But for the last 109 years, no American man has competed in the Olympics in both the high jump and the long jump. Like a lot of great high school athletes, Harrison excelled at just about everything: He was a soccer midfielder and a 6-foot-5 small forward in basketball. That included high jump, long jump, and 110 meter and 300 meter hurdles. “They were really looking for me to do high jump, because that was my premier event,” he said. “Long jump was their way of giving me a break so that I didn’t focus too much on high jump.”

Source: New York Times July 30, 2021 04:17 UTC