Reynaldo Brown (born December 6, 1950, in Los Angeles, California) is an American track and field athlete, known for the high jump. He competed in the 1968 Summer Olympics at the beginning of his senior year in high school, finishing fifth. [1] His participation in that transitional event had him witnessing teammate Dick Fosbury winning the gold medal using the Fosbury Flop, leaving Brown as one of the last successful jumpers to use the straddle technique.
While at Compton High School, Brown won the CIF California State Meet three straight times, after being overshadowed by teammate Bill Morris as a freshman. [2] He was the first high school athlete to jump seven feet. [3] He was invited to that year's Semifinal Olympic Trials, an elimination event. Finishing fourth, he qualified to the Olympic Trials at Echo Summit. Brown had to defeat another high school phenom, John Hartfield, to make the team, ultimately finishing second behind another Californian Ed Caruthers, the future silver medalist, and ahead of Fosbury. Brown returned to school late in the term after his Olympic adventure. Two months behind, he had to study hard to catch up. By February, he led his Compton team to the CIF State basketball championship. [4] He was Track & Field News' "High School Athlete of the Year" in 1968. [5]
Brown continued his education at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. While at Cal Poly, he won two NCAA College Division/Division II national titles, which qualified him to compete and also win at the NCAA Division I National Championship each of those years: 1971 at Washington and 1973 at LSU. In the process, he set the NCAA Small School, Cal Poly school and National Collegiate outdoor records with a clearance of 7-foot-4 (or 2.23m) as a Mustang senior in 1973. [6]
For 1973, Brown not only won the high jump at 15 meets during the year, but also ranked second in the world for the high jump, behind only Dwight Stones. [7] In 1971, Brown was awarded the all-sports CCAA Athlete of the Year honor, and in 1993 he was inducted into the Cal Poly Athletics Hall of Fame. [8]
Brown was one of the most consistent 7-foot jumpers of the 1970s. On January 14, 1972, Brown jumped 2.24m, or 7 feet, 4 inches (setting a new American indoor record), in College Park, Maryland, at the National Invitational meet, where he was just five-eighths of an inch away from the then-world record held by Valeriy Brumel. [9] [10]
He also won the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in 1970 and 1971. [11] In-between those, he won the 1971 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships. [12]
Brown also played basketball at Cal Poly in the 1971-72 season, as he made 14 of 24 field-goal attempts and averaged 4.4 points while helping the Mustangs earn a 16–10 record for the season. [13]
In 2009, at age 58, Brown competed in the Senior Games.
In November 2015, Brown received the Athletes in Excellence Award from The Foundation for Global Sports Development, in recognition of his community service efforts and work with youth. [14]
Brown had a kidney transplant and credits his athletic conditioning to his recovery and survival. [15]
In February 2017, Brown, who is also a photographer, got his works displayed through the Art of the Olympians.
Karin Kiefer Smith is a retired female javelin thrower from the United States. She was born in Germany. She is a three-time Olympian. Smith qualified for a fourth, the 1980 U.S. Olympic team, but was unable to compete due to the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott. She did, however, receive one of 461 Congressional Gold Medals created especially for the spurned athletes.
Richard Douglas Fosbury was an American high jumper, who is considered one of the most influential athletes in the history of track and field. He won a gold medal at the 1968 Summer Olympics, revolutionizing the high jump event with a "back-first" technique now known as the Fosbury flop. His method was to sprint diagonally towards the bar, then curve and leap backward over the bar, which gave him a much lower center of mass in flight than traditional techniques. Debbie Brill was developing her similar "Brill Bend" around the same time. This approach has seen nearly universal adoption since Fosbury's performance in Mexico. Though he never returned to the Olympics, Fosbury continued to be involved in athletics after retirement and served on the executive board of the World Olympians Association.
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.
Benny Brown was an Olympic gold-medal winner in the 1976 4x400 Men's Relay running the second leg. He teamed with Herman Frazier, Fred Newhouse and Maxie Parks.
Cecil Turner is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for six seasons for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He went to the Pro Bowl after the 1970 season, when he tied a record by returning four kickoffs for touchdowns, a record that still stands.
