Russ Hodge

Russell Arden Hodge (born September 12, 1939)^[1][3] is an American track and field athlete, world record holder in decathlon (1966–1967), Olympic competitor from 1964, and silver medalist from the Pan American Games (1971).

Russ Hodge

Hodge in 1966
Personal information
Born	(1939-09-12) September 12, 1939 (age 85) Roscoe, New York, U.S.
Height	190 cm (6 ft 3 in)
Weight	102 kg (225 lb)
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event	Decathlon
Club	Santa Clara Valley Youth Village
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	100y – 9.6 (1966) 100 m – 10.2 (1970) 400 m – 47.9 (1970) LJ – 7.69 m (1966) SP – 18.56 m DT – 53.13 m (1969) JT – 64.49 m (1966)[1][2]
Medal record Representing the  United States Pan American Games 1971 Cali Decathlon

Track and field career

Hodge competed at the 1963 Pan American Games in São Paulo, where he finished 4th in decathlon.^[1] He competed in decathlon at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, where he placed ninth.^[1][4][5] In July 1966 he set a world record in decathlon at a competition in Los Angeles, with 8,230 points, a record which lasted until May 1967.^[1][4] Hodge received a silver medal in decathlon at the 1971 Pan American Games in Cali, Colombia with a score of 7314, behind winner Rick Wanamaker.^[6]

He finished fourth in the AAU National Championship in decathlon in 1963 and in 1964, and second in 1965 and 1966.^[7] In 1970 he finished second again, as he did in 1971, after a close race with Rick Wanamaker.^[7][8]

Hodge was an All-American athlete for the UCLA Bruins track and field team, finishing 7th in the shot put at the 1968 NCAA University Division outdoor track and field championships.^[9]

Hodge did not compete at the Olympics after 1964. He became injured before the U.S. trials both in 1968 and 1972, and again in 1976.^[4][10]

Family

Hodge is son of Alice Arden, who placed ninth in high jump at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.^[11][12] His father Russel "Rusty" Hodge was a semi-professional basketball player, playing center for the Liberty Emeralds.

Awards

In August 2003, both Hodge and his mother were honoured with the Sullivan County Historical Society "History Maker" award.^[13] They are the only mother-son Olympians in the United States' Olympic history.^[13]