Dwight Edwin Stones (born December 6, 1953) is an American television commentator and a two-time Olympic

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

ist and former three-time world record holder in the men's

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

. During his 16-year career, he won 19 national championships. 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 ...

, Stones became the first athlete to both compete and serve as an announcer at the same Olympics. Since then, he has been a

color analyst A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The person may also be referred to as a summariser (outside North America) ...

for all three major networks in the United States and continues to cover

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

on television. He served as an analyst for

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division for NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, that is responsible for sports broadcasts on their broadcast network NBC, the Cable television, cable channels NBC owns, and on Peacock (streaming service) ...

coverage of Track and Field at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

. He is a member of the US Track Hall of Fame, the

California Sports Hall of Fame The California Sports Hall of Fame recognizes athletes, coaches, and members of sports media who have made a "lasting impression to California sports". It was established in 2006 by Christian Okoye, former running back for the Kansas City Chiefs. T ...

, the

International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame (IJSHOF) () is the international hall of fame for Jewish athletes and special contributors to the world of sport. The purpose of the IJSHOF is to honor Jewish individuals, worldwide, who have accompli ...

, and the Orange County Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

Biography

Born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, Stones set a national high school record while at Glendale High School in 1971 at , then won the bronze medal at age 18 at the

1972 Olympics 1972 Olympics refers to both: *1972 Winter Olympics, which were held in Sapporo, Japan *1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

. He set his first

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

the following summer when he cleared , also at Munich. That jump also made him the first "

flop Floating point operations per second (FLOPS, flops or flop/s) is a measure of computer performance in computing, useful in fields of scientific computations that require floating-point calculations. For such cases, it is a more accurate measur ...

" jumper to set a world record, five years after

Dick Fosbury Richard Douglas Fosbury (March 6, 1947 – March 12, 2023) 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 Summer Olympics, revolutionizing t ...

made that style famous while winning the gold medal at the

1968 Olympics 1968 Olympics may refer to: * 1968 Summer Olympics, which were held in Mexico City, Mexico * 1968 Winter Olympics The 1968 Winter Olympics, officially known as the X Olympic Winter Games (), were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 18 Feb ...

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

. Stones raised the world record to at the

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

Franklin Field Franklin Field is a sports stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the eastern edge of the University of Pennsylvania's campus. Named after Penn's founder, Benjamin Franklin, it is the home stadium for the Penn Relays, and the university's ve ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

in June 1976, and added another centimeter to the record two months later at . Stones attended

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

his freshman year (1971–72), and later transferred to

Long Beach State California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), also known in athletics as Long Beach State University (LBSU), is a public teaching-focused institution in Long Beach, California, United States. The 322-acre campus is the second largest in the ...

for a year and a half, and is a member of that university's hall of fame. In 1994, Stones hosted the second season of the ESPN game show ''Dream League''. In 1998, Stones was inducted into the

National Track and Field Hall of Fame National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

. He was a 1991 inductee into the Orange County Hall of Fame. Stones is

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

, and he once competed in the

Maccabiah Games The Maccabiah Games (, or משחקי המכביה העולמית; sometimes referred to as the "Jewish Olympics") is an international multi-sport event with summer and winter sports competitions featuring Jews and Israelis regardless of religion ...

in Israel.

Olympic competition

Stones was one of the world's top high jumpers from 1972 to 1984 and has been twice named the World Indoor Athlete of the Year by Track & Field News. At the

, Stones took the bronze medal at age eighteen, behind

Jüri Tarmak Jüri Tarmak (21 July 1946 – 22 June 2022)Suri olümpiavõitja Jüri Tarmak

and Stefan Junge. At the

1976 Olympics 1976 Olympics refers to both: *The 1976 Winter Olympics, which were originally to be held in Denver, United States, but relocated to Innsbruck, Austria *The 1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of t ...

Montréal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, he was a heavy favorite to win the gold medal. Earlier, he finished second at the U.S. Olympic Trials, then had to settle for another Olympic bronze behind

Jacek Wszoła Jacek Roman Wszoła (born 30 December 1956 in Warsaw, Poland) is a retired Poland, Polish high jumper best known for winning gold and silver medals at the 1976 Summer Olympics, 1976 and 1980 Summer Olympics respectively. Wszoła is also a one-tim ...

and local favorite

Greg Joy Gregory Andrew Joy (born April 23, 1956) is an American-born Canadian high jumper who stood 6' 4" tall and weighed 157 lbs while competing from 1973 to 1982 for Canada. Biography Born in the U.S. to Canadian parents, Joy lived in Vancouver, Brit ...

when his jumping ability was hampered by the competition being struck by heavy rain. A few days later, he raised the world record to in dry conditions at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. His participation at the Montreal Games sparked a heated debate: he had allegedly said that he hated

French Canadians French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French colonists first arriving in France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of French Canadians live in the provi ...

(Montréal-Matin Newspaper, July 29, 1976, pages 5 and 8) when he criticised the organization of the Games in a media interview. Consequently, Stones was subject to raucous booing and hissing during the competition. The debate became so inflamed that he decided on a new tee-shirt for the day of the final, the back of the shirt reading "I love French Canadians", which officials asked him to take off. The Americans in the audience responded to the treatment of Stones by booing Claude Ferragne, a French-Canadian jumper, during the event. After missing the 1980 Olympics in Moscow due to the American-led

boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent resistance, nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organisation, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for Morality, moral, society, social, politics, political, or Environmenta ...

