The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a group are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". This event has a history in the ancient Olympic Games and has been a modern Olympic event for men since the first Olympics in 1896 and for women since 1948.
The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down the track and performs a hop, a bound and then a jump into the sand pit. The triple jump was inspired by accounts of lengthy jumps at the ancient Olympic Games and has been a modern Olympics event since the Games' inception in 1896.
Frederick Carlton Lewis is an American former track and field athlete who won nine Olympic gold medals, one Olympic silver medal, and 10 World Championships medals, including eight gold. Lewis was a dominant sprinter and long jumper whose career spanned from 1979 to 1996, when he last won the Olympic long jump. He is one of six athletes to win gold in the same individual event in four consecutive Olympic Games, and is one of two people to win gold in the same individual athletics event in four Olympic Games, along with USA discus thrower Al Oerter. He is the head track and field coach for the University of Houston.
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events. Track and field is categorized under the umbrella sport of athletics, which also includes road running, cross country running and racewalking. In British English the term athletics is synonymous with American track and field and includes all jumping events. Outside of Canada and the United States, athletics is the official term for this sport with 'track' and 'field' events being subgroups of athletics events.
Javier Sotomayor Sanabria is a Cuban former track and field athlete who specialized in the high jump and is the current world record holder. The 1992 Olympic gold medalist, he was the dominant high jumper of the 1990s; his personal best of 2.45 m makes him the only person ever to have cleared eight feet (2.44 m). He cleared eight feet twice, the first time with 2.44 m in 1989.
Darvis "Doc" Darell Patton is a retired American track and field athlete who competed in sprinting events. He is a two-time US Champion in the 200-meter dash and won the silver medal in the event at the 2003 World Championships. He is a three-time Olympian and a four-time participant at the World Athletics Championships.
Glenroy John Gilbert is a Canadian former track and field athlete, winner of the gold medal in 4×100 metres relay at the 1996 Summer Olympics, and head coach of Athletics Canada.
Leevan Sands is a Bahamian triple jumper.
Heike Gabriela Drechsler is a German former track and field athlete who represented East Germany and later Germany. One of the most successful long jumpers of all-time, she is a former world record holder and ranks third on the all-time list with her legal best of 7.48 metres in 1988. Her marginally wind-assisted jump of 7.63 metres (+2.1) in 1992 at altitude in Sestriere, is still the furthest a woman has ever long jumped. She is the only woman who has won two Olympic gold medals in the long jump, winning in 1992 and 2000.
Hollis Conway is a track and field high jumper and a two-time Olympic medalist. He is currently employed by Lafayette Consolidated Government as the PARC Director in Lafayette Mayor-President Josh Guillory's administration. Conway previously served as the assistant director of Diversity, Leadership, & Education for the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football team under head coach Billy Napier. Conway was the top-ranked high jumper in the U.S. seven straight years from 1988 to 1994 and in the world for two of those years. Conway, John Thomas and Dwight Stones are the only Americans to win two Olympic medals in the high jump.
Dwight Edwin Stones is an American television commentator and a two-time Olympic bronze medalist and former three-time world record holder in the men's high jump. During his 16-year career, he won 19 national championships. In 1984, Stones became the first athlete to both compete and serve as an announcer at the same Olympics. Since then, he has been a color analyst for all three major networks in the United States and continues to cover track and field on television. He served as an analyst for NBC Sports coverage of Track and Field at the 2008 Summer Olympics. He is a member of the US Track Hall of Fame, the California Sports Hall of Fame, the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, and the Orange County Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.
Allen Simms is an American triple jumper and Social Entrepreneur.
Edrick Bertholan Floréal is a track and field coach for the Texas Longhorns men's track and field and women's track and field program and retired long and triple jumper from Canada.
Henry Lauterbach is a retired East German high jumper and long jumper.
Christian Taylor is a retired American track and field athlete who competed in the triple jump and has a personal record of 18.21 m, which ranks 2nd on the all-time list.
Brian Johnson is an American long jumper.
Omar Craddock is an American track and field athlete who competes in the triple jump. With the University of Florida he won one indoor and two outdoor NCAA titles in the event. He competed alongside Christian Taylor and Will Claye in a succession of elite level triple jumpers to come from the Florida Gators track and field team.
Gordon Phillip Windeyer is an Australian former track and field athlete who competed in the high jump. He was the gold medallist in the event at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games, setting a games record mark. A three-time winner at the Australian Athletics Championships in the 1970s, he is a former Australian record holder with a best of 2.21 m.
Chris Benard is an American track and field athlete who competes in the triple jump. He holds a personal record of 17.48 m, set in 2016. Bernard represented Team USA 9-times at 2 Summer Olympics, 4 World Athletics Championships, & 3 NACAC Championships.
Brian Brown is an American male former track and field athlete who competed in the high jump. His career best was 2.34 m, set in 1990. He was the national champion at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in 1989 and won the NCAA Indoor Division I title in 1990.
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