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 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 backwards over the bar, which gave him a much lower center of mass in flight than traditional techniques. 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.
David William Sime was an American sprinter, multi-sport athlete at Duke University, and a pioneering ophthalmologist. He won a silver medal in the 100-meter dash at the 1960 Olympic Games. He held several sprint records during the late 1950s.
Holly McPeak is a retired American indoor and beach volleyball player. McPeak was three-times an Olympian in beach volleyball. In the professional circuit, she garnered 72 career beach volleyball titles, with career earnings of $1.4 million USD. She is ranked third in titles won and second in career earnings for female professional beach volleyball players. She won a bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics with partner Elaine Youngs. Though McPeak was considered short for a beach volleyball player at 5 feet 7 inches in height, she was one of the toughest players to beat on the tour.
Daniel Dion O'Brien is an American former decathlete and Olympic gold medalist. He won the Olympic title in 1996, three consecutive world championships, and set the world record in 1992.
William Jay Bowerman was an American track and field coach and co-founder of Nike, Inc. Over his career, he trained 31 Olympic athletes, 51 All-Americans, 12 American record-holders, 22 NCAA champions and 16 sub-4 minute milers.
Sheridan High School is a public high school in Sheridan, Oregon, United States.
Howard Andrew "Hobby" Hobson was an American basketball player and coach of football, basketball, and baseball. He served as the head basketball coach at Southern Oregon Normal School—now Southern Oregon University—from 1932 to 1935, at the University of Oregon from 1935 to 1944 and again from 1945 to 1947, and at Yale University from 1947 to 1956, compiling a career college basketball record of 401–257. Hobson's 1938–39 Oregon basketball team won the inaugural NCAA basketball tournament. Hobson authored numerous books on the subject of basketball. He was also the head football coach at Southern Oregon for 1932 to 1934, tallying a mark of 12–7–1, and the head baseball coach at Oregon from 1936 to 1947, amassing a record of 167–75–1. Hobson was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach in 1965.
David Allen Johnson is a former Olympic decathlete from the United States. A native of Montana, he grew up in Missoula and Corvallis, Oregon. He was part of Reebok's "Dan & Dave" advertising campaign, with fellow decathlete Dan O'Brien, leading up to the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, where he won a bronze medal in the decathlon. After retiring from competitive athletics he became a school teacher and administrator, serving as athletic director of Corban University in Salem, Oregon starting in 2009. Johnson accepted a position as Director with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Oregon in June 2012. On November 14, 2012, Johnson resigned from Corban to devote more time to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He now coaches pole vault & hurdles at South Salem High School.
Kathryn Joan "Kate" Schmidt is an American former world record holder in the javelin throw. A native of California, graduate of Woodrow Wilson Classical High School, and alumnus of UCLA, she won bronze medals at the 1972 and 1976 Olympics. She qualified for the 1980 Olympics, but did not compete due to the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott. She placed fourth at the 1984 Olympic Trials.
Willye Brown White was an American track and field athlete who took part in five Olympics from 1956 to 1972. She was America's best female long jumper of the time and also competed in the 100 meters sprint. White was a Tennessee State University Tigerbelle under Coach Ed Temple. An African-American, White was the first U.S. athlete to compete in track in five Olympics.
Lynn Alice Jennings is a retired American long-distance runner. She is one of the best female American runners of all time, with a range from 1500 meters to the marathon. She excelled at all three of the sport's major disciplines: track, road, and cross country. She won the bronze in the Women's 10,000 metres at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. She set a world indoor record in the 5000 meter run in 1990.
Jan Johnson is an American former athlete who competed mainly in the pole vault. He graduated in 1972 from the University of Alabama, where he holds the school record in the pole vault at 18 feet, 1/2 inch.
Jarred Daniel Rome was an American discus thrower. His personal-best throw was 68.76 meters, achieved on August 7, 2011, in Chula Vista. He was the Throws Coach at Boston University in Boston, Massachusetts. He graduated in 2000 from Boise State University and was inducted into the Boise State Hall of Fame in 2007.
The Oregon Sports Hall of Fame honors Oregon athletes, teams, coaches, and others who have made a significant contribution to sports in Oregon. The first class was inducted in 1980, with new inductees added in the fall. Operated by the Oregon Sports Trust, the museum is currently closed in preparation for moving to another facility.
Brenda Mersereau Helser, later known by her married name Brenda Helser de Morelos, was an American former competition swimmer who won a gold medal in the women's 4×100-meter freestyle relay at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. A graduate of Stanford University, de Morelos grew up in Oregon where she graduated from Lincoln High School. Her swim coach was International Swimming Hall of Fame member Jack Cody. Along with fellow 1948 Olympians Suzanne Zimmerman and Nancy Merki, Helser was part of the Multnomah Athletic Club team dubbed "Cody's Kids" that from 1939 to 1948, won 58 individual national swimming titles and three national team swimming championships.
William Louis "Colonel Bill" Hayward was a track and field coach at the University of Oregon for 44 years, and a track coach for six United States Olympic teams, from 1908 through 1932.
Carolyn Virginia Wood is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder.
Caroline Walker is a former American long-distance runner from Oregon who is recognized by the International Association of Athletics Federations as having set a world best in the marathon on February 28, 1970 with a time of 3:02:53 at the inaugural Trail's End Marathon in Seaside, Oregon.
Kate Hall-Harnden is an American track and field athlete specializing in the long jump and Sprint. Hall coached Track and Field at Saint Joseph's College of Maine between 2018 - 2022.
Sharon Shepherd is an American track and field athlete, primarily known for throwing events. She is a multiple time American champion, winning both the shot put and discus at the 1963 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Prior to winning, she had finished in second place three times and third twice in the shot put.
