Raymond Clarence Ewry (October 14, 1873 – September 29, 1937) was an American track and field athlete who won eight gold medals at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

and two gold medals at the

Intercalated Games The 1906 Intercalated Games or 1906 Olympic Games (), held from 22 April 1906 to 2 May 1906, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated in Athens, Kingdom of Greece. They were at the time considered to be Olympic Games and were re ...

(1906 in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

). This puts him among the most successful Olympians of all time.

Personal life and early career

Ewry was born in

Lafayette, Indiana Lafayette ( ) is a city in and is the county seat of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, located northwest of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of Lafayette ...

, and contracted

polio Poliomyelitis ( ), commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 75% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe ...

as a young boy. In his childhood, he used a

wheelchair A wheelchair is a mobilized form of chair using two or more wheels, a footrest, and an armrest usually cushioned. It is used when walking is difficult or impossible to do due to illnesses, injury, disabilities, or age-related health conditio ...

, and it was feared that he might become paralysed for life. However, Ewry did his own exercises and overcame his illness. Ewry attended

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

in 1890–1897, where he captained the track and field team, played

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 ...

, and became a member of

Sigma Nu Sigma Nu () is an undergraduate Fraternities and sororities in North America, college fraternity founded at the Virginia Military Institute in 1869. Since its founding, Sigma Nu has chartered more than 279 chapters across the United States and Ca ...

fraternity. After receiving a graduate degree in mechanical engineering at Purdue, he moved to New York. There he worked as a hydraulics engineer and became a member of the New York Athletic Club. He specialized in now defunct events, the standing jumps: the standing high jump, the

standing long jump The standing long jump, also known as the standing broad jump, is an athletics event. It was an Olympic event until 1912. It is one of three standing variants of track and field jumping events, which also include the standing high jump an ...

and the

standing triple jump Standing triple jump is an athletics event based on the conventional triple jump with three jumping phases, but without an approach run-up. It is one of three standing variants of track and field jumping events, along with the standing high jump ...

. These events were similar to their modern, normal versions but the athlete jumped without a run-up.

Career

Ewry proved to be the best standing jumper in the world. At his first

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

, held in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

(1900), he won gold medals in all three standing jumps. Incidentally, all three finals were held on the same day (July 16). At the

1904 Summer Olympics The 1904 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the III Olympiad and also known as St. Louis 1904) were an international multi-sport event held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from 1 July to 23 November 1904. Many events were conducted ...

, Ewry successfully defended all three of his titles. The standing triple jump event was discontinued after those Olympics, but Ewry continued to dominate the two remaining standing jump events at both the 1906 Intercalated Games and 1908 Games, thus bringing his total to 10 Olympic gold titles including two from the Intercalated Games, the highest number achieved until 2008. The

1906 Intercalated Games The 1906 Intercalated Games or 1906 Olympic Games (), held from 22 April 1906 to 2 May 1906, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated in Athens, Kingdom of Greece. They were at the time considered to be Olympic Games and were re ...

are currently not officially recognised by the IOC, although they were organized as an Olympic event by the IOC. Even if the 1906 games are removed from his totals, he stands () as the 12th most successful Olympian of all time in terms of total individual medals and second most successful in terms of individual gold medals. The standing jumping events were no longer held in the Olympics after 1912. Ewry's superiority is also displayed by the fact that his

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 organizatio ...

in the standing long jump () was still standing when the event was discontinued internationally in the 1930s. In 1974 he was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame and in 1983 into the United States Olympic Hall of Fame.

Longstanding records for Olympic medals

Ewry's eight Olympic gold medals in individual events (i.e. non-relay), although now second to

Michael Phelps Michael Fred Phelps II (born June 30, 1985) is an American former competitive swimmer. He is the most successful and most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold me ...

's 13, was the record, all alone, for 100 years and 23 days—from July 23, 1908, until Phelps won ''his'' eighth on August 15, 2008 (followed by his ninth on August 16). His record of winning three gold medals in ''one event'', although it had subsequently been equaled by seven other athletes, was not surpassed for 60 years—from 1908 until Al Oerter won his ''fourth'' gold (discus throw) in 1968, a feat equaled by Carl Lewis when he won his fourth (long jump) in 1996,

when he won his fourth (200 meter individual medley) in 2016, and by

Kaori Icho is a Japanese freestyle wrestler. She is a ten-time World Champion and four-time Olympic Champion, winning gold in 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016. Icho was undefeated between 2003 and 2016. On 29 January 2016 at the Golden Grand Prix Ivan Yarygin ...

when she won her fourth consecutive gold in women's wrestling in 2016. Finally, his record of three gold medals in ''two'' events, set in July 1908 (standing long jump on July 20 and standing high jump on July 23) was not surpassed for 108 years—until in 2016 Michael Phelps won his third gold medal in the 200-meter butterfly to win three gold medals in three events (200-meter individual medley, 100-meter butterfly, and 200-meter butterfly). Phelps equaled Ewry's record in 2012, when he won his third gold in the 100 meter butterfly on August 3, having won his third in the 200-meter individual medley on August 2. Ewry is currently tied with Caeleb Dressel for the most Olympic medals with a 100% record—8 individual golds.

Bibliography

References

External links