Did you know?
That Emporia State track and field athlete John Kuck was the first Kansan to win an Olympic Gold Medal.
He won the gold medal in the shot put at the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam. He won the medal while competing with a broken ankle. He would break the previous world record by almost 13 inches, with a mark 52’-0 3/4”.
John Kuck from Wilson, Kansas would set over 100 records in the shot put, javelin and discus, and held 20 World Records.
While attending Wilson High School Kuck set national records in discus, javelin, and shot put.
While attending Kansas State Teachers College, now Emporia State University, he became the 1926 national collegiate champion and world record holder in both shot put and javelin.
Kuck was one of the first men to ever record a distance of over 50 feet with the 16-pound shot, 214 feet with a javelin, and 140 feet with a discus
Kuck would later be the assistant track and field coach at the University of Kansas.
He is in the Helms Foundation Hall of Fame, Emporia State Hall of Fame, and the Drake Relays Hall of Fame.
Now you know.
