HE STEPPED UP: Rafer Johnson didn’t know he would be the final torch-bearer at the Coliseum until the Games’ organizer, Peter Ueberroth, told him about 10 days before the opening ceremony.
(Damon Winter / Los Angeles Times)
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![Basketball was one of four sports Rafer Johnson (18) lettered in in high school.](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/012f56e/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4000x2667+0+0/resize/2000x1334!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F93%2F39%2F0f41d96247b3a01a98b61285f9df%2Fla-photos-1staff-540007-la-sp-capehart-108.jpg)
(Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times)
![Rafer Johnson, center, finishes the fourth 100-meter heat of the decathlon at the Olympics in Rome on Sept. 5, 1960.](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/1f61985/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3000x2164+0+0/resize/2000x1443!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fff%2Fe3%2Ff1876d18422b81b162c262f44a4b%2Fobit-rafer-johnson-62098.jpg)
(Associated Press)
Rafer Johnson competes in the shot put, one of the events in the decathlon, at the 1960 Olympics in Rome.
(Associated Press)
(Jim Pringle/Associated Press)
(Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)
Rafer Johnson lights the Olympic torch during opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
(Associated Press)
![Rafer Johnson of the United States competes against Yang Chuan-kwang of China in the 1,500-meters portion of the decathlon.](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/61dddec/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2332x1517+0+0/resize/2000x1301!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F73%2F6d%2F416f3a0046118e284672d1b2115e%2Fgettyimages-99157428.jpg)
(Robert Riger/Getty Images)
Rafer Johnson and C.K. Yang during the Olympic Games.
(Keystone / Getty Images)
Rafer Johnson holds the torch after lighting the cauldron during the opening ceremony for the World Games at the Coliseum.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
(Joel P Lugavere/Los Angeles Times)
(Gerard Burkhart/Los Angeles Times)
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