View source for Mac Wilkins

{{short description|American athletics competitor}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2024}}{{Blacklisted-links|1=
*https://coachtube.com/users/MacWilkins
*:''Triggered by <code>\bcoachtube\.com\b</code> on the local blacklist''|bot=Cyberbot II|invisible=false}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
 | nationality       = American
 | name              = Mac Wilkins
 | image             = Mac Wilkins 1976.jpg
 | caption           = Wilkins in 1976
 | fullname          = Mac Maurice Wilkins
 | birth_date        = {{birth-date and age|November 15, 1950}}
 | birth_place       = [[Eugene, Oregon]], U.S.<ref name=sr>{{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/wi/mac-wilkins-1.html |title=Mac Wilkins |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417175218/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/wi/mac-wilkins-1.html |archive-date=2020-04-17}}</ref>
 | death_date        = 
 | death_place       = 
 | height            = 1.93 m
 | weight            = 115 kg
 | country           = {{USA}}
 | sport             = [[Athletics (sport)|athletics]]
 | club              = Pacific Coast Club, Long Beach<br>Athletics West, Eugene<br>Oregon Ducks, Eugene
 | event             = [[Discus throw]], [[shot put]], [[hammer throw]], [[javelin throw]]
 | pb                = DT – 70.98 m (1980)<br>SP – 21.06 m (1977)<br>HT – 63.65 m (1977)<br>JT – 78.43 m (1970)<ref name=sr/><ref name=tf>{{cite web |url=http://trackfield.brinkster.net/Profile.asp?ID=7223&Gender=M |title=Mac Wilkins |website=trackfield.brinkster.net}}</ref>
 | headercolor       = lightsteelblue
 | show-medals       = yes
 | medaltemplates    = 
{{MedalCountry | the {{USA}} }}
{{MedalCompetition | [[Athletics at the Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]] }}
[[File:Olympic rings.svg|center|80px]]
{{MedalGold | [[1976 Summer Olympics|1976 Montreal]] | [[Athletics at the 1976 Summer Olympics – Men's discus throw|Discus throw]] }}
{{MedalSilver | [[1984 Summer Olympics|1984 Los Angeles]] | [[Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Men's discus throw|Discus throw]] }}
{{MedalCompetition | [[Pan American Games]] }}
{{MedalGold | [[1979 Pan American Games|1979 San Juan]] | [[Athletics at the 1979 Pan American Games|Discus throw]] }}
}}

'''Mac''' '''Maurice''' '''Wilkins''' (born November 15, 1950) is an American [[Athletics (sport)|athlete]], who competed mainly in the [[discus throw]]. He was born in [[Eugene, Oregon]] and graduated in 1969 from [[Beaverton High School]] in Beaverton, Oregon.

==College==
Distance running coach [[Bill Bowerman]] recruited Wilkins to the University of Oregon, where he threw the javelin {{convert|257|ft|8|in|m|abbr=on}}  as a 19-year-old freshman. As a senior, he was NCAA champion in the discus and won the first of eight U.S. national championships in the discus. He was inducted into the [[Oregon Sports Hall of Fame]] in 1994.

==Olympics==
Wilkins competed for the United States in the [[Athletics at the 1976 Summer Olympics|1976 Summer Olympics]] in [[Montreal]], [[Quebec]], Canada in the discus throw, where he won the [[gold medal]] with a distance of 221' 5" to defeat [[Wolfgang Schmidt (athlete)|Wolfgang Schmidt]] of [[East Germany]] by four feet. Wilkins qualified for the 1980 U.S. Olympic team but did not compete due to the [[1980 Summer Olympics boycott]]. He did however receive one of 461 [[List of Congressional Gold Medal recipients|Congressional Gold Medal]]s created especially for the spurned athletes.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Caroccioli|first1=Tom|last2=Caroccioli|first2=Jerry|title=Boycott: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games|year=2008|publisher=New Chapter Press|location=Highland Park, IL|isbn=978-0942257403|pages=243–253}}</ref>

Wilkins won a [[silver medal]] in the discus throw at the [[Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics|1984 Summer Olympics]] held in [[Los Angeles]]. He placed 5th in the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea.

==World records==
Wilkins broke the world record four times in his career. During his discus throw series on May 1, 1976, in [[San Jose, California]], he set the [[List of world records in athletics|world record]] three times with consecutive throws of 69.80 m, 70.24 m, and 70.86 m. In 1976 and 1980, Wilkins was ranked #1 in the world in the discus throw. In 1977, he was the indoor national champion in the shot put, with a throw of {{convert|69|ft|1.5|in|m|abbr=on}}.<ref name=tf/>

==Coaching==
From 2006 thru 2013, Wilkins was the [[Throwing sports|throws]] coach at [[Concordia University (Oregon)|Concordia University]], an NAIA school in [[Portland, Oregon]]. His throwers won 26 individual national championships and earned 94 All-American honors. When [[Al Oerter]] died on October 1, 2007, Wilkins became the earliest surviving Olympic champion in the men's discus. He is not the oldest; [[Viktor Rashchupkin]]—the 1980 champion—is almost a month older. In August 2013, Wilkins left Concordia University to coach for [[USA Track & Field]] in Chula Vista, California.<ref>{{cite web|title=Olympic Champion & Former World Record Holder|url=https://coachtube.com/users/MacWilkins|website=Coach Tube|access-date=22 August 2016}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* Wilkins at the 1976 US. Olympic Trials {{YouTube|d3Q-uPV4AAo}} @ 30:55

{{s-start}}
{{s-ach|rec}}
{{Succession box
| before = [[John Powell (discus thrower)|John Powell]]
| title = {{nowrap|[[Men's discus throw world record progression|Men's discus world record holder]]}}
| years = April 24, 1976 – August 9, 1978
| after = [[Wolfgang Schmidt (athlete)|Wolfgang Schmidt]]
}}
{{s-end}}
{{Footer Olympic Champions Discus Throw Men}}
{{Footer Pan American Champions Discus Men}}
{{USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners in men's shot put}}
{{Footer US NC Discus Men}}
{{Footer USA Track & Field 1976 Summer Olympics}}
{{Footer USA Track & Field 1984 Summer Olympics}}
{{Footer USA Track & Field 1988 Summer Olympics}}
{{Footer New Zealand NC discus men}}
{{Footer New Zealand NC shot put men}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkins, Mac}}
[[Category:1950 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American male discus throwers]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field]]
[[Category:Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Oregon Ducks men's track and field athletes]]
[[Category:Track and field athletes from Oregon]]
[[Category:World record setters in athletics (track and field)]]
[[Category:Concordia University (Oregon)]]
[[Category:Track and field athletes from California]]
[[Category:Track and field athletes from San Jose, California]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Congressional Gold Medal recipients]]
[[Category:Beaverton High School alumni]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1979 Pan American Games]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1979 Pan American Games]]
[[Category:Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in athletics (track and field)]]
[[Category:New Zealand Athletics Championships winners]]
[[Category:NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]