Bill Toomey is a former American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 track and field

Track and field

Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...

 competitor and the 1968 Olympic decathlon

Decathlon

The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word decathlon is of Greek origin . Events are held over two consecutive days and the winners are determined by the combined performance in all. Performance is judged on a points system in each event, not...

 champion.

A graduate of Worcester Academy

Worcester Academy

Worcester Academy is an independent coeducational preparatory school spread over in Worcester, Massachusetts in the United States. The school is divided into a middle school, serving approximately 150 students in grades six to eight, and an upper school, serving approximately 500 students in...

 and the University of Colorado

University of Colorado at Boulder

The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...

, Toomey was named ABC

American Broadcasting Company

The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year in 1968. He received the James E. Sullivan Award

James E. Sullivan Award

The James E. Sullivan Award, presented by the American Amateur Athletic Union , is awarded annually in April to "the outstanding amateur athlete in the United States". Often referred to as the Oscar of sports awards, it was first presented in 1930. The award is named for the AAU's founder and past...

 as the top amateur athlete in the United States in 1969.

Toomey married Olympic gold-medal winning British athlete Mary Rand

Mary Rand

Mary Denise Rand, MBE, is a former English track-and-field athlete. She won the gold medal in the long jump at the 1964 Summer Olympics by breaking the world record, becoming the first-ever British female to win an Olympic gold medal in a track and field event.-Early life:She is the daughter of...

 in 1969 and they had two daughters, Samantha and Sarah. They divorced after 22 years of marriage.

Toomey was head coach in track and field at the University of California at Irvine in the early 1970s.