Top 150 Olympic Athletes: #86 - Ray Ewry

Ray Ewry

USA

Athletics

Overall Ranks

#29 among American Olympians

#25 among Track & Field Athletes

#20 among American Male Olympians

#19 among Male Track & Field Athletes

#15 among American Male Track & Field Athletes

Olympic Results

1900

Standing High Jump - Gold

Standing Long Jump - Gold

Standing Triple Jump - Gold

1904

Standing High Jump - Gold

Standing Long Jump - Gold

Standing Triple Jump - Gold

1908

Standing High Jump - Gold

Standing Long Jump - Gold

Total

Events - 8

Gold - 8

Raymond Clarence Ewry was born on October 14, 1873 in Lafayette, Indiana, and spent much of his childhood in a wheelchair due to polio. He went through a rigorous exercise routine to strengthen his legs, and by the time he went to college at Purdue in 1890, he was captain of the track team and played football. After graduating with a Masters in Mechanical Engineering, he moved to New York and joined the New York Athletic Club, competing in the standing jump events.

He first competed in the 1900 Paris Olympics, and all 3 of his events were held on the same day. In the standing high jump, there were only 3 competitors, but Ewry easily beat the others, jumping 1.655 meters, about 5 feet, 5 inches. There were only 4 participants in the standing long jump, and Ewry again dominated, jumping 3.3 meters, or 10 feet, 10 inches.

There were 10 jumpers in the standing triple jump event, and Ewry was the only one to jump more than 10 meters, ending up at 10.58 meters, nearly 2 feet ahead of anyone else. He walked away from Paris with gold medals in all 3 of his events.

He returned to defend his medals in 1904 in Saint Louis. In the standing long jump, which came first, he was again the best of the 4 participants, jumping over 3.4 meters on all 4 of his attempts, while no one else reached 3.3 meters on any jump. His final jump of 3.47 meters gave him the win by nearly 8 inches.

In the standing high jump, there were 5 athletes taking part, and Ewry again dominated, jumping 1.6 meters, a full 6 inches higher than the silver medalist. In the standing triple jump, he finished at 10.54 meters, just short of his distance from 1900, and again won the competition by more than a foot over anyone else.

In 1908, the standing triple jump had been discontinued, but he still competed in the other two events. In the standing long jump, there was a qualifying round for the first time, because the field had ballooned to 23, but Ewry led after both the qualifying and the final, finishing with a jump of 3.33 meters, 0.1 meters ahead of the silver medalist.

There were also 23 jumpers in the standing high jump, and this time Ewry was tied for first after qualifying with Kostas Tsiklitiras of Greece, both with jumps of 1.55 meters. The top 4 advanced to the final, where John Biller of the USA also jumped 1.55, but Ewry was able to eke past them both with a final jump of 1.57 meters to win his final gold medal.

He attempted to make the team again in 1912, but failed to qualify. Even though none of his events were contested again after World War I, he won every event he entered, often by large margins, which makes him one of the greatest Olympians of all time.