Ralph Harold Boston (born May 9, 1939) is a retired American track athlete who received three Olympic medals and became the first person to break the barrier in 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 ...

Early years and education

Boston was born in

Laurel, Mississippi Laurel is a city in and the second county seat of Jones County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 17,161. It is located northeast of Ellisville, the first county seat, which contains the first coun ...

. As a student at

Tennessee State University Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tenness ...

, he won the 1960

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

title in the long jump. In August of the same year, he broke the world record in the event, held by

Jesse Owens James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (September 12, 1913March 31, 1980) was an American track and field athlete who won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games. Owens specialized in the sprints and the long jump and was recognized in his lifeti ...

for 25 years, at the Mt. SAC Relays. Already the world record holder, he improved the mark past 27 feet, jumping 27' 1/2" at the

Modesto Relays The Modesto Relays, now known as the California Invitational Relays is an annual elite track and field meet. It is held about the second weekend in May. For 67 years, the meet was held at Modesto Junior College in Modesto, California, a track not ...

on May 27, 1961.

Athletic career

Boston qualified for the Summer Olympics in Rome, where he took the gold medal in the long jump, setting the

Olympic record Olympic records are the best performances in a specific event in that event's history in either the Summer Olympic Games or the Winter Olympic Games, including: * Archery (list) * Alpine skiing (records recognized only by FIS) * Athletics (lis ...

at , while narrowly defeating American teammate

Bo Roberson Irvin "Bo" Roberson (July 23, 1935 – April 15, 2001) was an American track and field athlete and football player. At Cornell University he excelled in basketball, football, and track and field. At the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Ital ...

by a mere centimeter. Boston won the

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has ...

(AAU)

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

in the long jump six times in a row from 1961 to 1966. He also had the longest triple jump for an American in 1963. He returned to the Tokyo Olympics as the world record holder after losing the record to Igor Ter-Ovanesyan, then regaining the record a couple of months before the games, first in Kingston,

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispan ...

and improving it at the 1964 Olympic Trials. In the Olympic final, Boston exchanged the lead with Ter-Ovanesyan. Going into the fifth round, Boston was leading but fouled while both

Lynn Davies Lynn Davies CBE (born 20 May 1942) is a Welsh former track and field athlete who specialised in the long jump. He was the 1964 Olympic champion in the event. He was born in Nantymoel near Bridgend and was a member of the Cardiff Amateur Ath ...

and Ter-Ovanesyan jumped past him. On his final jump, he was able to jump past Ter-Ovanesyan, but could not catch Davies and ended winning the silver medal. Boston's final record improvement to 8.35m was again at the 1965 Modesto Relays. It was tied at altitude by Ter-Ovanesyan in 1967. In 1967, he lost the national title to Jerry Proctor. When rival

Bob Beamon Robert Beamon (born August 29, 1946) is an American former track and field athlete, best known for his world record in the long jump at the Mexico City Olympics in 1968. By jumping 8.90 m (29 ft. 2.5 in), he broke the existing record by a ...

was suspended from the

University of Texas at El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stude ...

, for refusing to compete against

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

, alleging it had racist policies, Boston began to coach him unofficially. Beamon took the 1968 National Championships. At the 1968 Olympics, Boston watched his pupil destroy the tied world record by jumping 8.90 m (29' 2 1/2"). Boston was then 29 years old. He won a bronze medal behind Beamon and

Klaus Beer Klaus Beer (14 November 1942 – 8 June 2023) was a track and field athlete active in the 1960s for East Germany. Beer is best known for having won the silver medal in the long jump at the 1968 Summer Olympics, well behind Bob Beamon's record s ...

and retired from competitions shortly thereafter. He moved to

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state ...

, and worked for the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...

as Coordinator of Minority Affairs and Assistant Dean of Students from 1968 to 1975. He was the field event reporter for the '' CBS Sports Spectacular'' coverage of domestic track and field events. He was inducted into the USA Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1974 and into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1985.

Later years

A ''Los Angeles Times'' article on Boston from August 2, 2010, coinciding roughly with the 50th anniversary of his initial world record, described him as a divorced great-grandfather who is writing an autobiography. He splits his time between

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

and Knoxville.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boston, Ralph Harold 1939 births Living people American male long jumpers African-American male track and field athletes Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1963 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1967 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in track and field Track and field athletes from Atlanta Sportspeople from Knoxville, Tennessee People from Laurel, Mississippi Tennessee State University alumni Track and field athletes from Mississippi World record setters in athletics (track and field) University of Tennessee people Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Track & Field News Athlete of the Year winners Medalists at the 1963 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1967 Pan American Games 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople