Mac Wilkins

Who is Mac Wilkins?

Maurice "Mac" Wilkins is an American athlete, who competed mainly in the discus throw. He was born in Eugene, Oregon and graduated in 1968 from Clover Park High School in Lakewood, Washington.

Wilkins competed for the United States in the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada in the discus throw, where he won the gold medal with a distance of 221' 5" to defeat Wolfgang Schmidt of East Germany by four feet.

Wilkins also won a silver medal with the discus at the 1984 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles, after missing the 1980 games due to the American boycott.

Wilkins is the last thrower that Bill Bowerman coached in Eugene, Oregon. Wilkins was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1994.

With the death of Al Oerter on 1 October 2007, Wilkins is the earliest surviving Olympic Champion in the Men's Discus. He is not the oldest as Viktor Rashchupkin, the 1980 Champion, is almost exactly 1 month older.

During his discus throw series from May 1, 1976, he set the world record three times with throws of 69.80m, 70.24m, and 70.86m.

In August 2013, Wilkins left Concordia University to work at USATF in La Jolla.