Ray Ewry

Ray Ewry was paralyzed by polio as a child, but by dint of diligent exercising he developed immense strength in his legs and became the greatest exponent of the standing jumps that the sport has ever seen. He attended Purdue from 1890 to 1897, where he captained the track team and also played football. After gaining a graduate degree in mechanical engineering he competed briefly for the Chicago AA before moving to New York, where he worked for the city as a hydraulics engineer and joined the New York AC. He won the first of his 15 AAU titles in 1898 at the age of 25 and the last in 1910. He was undoubtedly deprived of many more titles when the standing jumps were dropped from the AAU program from 1899 to 1905. He attempted a comeback in 1912 but, not surprisingly some of the spring had gone from his legs as he approached his 40th birthday and he failed to make the Olympic team. Ewry’s 10 gold medals was an absolute Olympic record that stood until 2008.

Personal Bests: sHJ – 1.675 (1900); sLJ – 11-4¾ (3.47) (1904); sTJ – 35-7¼ (10.86) (1901).