the 2023 Doha Diamond League in Doha, Qatar. He won the silver medal in the discus throw with a throw of 66.07 m (216 ft 9 in) at the 2024 United States Olympic trials.

2024 Paris Olympics

Mattis represented the

in Men's discus throw at

Stade de France Stade de France (, ) is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the List of football stadiums in France, largest stadium i ...

in Paris.

Honors

Mattis was inducted into the Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

Major competition record

Personal bests

*Information taken from World Athletics and Direct Athletics profiles.

References

External links

* * * * * *
Sam Mattis
at the

Paris 2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

(archived
alternate link
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mattis, Sam 1994 births Living people 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American Jews American male discus throwers American male shot putters American sportspeople of Jamaican descent African-American track and field athletes African-American Jews Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics East Brunswick High School alumni Jewish American track and field athletes Jews from New Jersey Jews from New York (state) Jews from Pennsylvania NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners Olympic track and field athletes for the United States People from Berks County, Pennsylvania Sportspeople from East Brunswick, New Jersey Penn Quakers men's track and field athletes Sportspeople from Manhattan Track and field athletes from New Jersey Track and field athletes from New York City United States collegiate record holders in athletics (track and field) USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners Wharton School alumni Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Olympics 21st-century American sportsmen