Tito Steiner (1 May 1952 – 2 May 2024) was a Paraguayan-Argentine

decathlete The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of 10 track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (''áthlos'', or ἄθ� ...

who represented Argentina in the 1970s and 1980s. He is the current Argentine record holder in the event.

Career

Steiner set a national record in 1981, collecting 8,279 points at a meet in

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

, United States (1981-06-03). He bested this with a score of 8,291 points, set on 23 June 1983, which is still the national record. Steiner won the silver medal at the

1979 Pan American Games The 1979 Pan American Games, officially the VIII Pan American Games () and commonly known as San Juan 1979, were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization (PASO), and were held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from July 1 to Jul ...

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...

. Steiner finished fourth at the

1975 Pan American Games The 1975 Pan American Games, officially known as the VII Pan American Games () and commonly known as Mexico 1975 (), were held in Mexico City, Mexico, from October 12 to October 26, 1975, exactly twenty years after the second Pan American Games ...

and 22nd at the Montreal

1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...

. In 1977, while competing for

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

he earned All-American honors and the

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. ...

title with a score of 7,659 points. He went on to win the honor three more times, a rare athlete to achieve All-American all four competitive years. He set the national record while winning the

Texas Relays The Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays is an annual track and field competition held at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas. The University of Texas serves as host for the event, held on either the last weekend of March or first weekend of April. E ...

in 1979, defeating the meet record by C.K. Yang. He later improved upon the record in 1983 at Provo, but the meet was hand timed, common for all but the top level decathlons of that era. Decades later, hand timed marks are not as respected as

fully automatic timing Fully automatic timing (abbreviated FAT) is a form of race timing in which the clock is automatically activated by the starting device, and the finish time is either automatically recorded, or timed by analysis of a photo finish. The system is ...

Death

Steiner died from pneumonia on 2 May 2024, at the age of 72.Murió Tito Steiner, el atleta más completo de la historia del deporte argentino

International competitions

References

External links

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* 1952 births 2024 deaths Argentine decathletes Brigham Young University alumni Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1975 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1979 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1983 Pan American Games Olympic athletes for Argentina Pan American Games silver medalists for Argentina Pan American Games silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Paraguayan people of German descent Argentine people of German descent Place of birth missing Paraguayan emigrants to Argentina Naturalized citizens of Argentina South American Games silver medalists for Argentina South American Games medalists in athletics Competitors at the 1982 Southern Cross Games Medalists at the 1979 Pan American Games Deaths from pneumonia in Argentina NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners BYU Cougars men's track and field athletes {{Argentina-athletics-bio-stub