Jack Yerman was driven to succeed as a competitor.
Back in 1960, the former Golden Bear’s dogged determination was rewarded with a gold medal in the 1,600 meter (4x400) relay at the Rome Olympics.
However, the complete story of Yerman’s journey to Olympic glory - from barely qualifying for Trials to achieving victory on the final day - is proof of the mental toughness and tenacity the Cal Hall of Famer possessed as a competitor.
In “Your Time Will Come: Jack Yerman and His Incredible Journey to the 1960 Olympics,” Yerman’s oldest son Bruce laid out the arduous path his father took from Berkeley to Rome.
Yerman began training for his senior season of 1960 during the preceding fall. However, a foot injury, which gave way to other hindering ailments, kept Yerman from training and competing at full strength until Pacific Coast Conference meets began later in the spring.
By the time Yerman began to consistently perform like his old self, the Olympic Trials - which were being held at Stanford - were on the horizon.
Yerman first set his sights on the NCAA championship meet, where a top-seven showing in the 400 meters - at home at Edwards Stadium - would secure his spot in Palo Alto and give him a shot at heading to Italy.
A few days before the meet, Yerman appeared to be in peak form. During an early week practice, supervised by legendary Cal lead man Brutus Hamilton, Yerman powered through his workout and looked as fast as he had all season. Hamilton was simultaneously conducting a pre-championship coaches’ meeting; it turned into a showcase of Yerman’s talent, with many of the other coaches joining Hamilton in timing Yerman’s sprints.
Mentally confident and physically strong, Yerman was ready to go.
Or so it seemed.
After the workout, Yerman’s body seized up on him and the aftereffects of his body’s response lingered into the first day of NCAAs, putting his chances to advance in jeopardy.
In order to reach the 400 finals on the third and final day, Yerman had to finish in the top-four of eight in each of the two days prior. Despite the setbacks and slower than usual times, he found a way to move on, finishing fourth in both heats to reach the championship round.
Yerman was still struggling physically as the final grew closer, so much so that he had to skip his warmup. All he had to do to make it to Trials - outside of managing his body’s lingering pain - was finish ahead of one person.
Severely fatigued, not at peak performance, and quickly behind the pack as the final started, it would have been completely understandable for Yerman to concede his fate and attempt to make Trials the next week at the national open event competition.
Yerman’s persistence, coupled with a bit of circumstance, made that second chance unnecessary. He pushed himself to continue the race and after a runner out front came up limping, Yerman moved past him and sealed his place in the Palo Alto field.
After surviving and advancing in the weeks prior, Yerman took full advantage of the opportunity at Trials by winning the 400 meter heat and final within hours of each other in front of the largest U.S. track meet crowd since the 1932 Olympics - over 65,000 for the finals alone.
The fire inside him allowed Yerman to run, as he was quoted by Bruce, “the race of [his] life.”
A race that nearly didn’t happen.
Fast forward to Rome and Yerman had another set of hurdles to navigate in order to achieve his ultimate goal.
While the Olympics were being thrust into the spotlight like never before - the 1960 Games were one of the first to be televised - Yerman and his teammates struggled to arrive and perform in Italy at 100 percent. A combination of uncomfortable travel conditions, unseasonable heat and other team issues made it difficult for the track team to produce at a high level. For Yerman specifically, he was battling severe weight loss and infection by the time the 400 meter competition began.
Even after winning the first two heats in the 400, Yerman’s quest for individual gold - in the event that got him to Rome - would end in the semifinals.
Still, one more shot for Olympic glory remained for Yerman in the form of the Games’ final event, the 1,600 meter relay.
Everything he had endured leading up to that race - injury, sickness, strokes of good luck and flashes of brilliance - manifested itself in what Yerman’s former youth counselor and Sacramento Bee reporter Don Bloom described as “that burning desire that made him the only man to compete in the Rose, Olympic Games and Pan American Games. He deserved a gold medal.”
He proved he deserved it by running the fastest leadoff leg in Olympic history (46.2) en route to the relay team running a world record time of 3:02.2.
After winning that medal, Yerman asked his former high school basketball coach Mr. Bailey why he thought all of the great things he’d achieved - including winning Olympic gold - had happened to him.
“It was important to you. You wanted it more than the others,” Bailey said.
Even early on, his drive to succeed was evident to everyone around him.
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