Greatest US longjumpers

[maccky]

1. Carl Lewis
2. Mike Powell
3. Bob Beaman
4. Larry Myrics

[Guest]

Re: Greatest US longjumpers

ralph boston belongs up there above myricks and beamon.

[Guest]

Greatest US longjumpers

1. CARL LEWIS
2. JESSE OWENS
3. RALPH BOSTON
4. MICHAEL POWELL

[Guest]

Re: Greatest US longjumpers

>1. CARL LEWIS
2. JESSE OWENS
3. RALPH
>BOSTON
4. MICHAEL POWELL

Good man, Bijan! How could anyone leave Owens off the list?

[jhc68]

Re: Greatest US longjumpers

1. Lewis
2. Boston
3. Owens
4. Myricks
5. Powell
That's what I think, unless, of course, you want to rate them by how far they actually jumped! And what fun is that? There'd be nothing to argue about...

[jumpmon]

Re: Greatest US longjumpers

1. Carl Lewis
2. Larry Myricks
3. Mike Powell
4. Jesse Owens
5. Ralph Boston
6. Bob Beamon

[jhc68]

Re: Greatest US longjumpers

Well, we have definitely identified the top 6. Lewis has to be first, and we all could make a case for any sequence for the remaining five. Then where do others fit in? Arnie Robinson, Conley, little Randy Williams (definitely the best on a size to distance ratio), Bo Roberson, and what about Phil Shinnick and his unofficial WR?

[dj]

Re: Greatest US longjumpers

Off the top of my head:

1. Carl Lewis
2. Ralph Boston
3. Jesse Owens
4. Larry Myricks
5. DeHart Hubbard
6. Greg Bell
7. Mike Powell
8. Eddie Hamm
9. Bob Beamon
10. Arnie Robinson

I've often looked at these questions in terms of "who redefined the event in terms of what you could realisticaly expect this person to achieve on an average day?" I've also tended to value a 3+ year career more than single years (Beamon).

Lewis was the first person from whom you expect 28 feet. Myricks the first to expect low-mid 27. Boston the first in the mid- to high- 26 foot area. Owens for high-25/low-26. Hubbard for low- to mid-25.

I have Myricks higher than most people on the premise that it wasn't his fault that Carl Lewis existed. On the other hand, Myricks is never the runner-up (to Lewis) in the OG/WC years of '83-84, '87-88, '91-93. I may have him too high.

I might also have Powell too low, but perhaps only if I drop Myricks behind him.

Hamm (pronounced in German fashion, Homm) is often overlooked. Beamon might have had one of the three or four greatest single seasons ever, but only sporadic meets at a similar level in other years. It's very possible that I've shortchanged Robinson.

My 11-15 would be Myer Prinstein, Al Kraenzlein, Willie Steele, Ned Gourdin, George Brown.

[Guest]

Re: Greatest US longjumpers

>I have Myricks
>higher than most people on the premise that it
>wasn't his fault that Carl Lewis existed. On
>the other hand, Myricks is never the runner-up
>(to Lewis) in the OG/WC years of '83-84, '87-88,
>'91-93. I may have him too high.

Only Powell was able to consistently beat his rival even when he was having a good day. Myricks couldn't. And how about Willie Steele? 3-time #1-ranked jumper (plus the 1942 world leader), OG champ, closest to knocking Owens out of the record book until Boston came along.

BTW, I did some rather involved calculations on William DeHart Hubbard's 26'2.25" jump in 1927. It wasn't approved as a record because the takeoff board was 1 inch higher than the pit. My calculations show that this gave him an advantage of 2.75", so his "adjusted" mark of 25'11.5" would have broken his own record. (I'll e-mail it to anyone who wants the nitty-gritty.)

[billthedog]

Re: Greatest US longjumpers

1. Carl Lewis
2.
>Ralph Boston
3. Jesse Owens
4. Larry
>Myricks
5. DeHart Hubbard
6. Greg Bell
7. Mike
>Powell
8. Eddie Hamm
9. Bob Beamon
10. Arnie
>Robinson

My 11-15 would be Myer Prinstein, Al
>Kraenzlein, Willie Steele, Ned Gourdin, George
>Brown.

dj has it about right, I think. The first three are unquestionable. But different people would shake up the 4 to 10 jumpers(in fact 4 to 15 or, indeed, 4-16 if, as I would, you add Randy Williams, the greatest of the every-four-years jumpers) different ways. It's hard to denigrate Powell and Myricks, but I'd put Robinson fourth and try to sneak Steele and maybe Brown, who was dominant to an extent we tend to forget because of his three fouls in his most important meet, into the top 10. And how about poor Eulace Peacock, once conqueror of Owens?

[RussJD]

Re: Greatest US longjumpers

This an aside--I've always been fascinated by the fact that Myricks jumped 27-7 for third in Tokyo in 1991 and got no attention whatsoever. NBC didn't even show any of his jumps. That distance looks pretty good today doesn't it?