Simeon "Sim" Garland Iness (July 9, 1930 – May 23, 1996) was an American

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an ancient sport, as demonstrated by t ...

er who won a gold medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics, breaking the Olympic record several times in the process. Next year he set a new world record at 57.93 m.

Early life and education

As a child of sharecroppers, in 1934 his family left Oklahoma due to the onset of the dust bowl and moved to the small

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven ...

town of Tulare,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

. There he became lifelong friends with classmate and teammate at

Tulare Union High School Tulare Union High School () is a public school for secondary education in Tulare, Tulare County, California, United States. This high school is part of the Tulare Joint Union High School District, along with Tulare Western High School and Missio ...

and Olympic teammate, decathlon champion

Bob Mathias Robert Bruce Mathias (November 17, 1930 – September 2, 2006) was an American decathlete, two-time Olympic gold medalist in the event, a United States Marine Corps officer, actor and United States Congressman representing the state of Califo ...

. Weeks after his high school graduation, and on his 18th birthday, Iness placed sixth in the discus in the 1948 Olympic Trials. Iness first attended college at Compton Junior College, where he won the National Junior College discus championship in 1949. He was also a member of the winning Compton football squad along with future NFL Hall of Famer "Hurricane"

Hugh McElhenny Hugh Edward McElhenny Jr. (December 31, 1928 – June 17, 2022) was an American professional football player who was a halfback in the National Football League (NFL) from 1952 to 1964 for the San Francisco 49ers, Minnesota Vikings, New York ...

, which won the 1948 Junior Rose Bowl game, becoming National Junior College champions. He then transferred to the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8. ...

where he won the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

discus championship in 1952 and 1953. While at the University of Southern California, Iness was a member of

Tau Kappa Epsilon Tau Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as or Teke, is a social college fraternity founded on January 10, 1899, at Illinois Wesleyan University. The organization has chapters throughout the United States and Canada, making the Fraternity an internat ...

Career

Iness competed for the United States in the 1952 Summer Olympics held in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bo ...

, here he won the gold medal with a throw of 55.03 m. His gold medal triumph started the longest USA winning streak in the discus event in modern Olympic history. He set the discus world's record on June 28, 1953 in

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Linco ...

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the so ...

at 57.93 m, being the first man to throw over 190 feet. He went on to appear in two Hollywood films, ''

Sign of the Pagan ''Sign of the Pagan'' is a 1954 American historical drama film directed by Douglas Sirk, shot in CinemaScope (color by Technicolor), and released by Universal Pictures. The film stars Jeff Chandler, Jack Palance, Ludmilla Tchérina, and Rita ...

'' (1954) with

Jack Palance Jack Palance ( ; born Volodymyr Palahniuk ( uk, Володимир Палагню́к); February 18, 1919 – November 10, 2006) was an American actor known for playing tough guys and villains. He was nominated for three Academy Awards, all fo ...

and

Jeff Chandler Jeff Chandler (born Ira Grossel; yi, יראַ גראָססעל; December 15, 1918 – June 17, 1961) was an American actor, film producer, and singer, best remembered for playing Cochise in '' Broken Arrow'' (1950), for which he was nom ...

and '' Lady Godiva of Coventry'' (1955) with

Maureen O'Hara Maureen O'Hara (; 17 August 1920 – 24 October 2015) was a native Irish and naturalized American actress and singer, who became successful in Hollywood from the 1940s through to the 1960s. She was a natural redhead who was known for pl ...

. He was an Olympic torch bearer for the 1960 Squaw Valley Winter Olympics. After his Olympic and world record triumph, Iness worked the rest of his life as a high school and college physical education teacher, track and football coach, and education counselor. "Sim Iness Gymnasium" can be found on the campus of Sim's alma-mater,

. The Sim Iness Collection is housed at the Tulare City Historical Museum.

References

External links

* 1930 births 1996 deaths People from Haskell County, Oklahoma American male discus throwers Compton Tartars football players Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field Athletes (track and field) at the 1952 Summer Olympics USC Trojans men's track and field athletes People from Porterville, California Track and field athletes from California Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics {{US-athletics-Olympic-medalist-stub