Dr. Sheila Ann Hudson is an American former track and field athlete and Olympian, ranked among the all-time greatest U.S. competitors in the women's triple jump. Throughout her career, she won nine U.S. triple jump titles, and set two world bests and nine American records. She previously held the indoor American record in the women's triple jump (46-8.25) as well as the outdoor American record in women's triple jump (47-3.5) with a wind aided all-time best jump of 48-1.25. Hudson won the silver medal at the 1994 IAAF World Cup, finished eighth at the 1995 World Indoor Championships, tenth at the 1996 Olympic Games and fifth at the 1998 IAAF World Cup.
Clancy Edwards is an American retired track and field sprinter. He was considered one of the best sprinters in the world between 1974 and 1978. He won the 200 metres at the 1977 IAAF World Cup, the most important meet of that year, defeating future World Record holder Pietro Mennea.
Wendy Renee Brown is a retired heptathlete and triple jumper from the United States. She competed in the heptathlon at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, finishing in 18th place behind teammate Jackie Joyner Kersee's still current world record. As the event was in transition to become an official event, she set the world record in the women's triple jump twice in the mid-1980s. Because this was before the event was declared official, neither of those records were officially ratified. Brown went to the University of Southern California where she won the 1986 NCAA Indoor Championship in the Triple Jump and later winning 1988 NCAA Championship in the Heptathlon. She is still the school record holder in the Triple Jump and Heptathlon, as well as being ranked second in Long Jump and High Jump, and fifth in the Javelin throw.
Barton Williams is an American former hurdler. He attended California Polytechnic State University from 1975 to 1979. Williams is one of Cal Poly's all-time greatest track and field athletes.
The Cal Poly Mustangs are the football team representing California Polytechnic State University located in San Luis Obispo, California.
John Walton Smith is a former American athlete, who competed in the sprints events during his career. He is best known for winning the 400 m event at the 1971 Pan American Games. He remains the world record holder for the 440 yard dash at 44.5 seconds. He set the record while winning the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on June 26, 1971 while running for the Southern California Striders. The record has stood since then due to metrification in the sport. Contemporary athletes rarely run or are timed officially for the extra 2.34 meters to equal 440 yards.
Ronald Lee Jourdan was an American college and Olympic track and field athlete. Jourdan was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) champion in the high jump from Florida and member of the 1972 U.S. Olympic team. Jourdan, along with Reynaldo Brown of California, were the last great American high jumpers to use the straight-leg straddle, the style which dominated the sport in the 1950s and 1960s. Jourdan's personal best was 7 feet 3 inches.
Johnathan Knight Cabral is an American-Canadian hurdler. He grew up in Agoura Hills, California and competed for the Agoura High School football team and track and field team. He attended the University of Oregon where he competed as a member of the track and field team.
Sharon Day-Monroe is an American heptathlete, pentathlete and high jumper. She is the 2011, 2013, and 2014 national heptathlon champion.
The Cal Poly Mustangs are the athletic teams representing California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California. The university fields twenty-two teams and compete in NCAA Division I; they are primarily members of the Big West Conference, but the football team plays in the Big Sky Conference, the wrestling team is an associate member of the Pac-12 Conference, and the swimming and diving program competes as an affiliate member in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.
Mohinder Singh Gill is a retired Indian triple jumper who competed at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
Mark Robert Conover was an American long distance runner and coach. He was born in Contra Costa County, California. He is most famous for his unexpected strategic victory at the 1988 United States Olympic Trials marathon, qualifying him for the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, where he was a member of the U.S. Team. The winning time of 2:12:26 at the Olympic trials was his personal best.
Jenna Elizabeth Prandini is an American track and field athlete who has competed in both sprinting and long jump. She is a two-time national champion at 200 meters, and a two-time Olympian in 2016 and 2020. She won a silver medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics as part of the United States 4x100 m relay team, and won a gold medal with the US 4x100 m relay at the 2022 World Athletics Championships.
Michael Arthur Norman Jr. is an American sprinter. He previously held the world best time in the indoor 400 meters at 44.52 seconds. Outdoors, his 43.45, set at the 2019 Mt. SAC Relays, is tied on sixth on the all time list. In 2016, he became the world junior champion in both the 200 meters and 4×100 meter relay. In 2022, he became the world champion in both the 400 meters and 4x400 meter relay.
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.
