Fred Dixon (born November 5, 1949) is an American

athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...

. He competed in the men's decathlon at the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...

. While Dixon had hopes of a medal, he was injured during his flight of the

110 metres hurdles The 110 metres hurdles, or 110-metre hurdles, is a hurdling track and field event for men. It is included in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympic Games. The female counterpart is the 100 metres hurdles. As part of a racing event, ten hur ...

. Dixon struggled to continue but after a no height in the pole vault, he finished in 23rd place. Dixon finished in second place at the

1975 Pan American Games The 1975 Pan American Games were held in Mexico City, Mexico, from October 12 to October 26, 1975, exactly twenty years after the second Pan American Games were held there. It was the third major sporting event held in the Mexican capital in seve ...

, behind American rival

Bruce Jenner Caitlyn Marie Jenner (born William Bruce Jenner; October 28, 1949) is an American media personality and retired Olympic gold medal-winning decathlete. Jenner played college football for the Graceland Yellowjackets before incurring a kn ...

. His 1977 score of 8,397, set in the dual meet against the Soviet Union in

Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County, Indiana, Monroe County in the central region of the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the List of municipalities in Indiana, seventh-largest city in Indiana and the fourth-largest outside ...

gave him, at the time, the sixth best decathlon score in history behind Olympic champions Jenner,

Mykola Avilov Mykola Viktorovych Avilov ( uk, Микола Вікторович Авілов, russian: link=no, Николай Викторович Авилов, born 6 August 1948) is a retired Ukrainian Soviet decathlete (Odessa) who competed at the 1968, 1 ...

and

Bill Toomey William Anthony Toomey (born January 10, 1939) is a former American track and field competitor and the 1968 Olympic decathlon champion. He won 23 of the 38 decathlons he competed in, scoring over 8,000 points a dozen times. He was on the cover ...

, plus

Guido Kratschmer Guido Kratschmer (; born 10 January 1953 in Klotzenhof, West Germany) is a retired West German decathlete. His sports club was the USC Mainz. Kratschmer competed at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, where he won the silver medal in the me ...

and Aleksandr Grebenyuk. He was ranked in the world top 10 four years in a row, 1974-7, achieving #2 in 1975 behind Jenner and in 1977 behind Grebenyuk. He finished in third place at the 1980 US Olympic Trials, which would have qualified him to another Olympics, except for the

1980 Summer Olympics boycott The 1980 Summer Olympics boycott was one part of a number of actions initiated by the United States to protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The Soviet Union, which hosted the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, and its allies later ...

. Dixon appeared in a reunion win Jenner on an episode of ''

Keeping up with the Kardashians ''Keeping Up with the Kardashians'' (often abbreviated ''KUWTK'') is an American reality television series which focused on the personal and professional lives of the Kardashian family, Kardashian–Jenner Stepfamily, blended family, airing b ...

'' before Jenner had transitioned to

Caitlyn Jenner Caitlyn Marie Jenner (born William Bruce Jenner; October 28, 1949) is an American media personality and retired Olympic gold medal-winning decathlete. Jenner played college football for the Graceland Yellowjackets before incurring a kne ...

. After Jenner's transition he was asked to comment:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dixon, Fred 1949 births Living people Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics American male decathletes Olympic track and field athletes for the United States Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Track and field athletes from Los Angeles Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 1975 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1975 Pan American Games