John Lucas, 84
Olympic historian John Lucas is being remembered as "Mr. Olympics" and one of "the few great voices" of the Olympic Movement.
Lucas, for decades a kinesiology professor at Penn State University but also a fixture at the Games, died last Friday in Columbia, Missouri at the age of 84.
"This gentle scholar attended every Olympics since 1960, and ran on the great stadium ovals in every Summer Games city through Athens in 2004 as part of his ritual, created over five decades of attending the Games, observing its comings and goings, and writing scores of books and papers about the history of the world’s greatest sporting event," write former USOC spokesman Mike Moran in his remembrance of Lucas.
In fact, Lucas was almost an Olympian himself, finishing seventh in the 10,000 meters at the 1952 Olympic Trials. He later coached athletics at the University of Maryland from 1958 to 1962 and then for his beloved Nittany Lions from 1962 to 1968.
After delivering hundreds of lectures on Olympics history, he was bestowed the title of Official Olympic Lecturer by former IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch in 1984 and later the Olympic Order at the 1996 Atlanta Games.
"The achievements of this man are too extensive to easily summarize. His passion for life and for the Olympics impacted generations of people in the United States and many other countries," reads a notice from his funeral home.
"’Mr. Olympics,’ as children called out to him after school assemblies, will no longer be heard lecturing on campus or seen jogging the streets of State College, but he will be missed by many."
No service will be held. Contributions are being accepted to the John Lucas Memorial Scholarship Fund at Penn State.
Click here for a Penn State interview with Lucas in the buildup to Beijing 2008.
World Series of Boxing Opens
World Series of Boxing newcomers the British Lionhearts lead the way as WSB enters season three.
They topped USA Knockouts four bouts to one at Thursday’s opener in California.
After expanding into Algeria, then revealing less than 24 hours later that its Indian franchise would be taking a hiatus, AIBA’s pet project returns to the rings returns to the ring with six franchises in Europe, three in the Americas and – thanks to these changes – one in Africa but just two across Asia.
Regular season fights run through March 1 with championships for both individuals and teams to follow.
Pin Points
November's meeting of the Pacific Pin Club is Sunday at 9 a.m. Vancouver time at the Capital Hill Community Hall in North Burnaby, British Columbia. London's next pin meet is Nov. 24 at 12:30 p.m. U.K. time at the Railway Tavern in Stratford.Media Watch
Sports Features Communications has more on this week’s Orchestra Festival at the airport in Incheon, host of the 2014 Asian Games and gateway to the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang.
Reported by Matthew Grayson
20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.
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