George Leslie Horine (February 3, 1890 – November 28, 1948) was an American

athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...

who mainly competed in the high jump. He is credited with developing a technique called a forerunner to the

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 came to invent the Western roll because the high jump pit at Stanford ...

, a technique he developed due to the layout of his backyard where he practiced which was considered "backward" at the time. While on the track team at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, his technique was corrected to the more conventional jumping style of the time. He equalled the

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

record in the event at 6' 4" as a sophomore. His junior year, 1912, he reverted to his old style, improving to 6' 4 3/4" and then a

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 organization ...

6' 6 1/8". A few weeks later at the Olympic Trials, he improved again to jump 6' 7" making him the first man to break the barrier. It was the first high jump world record ratified by the

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

. He never improved upon his record, which stood for two years.

Biography

Horine was born in

Escondido, California Escondido is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. Located in the North County region, it was incorporated in 1888, and is one of the oldest cities in San Diego County. It has a population of 151,038 as of the 2020 census. Et ...

on February 3, 1890. He competed for the United States at the

1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics ( sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1912), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad ( sv, Den V olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, be ...

held in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

where he won the bronze medal in men's high jump event. He also competed for the USA in an exhibition

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

tournament in Stockholm. He died at his home in

Merced, California Merced (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Mercy") is a city in, and the county seat of, Merced County, California, Merced County, California, United States, in the San Joaquin Valley. As of the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 86,333, up ...

on November 28, 1948.

References

1890 births 1948 deaths American male high jumpers Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in track and field Athletes (track and field) at the 1912 Summer Olympics Baseball players at the 1912 Summer Olympics Olympic baseball players of the United States World record setters in athletics (track and field) Sportspeople from Escondido, California Medalists at the 1912 Summer Olympics {{US-athletics-Olympic-medalist-stub

Biography

See also

References