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

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 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 long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down the tr ...

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 ...

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

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, silver in 1984, and gold in the 1993 World Championship. Conley's son, Mike Conley Jr., is a professional basketball player in the

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

(NBA).

Competitive career

Conley competed collegiately at the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

where he won 9

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

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 (; May 22 or 28, 1887March 28, 1953) was an American athlete who won Olympic gold medals and played professional American football, football, baseball, and basketball. A citizen of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe was ...

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. A

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player at the

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

position in Luther High School South in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and in college (only during his

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

year), Conley relied on those skills in winning the Foot Locker Celebrity

Slam Dunk A slam dunk, also simply known as a 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 on ...

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. Conley won both the long jump and triple jump titles at the British 1983 AAA Championships.

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. 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, Mike Conley Jr., and his son's Ohio State teammates Greg Oden and Daequan Cook when they entered the league and currently represents fellow

alum

Isaiah Joe Derrick Isaiah Joe (born July 2, 1999) nicknamed "Zai", is an American professional basketball player for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Arkansas Razorbacks. Early li ...

of the

Oklahoma City Thunder The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Confer ...

. 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'' 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 Minnesota Timberwolves

Mike Conley Jr., Jordan Conley, Sydney Conley (

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

long jumper at the University of Kansas), 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 and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

Steve Conley.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Conley, Mike Sr. 1962 births Living people African-American 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 in athletics (track and field) Track and field athletes from Chicago University of Arkansas alumni World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States World Athletics Championships medalists Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Goodwill Games medalists in athletics American men's basketball players FISU World University Games 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 sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen United States collegiate record holders in athletics (track and field) NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships winners