Jean Shiley Newhouse (November 20, 1911 – March 11, 1998) was an American

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 ...

er. She was born Jean Shiley in

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg ( ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,099 as of 2020, Harrisburg is the ninth-most populous city in Pennsylvania. It is the larger of the two pr ...

, and later moved to Havertown, a

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 ...

suburb, where she joined the team at

Haverford High School Haverford Senior High School is the public high school of Haverford Township, Pennsylvania, Haverford Township, Pennsylvania, United States, operated by the School District of Haverford Township. It is at 200 Mill Road in Havertown, Pennsylvania ...

. Shiley tied with

Babe Didrikson Mildred Ella "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias (; Didrikson; June 26, 1911 – September 27, 1956) was an American athlete who excelled in golf, basketball, baseball, and track and field. She won two gold medals and a silver in track and field at the ...

in the trials for the

1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932, in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held du ...

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, ...

. In the games, both cleared and failed at . In the jump-off, they tied again at a world record height of ; however, Shiley was awarded the gold medal, as Didrikson's

Western roll The Western roll was a high jump technique invented by George Horine of Stanford University. This technique was succeeded by the straddle. History It is said that George Horine invented the Western roll because the high jump pit at Stanford coul ...

technique was deemed "diving". Didrikson was also given a share in the world record and this, though equalled a few times, stood until 1939. Shiley was ruled ineligible for the 1936 Games as she had worked as a swimming instructor.

References

USATF Hall of Fame

External links

* * * * 1911 births 1998 deaths Sportspeople from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania American female high jumpers Athletes (track and field) at the 1928 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1932 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1932 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field 20th-century American sportswomen {{US-highjump-athletics-bio-stub