Our Olympic Hero: Uncle Dallas Bixler

It’s the fourth year of the athlete’s cycle also known as the Olympics. In my family, it’s July of stopping the presses, breakfast, lunch, and dinner in front of the television for three weeks of Olympic fever. Of course, so many people around the world tune in for the Olympics. As there are athletes representing each country, they should have a lot of support from their home countries. Some take this support further than others though. For example, some people often bet on their country’s athlete by visiting an Indiana sports betting website. Not only does this support the athlete, but it also creates the potential for the individual to make some money if that athlete wins. The Olympics is a great event for everyone around the world, we’re sure that millions will be tuning in.

We come by our competitive spirit honestly. My Great Uncle Dallas Bixler was an Olympic gold medal winner at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. A gymnast who grew up in LA, he practiced in his folk’s backyard on apparatus he cobbled together.
His specialty was the horizontal bar and rings, which he perfected when he was not working his job at a local bank. My Uncle Dallas didn’t have a posse of trainers feeding him protein shakes, massaging his aching muscles or dressing him in the latest swoosh-swag.
Instead, he had to make up his own mind when to train, how to train and most importantly, how to fund his way to various meets. Dallas grew up not to far from the Olympic Stadium in Los Angeles which was why he was able to compete.
Years later, he would explain that his career was cut short not only by injury but the lack of money for the travel that was required to attend competitions. There was little organization in the world of men’s gymnastics. You had to pay your own way or there was no way.
Our Uncle Dallas won his gold medal in front of a sparse crown on a bright summer day in 1932. Olympic organizers basically had the equipment dragged out onto the center of the field and that was that. No cameras, no crowds, no glory, but lots of guts. Competing against two world-famous Finnish athletes, Uncle Dallas tried a daring new dismount and in 72 seconds he did something so remarkable that his name is still honored throughout the history of the sport.
With only a couple hundred people in attendance, Dallas won the gold and then had to wait for three days for the award ceremony. The truth was that the game’s organizers had their eye on the track and field competitions scheduled that day. They hustled the gymnasts off the field so they could ready the stadium for the more crowd pleasing competitions of track. Gymnastics was primarily a European sport and there was not much interest at home.
I remember my Uncle Dallas fondly and as a child always knew he was a legend. But more than that, he was just another family guy, with a remarkable story that could only happen on a summer’s day in July.
From the Heart …