Michael Alex Conley Sr. (born October 5, 1962) is an American former

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete who competed primarily in the

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down th ...

and the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a ...

. In the triple jump, he won an Olympic gold medal in 1992, silver in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

, and gold in the 1993 World Championship. Conley's son,

Mike Conley Jr. Michael Alex Conley Jr. (born October 11, 1987) is an American professional basketball player for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was drafted as the fourth pick in the 2007 NBA draft by the Memphis Grizzlies. Con ...

, is a professional

basketball player Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

(NBA).

Competitive career

Conley competed collegiately at the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

where he won 9

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

long jump and triple jump titles. Conley was ranked #1 in the United States 9 times in the triple jump during his professional career. Conley is the former world indoor triple jump record holder and he still holds the U.S. indoor record in the triple jump at 17.76 meters (58 feet, 3.25 inches). Conley was ranked #1 in the world 6 times in the Triple Jump during his career and was ranked 8th in the U.S. in the 200 meter dash in 1985. Conley received the USATF

Jim Thorpe James Francis Thorpe ( Sac and Fox (Sauk): ''Wa-Tho-Huk'', translated as "Bright Path"; May 22 or 28, 1887March 28, 1953) was an American athlete and Olympic gold medalist. A member of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe was the first Nativ ...

Award in 1986 and 1992 as the top field events athlete in the U.S. In 2004, Conley was inducted into the United States

National Track and Field Hall of Fame The National Track and Field Hall of Fame is a museum operated by The Armory Foundation in conjunction with USA Track & Field. It is located within the Armory Foundation (the former Fort Washington Avenue Armory) at 216 Fort Washington Avenue, ...

. A

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player at the point guard position in

Luther High School South Luther High School South was a private Lutheran high school in the Ashburn neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, near the village of Evergreen Park. From 2009 to 2010, the school was named Luther South Math, Science, and Performing Arts High Schoo ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and in college (only during his freshman year), Conley relied on those skills in winning the

Foot Locker Foot Locker Retail, Inc. is an American sportswear and footwear retailer, with its headquarters in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, and operating in 28 countries. Although established in 1974, and founded as a separate company in 1988, Foo ...

Celebrity

Slam Dunk A slam dunk, also simply known as dunk, is a type of basketball shot that is performed when a player jumps in the air, controls the ball above the horizontal plane of the rim, and scores by shoving the ball directly through the basket with one ...

Contest in 1988, 1989 and 1992, where he also made the longest dunk ever, a dunk from 2" behind the free-throw line in the final against Olympic long jumper, Mike Powell.

Post-competitive career

Conley was president and remains on the board of directors of World Sport Chicago, the "living legacy" of Chicago's 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Bid, that focuses on promoting and developing sport programs and events for the youth of Chicago. Chicago had been selected as the U.S. entry into the bid process. Previously, he was the executive director of Elite Athlete's program for

USA Track and Field USA Track & Field (USATF) is the United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running and racewalking (known as the sport of athletics outside the US). The USATF was known between 1979 and ...

. Conley is presently serving as chairman on the High Performance committee for USATF. Conley is also CEO of (MMG) a Sports Management Group as well as CEO of hydrogen-infused water company HTWO. Conley is registered with the NBA as an agent and represented his son,

, and his son's Ohio State teammates

Greg Oden Gregory Wayne Oden Jr. (born January 22, 1988) is an American former professional basketball player. Oden, a 7'0" (2.13m) center, played college basketball at Ohio State University for one season, during which the team was the Big Ten Champion ...

and

Daequan Cook Daequan Cook (born April 28, 1987) is an American former professional basketball player who last played for Ironi Nes Ziona of the Israeli Premier League. He was taken 21st overall in the 2007 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers then subsequently ...

when they entered the league and currently represents Indiana native

Josh McRoberts Joshua Scott McRoberts (born February 28, 1987) is an American former professional basketball player who played eleven seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). McRoberts, a power forward, played college basketball for the Duke Blue ...

of the Dallas Mavericks. Oden officially declared for the NBA draft by signing with Mike Sr. as his agent and was subsequently chosen as the number one player in the 2007 NBA Draft. Conley Jr. was selected fourth overall. Cook was drafted 21st.

Rankings

Conley had a particularly long and prolific career and he was considered among the world's best for over a decade. ''

Track and Field News ''Track & Field News'' is an American monthly sports magazine founded in 1948 by brothers Bert Nelson and Cordner Nelson, focused on the world of track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on runni ...

'' ranked him among the top ten triple jumpers in the world 14 consecutive years (six times as world's best) and seven times in the long jump.
Conley was ranked 8th in the U.S. in the 200 meter dash in 1985.

Personal life

Conley is married to René Corbin Conley and is the father of

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, Northwest Division (NBA), ...

point guard

, Jordan Conley, Sydney Conley ( All-American long jumper at

the University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

), and Jon Conley. He is the elder brother of former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

Steve Conley Steve Conley may refer to: *Steve Conley (running back), American football player born in 1949 who played running back and linebacker in the 1970s *Steve Conley (linebacker) Donald Steven Conley (born January 18, 1972) is a former American foo ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Conley, Mike Sr. 1962 births Living people African-American male track and field athletes Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball players Arkansas Razorbacks men's track and field athletes American male triple jumpers American male long jumpers American sports agents Athletes (track and field) at the 1987 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Track and field athletes from Chicago University of Arkansas alumni World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States World Athletics Championships medalists Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Goodwill Games medalists in athletics American men's basketball players Universiade silver medalists for the United States Point guards World Athletics Indoor Championships winners World Athletics Indoor Championships medalists World Athletics Championships winners Competitors at the 1986 Goodwill Games Competitors at the 1990 Goodwill Games Competitors at the 1994 Goodwill Games Medalists at the 1987 Pan American Games 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople