Gary Kinder

This article is about the American athlete. For the American author and writer, see Gary Kinder (author).

Gary Kinder (born 25 October 1962) is an U.S. Olympian who participated in the 1988 decathlon. Kinder made the team by finishing first in the 1988 Olympic trials in a PR 8293pts. Kinder finished 12th in the 1987 World Championships of track and field with 8030 points beating teammate Rob Muzzio by 13 points.

Kinder, 6'1" 190 lbs, attended the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) and was coached by (still) head coach Joe Walker. He transferred to the University of New Mexico and finished 2nd at the 1985 NCAA championships in the decathlon. Kinder still holds Ole Miss school records in the decathlon (7565 pts.) and javelin (old style-224'3"). He stands 5th on the list in the pole vault with 16' 1/4". Kinder also remains the decathlon record holder at th University of New Mexico where he scored 7965 in placing second in the 1985 NCAA Track and field Championships.

Kinder first appeared on the U.S. list in 1985 with a #6 ranking and had reached as high as #2 in 1988. Kinder was ranked in the top 10 United States Decathletes continuously from 1985 through 1990. His finishes at the U.S. championships are as follows:

1985: 6th 7654 (w)
1986: 3rd 7857
1987: 3rd 8053 berth in 1987 World Championships.
1988: 1st 8293 Olympic team member
1989: 3rd 8155 (w)^[1]

1997: 12th 7695 Kinder currently stands as #96 on the World all time list in decathlon with his 8293.^[2]

In June 1991, Kinder was suspended for a doping violation by the governing body of U.S.A. track and field, for two years. However,the ruling was immediately overturned by an arbitration panel of USA Track and Field when flaws in the testing protocol were discovered in this case. Kinder went on to compete in the 1992 Olympic Trials as well as 2 more United States Decathlon Championships.

He coached high school track and field at Brentwood, Tennessee and is founder of KinderSport.

He also served coaching stints at The University of New Mexico and University of Virginia.

References

US National Championship winners in men's decathlon

1915-1979 Amateur Athletic Union	1915: Alma Richards 1916-19: not held 1920: Brutus Hamilton 1921: Dan Shea 1922: Harrison Thompson 1923: Harold Osborn 1924: Tony Plansky 1925-26: Harold Osborn 1927: Fait Elkins 1928-29: Ken Doherty 1930: Wilson Charles 1931: Jess Mortensen 1932: James Bausch 1933: Barney Berlinger 1934-35: Bob Clark 1936: Glenn Morris 1937: not held 1938-39: Joe Scott 1940: Bill Watson 1941: John Borican 1942: Bill Terwilliger 1943: Bill Watson 1944: Irv Mondschein 1945: Charles Beaudry 1946-47: Irv Mondschein 1948-50: Bob Mathias 1951: Bob Richards 1952: Bob Mathias 1953: Milt Campbell 1954-55: Bob Richards 1956: Rafer Johnson 1957: Charles Pratt 1958: Rafer Johnson 1959: C.K. Yang (TPE) 1960: Rafer Johnson 1961: Paul Herman 1962: C.K. Yang (TPE) 1963: Steve Pauly 1964: C.K. Yang (TPE) 1965-69: Bill Toomey 1970: John Warkentin 1971: Rick Wanamaker 1972-73: Jeff Bennett 1974: Bruce Jenner 1975: Fred Samara 1976: Bruce Jenner 1977: Fred Dixon 1978: Mike Hill 1979: Bob Coffman

1980-1992 The Athletics Congress	1980: Bob Coffman 1981-82: John Crist 1983: Mark Anderson 1984: John Crist 1985: John Sayre 1986: Dave Johnson 1987: Tim Bright 1988: Gary Kinder 1989-90: Dave Johnson 1991: Dan O'Brien 1992: Dave Johnson

1993-onwards USA Track & Field	1993-96: Dan O'Brien 1997: Steve Fritz 1998-99: Chris Huffins 2000: Tom Pappas 2001: Kip Janvrin 2002-03: Tom Pappas 2004-05: Bryan Clay 2006-07: Tom Pappas 2008: Bryan Clay 2009: Trey Hardee 2010: Jake Arnold 2011-13: Ashton Eaton

Notes	The 1920, 1928, 1932, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 championships incorporated the Olympic Trials, otherwise held as a discrete event.