Cy Young’s early success at throwing the javelin earned him at scholarship at UCLA where under the instruction of UCLA track coach, Ducky Drake he emerged as one of the best in the U.S. placing second at the NCAA Championships in 1950. He took second in the 1952 U.S. National Outdoor championships and earned a spot on the US Olympic team. At those 52’ Games Cy won the gold medal with an Olympic-record throw of 242 feet, one inch.
After the 1952 Olympics, Young competed for the Olympic Club under famed track coach, Dink Templeton. The most difficult competition for Young came from his teammate — javelin great Bud Held. The two often established meet records throwing against each other. Competitions where records were established included the 1953 Fresno Relays, 1953 Pacific Association (PA) Relays, 1955 Stanford Meet and 1955 Coliseum Relays. The Coliseum competition was particularly meaningful when a poor showing by Held inspired Young to set a World Record the next night.
After winning the 1956 Olympic Trials, Young headed to Melbourne in fine form. During a practice session before the competition began, Cy unleashed a monster throw that was estimated at over 261 feet, not far off the World Record set recently by his Club teammate Held. Young’s expectations for the coming Games were high since he was in peak form.
Before the event, Young avoided training at the same time as his European competitors. However, after noticing an official from another team lurking during his practice session, Cy decided to “psych out” his opponents by revealing how well he was throwing. In a final throw giving it his all, Young had the misfortune of badly spraining an ankle and ending up on crutches.
A few days later, Young, despite the pain, was able to compete in the preliminary round and qualify for the finals with the top throw that actually was further than his Olympic Record mark in1952. The ankle continued to swell and by the final, Young could barely lace up his track shoes. He could hardly plant to throw and ended finishing 11th.
After the Olympics, Cy Young returned to Modesto to farm the land that had been in his family’s name since the 1850s. In his 80’s, Cy still prefers to do a great deal of the work himself. He drives the tractor and cultivates the almonds and walnuts that he grows.
