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Ewry: jumper with 'springBy Mike McCormickStrange as it may seem, high jumpers are not necessarily able to jump high.Dwight Stones, until recently regarded as the United States’ best in the event, pointed out that Al Feuerbach, a 270-pound shot putter, “can easily outjump me in a standing jump test.’’Tests at Indiana University under the direction of Donald A. Chu supported the proposition that the best jumpers are those who have both spring and great leg strength.Consider the feats, then, of the man who must be considered the world’s best pure jumper ever: Ray Ewry of Lafayette, Ind.Never head of him?If not, check an Olympic history book. Ewry still holds the record for the most individual gold medals in track and field.Born on October 14, 1873, Ewry was stricken with a severe case of polio as an infant. He was confined to a wheelchair, unable to move his lower limbs.The doctor’s prognosis was negative. The paralysis was permanent. Apparently the only thing the physician did not consider was Ewry’s courage and determination.Devising his own exercises, Ewry practiced daily. Soon the legs began to move and, as time progressed, he developed great strength and body coordination.Until he arrived at Purdue University, he knew little of athletics or track and field. He ran and he jumped on legs described by his coach as “two steel springs.’’ Midway through his college career he decided to specialize exclusively in standing jumps: the highState Farm has become the largest homeowners insurance company in the country by offering low rates and prompt, first-class service. But people are still surprised when they find out we can save them money When your current policy expires, come see me.I may have a surprise for you.’ in his legsjump, broad jump and the hop, step and jump.He continued working out after graduation from the Lafayette school and, in 1900 at age 26, he qualified as a member of the United States team to participate in the Paris Olympics.July 16, 1900 will go down in history as one of the greatest “one-man shows’’ in Olympic history. Ewry opened the day by winning the standing high jump by five and one-quarter inches over another American, all-around athlete Irving K. Baxter from Penn State, with a leap of five feet, five and one-quarter inches, the world record and still the Olympic record.In the early afternoon, he won the gold in the standing broad jump—again beating Baxter—with a leap often feet, six and one-half inches.By dusk, he picked up his third gold by triple jumping from a standing start 34 feet, 8-1/2 inches. Baxter and Robert Garrett, both of the United States, won the silver and bronze. It was the best outdoor mark ever recorded in the -history of the event.Four years later—at age 30—Ewry repeated his 1900 feat with three gold medals in the 1904 St. Louis Olympics. He even improved his Olympic mark in the standing long jump with the best mark ever recorded: 11 feet, 4-7/8 inches. His closest competitor that day was Charles King of the U.S.In 1906, at the Unofficial Olympics at Athens, Greece, Ewry captured gold medals on the standing high jump and the standing broad jump but these medals are not in the Olympic record book since the meet was not considered a sanctioned Olympics. He no doubt would have won the hop, step and jump, too, but that event was eliminated from the competition.So, Ewry journeyed to London as a member of the U.S. team in 1908. Nearly 35 years old, he was a senior citizen on the track and field team. But, he did not compete like one. He beat his closest competitor, Konstantin Tsiklitiras of Greece, by four full inches in the standing broad jump and by a full inch in the standing high jump. Regardless of whether or not you count Ewry’s two gold medals in the “unofficial’’ 1906 Olympics, he still holds the record for the most individual medals. The only difference in the number: ten, if you count the 1906 games; eight, if you do not. Finland’s great distance man Paavo Nurmi is next with six.Following the 1908 Games, Ewry retired from active competition perhaps sensing the demise of the standing jumps. The standing hop, step and jump was, of course, eliminated after the 1904 Games; the standing broad jump and standing high jump were removed from the official program after 1912.Though Ewry’s Olympic records are permanently recorded in the annals, they may not be his best performances. He supposedly turned n a standing triple jump of 25 feet, 8-3/4 inches indoors and broad jumped 11 feet, 6 inches.Ewry’s world high jump mark stood until Harold Osborn broke it with a leap of 5 feet, 6 inches in 1936, one year before Ewry’s death at age 63. Osborn, at one time, had the world running high jump record of 6 feet, 8-1/4 inches.
Newspaper Details
Terre Haute Spectator
Terre Haute, Indiana, US
Sat, Sep 15, 1979
Page 15
Full Page
Clipped by
Sante B.
WV, USA 31 Oct 2019
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