, Stones returned to the Games at age thirty in

in Los Angeles, and finished fourth. He cleared 2.31 m, but lost the bronze medal to

Zhu Jianhua Zhu Jianhua (; born 29 May 1963) is a retired Chinese high jumper. His personal best of 2.39 metres is a former world record for the event, and is still the Chinese record. In Helsinki 1983, Zhu became China's first man to win a medal in t ...

on the countback. His distant cousin,

Doug Nordquist Douglas Nordquist (born December 20, 1958, in San Gabriel, California) is a retired male high jumper from the United States, who competed at the 1984 Summer Olympics where he ended up in fifth place with a jump of 2.29 metres, one place behind dis ...

, finished fifth, clearing 2.29 m. He had earned his spot on the U.S. Olympic Team by setting his 13th American record at , Nordquist finished second (2.31 m) Hymans, Richard (2008
The History of the Olympic Trials – Track & Field
''USA Track and field''. Retrieved June 30, 2019. at the U.S. Olympic Trials on June 24.

Professionalism

In the transitional time when

amateurism An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, self-taught, user-generated, DIY, and hobbyist. History H ...

requirements were fought by the athletes, Stones was a leading advocate of the change striving to break the barrier of payment to athletes. During that period, one of the first options was for winnings to be paid to the athlete's club. To answer that, Stones created the Desert Oasis Track Club, a California corporation. The only athlete in the club was Dwight Stones.Cheap Seats, “Superstars 1978” · A Very Special Episode · The A.V. Club
Avclub.com. Retrieved on 2016-07-11. The stockholders and officers were Dwight Stones and his family members. Stones first made money in the televised sports creation ''

Superstars A superstar is a widely acclaimed celebrity. Superstar or superstars may also refer to: People * "Superstar" Krishna (1943–2022), Indian film actor, director and producer in Telugu cinema * "Superstar" Mahesh Babu (born 1975), Indian actor * ...

'' which was "donated" to the track club. This caused the

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

and its American affiliate the AAU to suspend Stones. The ensuing lawsuit led to the

Amateur Sports Act of 1978 The Amateur Sports Act of 1978, signed by President Jimmy Carter, established the United States Olympic Committee (now United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee) and provides for national governing bodies for each Olympic sport. The Act provid ...

, which broke up the AAU, decertifying it as the national governing body for track and field (and many other sports) causing the formation of

The Athletics Congress USA Track & Field (USATF) is a United States national governing body for the sports of track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jum ...

and the slow transition to direct renumeration for athletes.ORANGE COUNTY HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES : Quantum Leap : Olympic Failure, Daughter's Illness Brought Dwight Stones Down to Earth – Page 2 – latimes
Articles.latimes.com (1991-10-17). Retrieved on 2016-07-11.

Records held

* World Record: High Jump – on July 11, 1973 * World Record: High Jump – on June 5, 1976 * World Record: High Jump – on August 4, 1976 * American Record: High Jump – on June 24, 1984

Championships

;1984 *

1984 Olympic Games The 1984 Olympics may refer to: *The 1984 Winter Olympics, which were held in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia *The 1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an i ...

: High Jump (4th) * 1984 U.S. Olympic Trials: High Jump – 2.34 m (1st) ;1983 * 1983 TAC Outdoor Championships: High Jump (1st) * 1983 TAC Indoor Championships: High Jump (3rd) ;1982 * 1982 TAC Indoor Championships: High Jump (1st) ;1980 * 1980 AAU Outdoor Championships: High Jump (3rd) ;1978 * 1978 AAU Outdoor Championships: High Jump (1st) ;1977 * 1977 World Cup: High Jump (2nd) * 1977 AAU Indoor Championships: High Jump (1st) * 1977 USTFF Outdoor Championships: High Jump (1st) * 1977 AAU Outdoor Championships: High Jump (1st) ;1976 *

1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...

: High Jump (3rd – bronze medal) * 1976 U.S. Olympic Trials: High Jump (2nd) * 1976 USTFF Outdoor Championships: High Jump (1st) * 1976 AAU Outdoor Championships: High Jump (1st) * 1976 NCAA Outdoor Championships: High Jump – 2.31 m (1st) * 1976 NCAA Indoor Championships: High Jump (1st)(Cal State Long Beach) Dwight Stones 1975

;1975 * 1975 USTFF Indoor Championships: High Jump (1st) * 1975 USTFF Outdoor Championships: High Jump (1st) * 1975 AAU Indoor Championships: High Jump (1st) * 1975 AAU Outdoor Championships: High Jump (3rd) ;1974 * 1974 USTFF Indoor Championships: High Jump (1st) * 1974 AAU Outdoor Championships: High Jump (1st) ;1973 * 1973 USTFF Indoor Championships: High Jump (1st) * 1973 USTFF Outdoor Championships: High Jump (1st) * 1973 AAU Indoor Championships: High Jump (1st) * 1973 AAU Outdoor Championships: High Jump (1st) ;1972 *

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

: High Jump – 2.21 m (3rd – bronze medal) * 1972 U.S. Olympic Trials: High Jump – 2.21 m (1st) * 1972 NCAA Outdoor Championships: High Jump (3rd)(UCLA)

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stones, Dwight 1953 births Living people American game show hosts American male high jumpers Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics California State University, Long Beach alumni Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in track and field World record setters in athletics (track and field) Jewish American sports announcers UCLA Bruins men's track and field athletes Long Beach State Beach men's track and field athletes American masters athletes Track and field broadcasters Track and field athletes from California Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Track and field people from California 21st-century American Jews Jewish American track and field athletes NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships winners NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners 20th-century American sportsmen