Ray Ewry: Higher Than the Rest

Born in the U.S. state of Indiana in 1873, Ray Ewry was afflicted in childhood with polio, a disease that forced his confinement to a wheelchair. A sympathetic doctor advised his parents that, with a strict program of exercise, Ewry might one day regain the use of his legs. Ewry did far better than that. Devoted to hours-long workouts, he earned 15 national championships in track-and-field events between 1898 and 1910. His specialty was the standing events—the standing long jump, high jump, and triple jump. Ewry was awarded an athletic scholarship to attend Purdue University, where he competed in both track and football. An astute student as well as a superb athlete, Ewry left Purdue with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering.

Ewry won his first three Olympic gold medals for the standing long jump, standing high jump, and standing triple jump on the same day at the 1900 Games in Paris. He repeated his performance at the 1904 Games in St. Louis, Missouri, setting a world record of 11 feet 47/8 inches (3.47 metres) for the long jump. It was then that an enthusiastic press dubbed him “the greatest jumper on earth,” “the human frog,” “the rubber man,” and other sobriquets.

The standing triple jump was discontinued at the unofficial Intercalated Games of 1906, so Ewry had to be content with gold medals in the standing high jump and standing long jump. He earned official gold medals in those two events at the 1908 Games in London, giving him a total of 10 gold medals. Ewry’s spectacular performances are sometimes overlooked, since the events in which he excelled are no longer held—1912 was the last year for the standing high jump and standing long jump. His count of 10 gold medals, however, translates into a first-place victory for every event he entered—a record that no other Olympian has yet surpassed.