18:I[81858,["2972","static/chunks/2972-b424fd52261abc45.js","5878","static/chunks/5878-30f20847141d5903.js","8590","static/chunks/8590-d795f0cae2737f13.js","2028","static/chunks/2028-874363630cac149b.js","986","static/chunks/986-056983bf91b3b6c7.js","308","static/chunks/app/blog/%5Bslug%5D/page-37b917fa2625eb7f.js"],"default"] 19:T7d5,

Olympic gold medalist Rafer Johnson rallied a special group of athletes Tuesday night. Johnson was the keynote speaker at the kickoff to the 2015 Huntsman World Senior Games in St. George, Utah Tuesday night.

Johnson’s speech was a portion of the opening ceremonies held at Hansen Stadium on the Dixie State University campus. The rest of the evening mirrored some of the things a worldwide audience sees every two years with the summer and winter Olympics.

Athletes over the age of 50 flock to St. George every October. The Senior Games drew nearly 11,000 participants from 21 different countries last year.

Many of the seniors in attendance would certainly remember the feats of Johnson. He won the gold in decathlon at the 1960 Olympics, following up on his silver medal performance in 1956.

In 1958, Johnson was the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year. At the 1960 Olympic opening ceremonies, he was the flag bearer for the U.S. and 20 years later he lit the Olympic flame to kickoff the 1984 Games in Los Angeles.

Once his days of competing were over, Johnson became an actor and also was instrumental in starting the California Special Olympics. He is infamously known as well for being one of the people who tackled assassin Sirhan Sirhan when he shot presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy in 1968.

To inquire about Rafer Johnson's speaking fee and appearance cost, contact the agents at Athlete Speakers by calling us at 800-916-6008 or by

Olympic Decathlon Champion Rafer Johnson is World Senior Games Keynote Speaker

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