Michael Sweeney (born 27 October 1872) was an Irish-American

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 ...

athlete. He was the

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 ...

ing world champion in 1892 and 1895. He was also the professional athletics champion at the 1900 Paris Olympics in the

100-meter dash The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

, the high jump, 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 gr ...

. He was the holder of the world high jump record at 1.97 m, and known as an innovator in the progress of high jump technique through his development of the

eastern cut-off The eastern cut-off is a variant of the "scissors" high jump style involving a layout. This enables the jumper to clear a higher bar than with the traditional scissors style while still landing on the feet. The technique is generally credited to ...

style. After his high jumping career, Sweeney became a track and field coach at Yale, as well as at

The Hill School The Hill School is a coeducational preparatory boarding school located on a campus in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, about northwest of Philadelphia. The Hill is part of the Ten Schools Admission Organization. The school is accredited by the Mi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sweeney, Michael American track and field coaches American male high jumpers American people of Irish descent American male long jumpers American male sprinters 1872 births Year of death missing The Hill School faculty Yale Bulldogs track and field coaches