10 Greatest Jumpers

A Brief History

On August 5, 1901, Irish track and field athlete Peter O’Connor set the official long jump record at 24’ 11 ¾”, recognized by the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) a record for that event in 1912, when the event was first recognized with an official record. Prior to this momentous occasion, the “world record” in the long jump was unofficial, although of course people did keep track of such things. O’Connor’s record stood for an amazing 20 years, and he had previously set unofficial world records before this mighty leap. Here we list 10 of the greatest jumpers in the people and animal worlds.

Digging Deeper

1. Peter O’Connor, Long Jump.

As the first of the premier human long jumpers, Pete deserves credit for stamping his impression on the sport. Not only did he previously set the world record a few times, he also won the Olympic Gold Medal in the 1906 Olympics, beating Myer Prinstein, another competitor from Ireland competing for the United States. (Ireland did not have an Olympic Committee, so its athletes competed under other flags, with O’Connor forced to compete under the flag of Great Britain.) It was Prinstein’s record that O’Connor had broken in 1901 (Prinstein was born to a Jewish family in Poland). O’Connor also won the Gold Medal in the Hop, Step and Jump (now called Triple Jump) in the 1906 Olympics, the only time an athlete won both events in the same Olympic Games. (Honorable mention: Mike Powell, USA, current record holder in the long jump, 29’4 ¼” since 1991, already over 16 years.)

2. Jesse Owens, Long Jump.

Owens, the Clevelander running and jumping for Ohio State University set the world record long jump in 1935 at 26’8” and that record stood for over 25 years, longer than anyone else ever held the long jump record. Owens also won the Olympic Gold Medal in the long jump in 1936 (among his 4 Gold Medals in those Games), but had his international career curtailed by World War II in 1939. (Honorable mention: Bob Beamon, USA, who held the long jump record for 23 years, from 1968 to 1991.)

3. Ralph Boston, Long Jump.

Boston was the guy that finally beat Jesse Owens’ world record in August of 1960. Boston went on to win the Olympic Gold Medal in the 1960 Olympics, and won the Silver Medal in 1964 and the Bronze Medal in 1968. Boston broke the world record in the long jump a total of 6 times, more than any other long jumper. (Honorable mention: Galina Chistyakova, USSR, current Women’s world record holder in the long jump, 24’ 8”, since 1988, an incredible 29 years!)

4. Javier Sotomayor, High Jump.

Javier, from Cuba, was the first human to high jump 8 feet, and is the current world record holder in the high jump at 8’ ½”, a record he has held since 1993, already over 24 years! (The longest anyone else had held the world record in the high jump was Lester Steers, USA, who held the record for 12 years from 1941 to 1953.)

5. Evan Ungar, Vertical Box Jump.

This Canadian owns the Guinness World Record for jumping without a running start onto a platform and landing on his feet, an incredible leap of 63 inches. Ungar performed his record jump in Toronto in May of 2016.

6. Michael Wilson, Standing Vertical Jump.

Using the common test of an athlete’s explosiveness, sports trainers test athletes by measuring the difference between how high they can reach while standing, and how high they can reach while jumping straight up from a standing start. Wilson, a former Harlem Golbetrotter basketball player, has the unofficial world record in this test of jumping ability, a nearly unbelievable 55 inches! The 6’5” ballplayer is the first person ever to dunk a basketball on a 12 foot high rim (without an “alley oop” pass or other sort of assist). Robertas Javtokas of Lithuania, a retired professional basketball player standing 6’11” equaled the feat in 2001.

7. Snow Leopard/Red Kangaroo/Impala, Long Jump.

Depending on the source, these critters have the longest leap of terrestrial animals, with a minimum longest jump of 30 feet and perhaps as much as 40 feet. Other antelopes may also reach these distances. (Note: Oddly enough, the record measured long jump for a horse is only a bit better than 28 feet, and the record high jump by a horse is 8’1”, which is nearly identical to human records.)

8. Puma (aka Cougar, Mountain Lion, etc.), High Jump.

Quite a few mammals can jump 10 feet high, including Red Kangaroos, some deer, antelopes, and other big cats (Tiger and Snow Leopard perhaps 12 feet), but as far as I can tell, no mammal out jumps the Puma. Depending on the source, the Felis concolor can jump straight up from a standing start between 15 and 20 feet high! This ability is awful handy when navigating mountains and rocks, or jumping into a tree for safety or after prey. (Dishonorable mention: The Elephant is said by experts to be the only mammal that cannot jump. These experts apparently don’t know me!)

9. Mackerel Shark, Dolphin, High Jump.

This shark is reputed to be able to get its body 20 feet high above the water, the highest for a fish and an incredible sight if you are lucky enough to witness it. The Bottlenose Dolphin can jump even higher, as much as 25 feet up, something you may see in marine shows.

10. Flying Fish, Long Jump.

Not only does the Flying Fish (60+ or so species) take the cake for the longest leaping aquatic animal, with a maximum leap/glide of well over 600 feet, it is the longest leaping critter on Earth. To achieve this massive distance, these little fish (usually around 10 to 12 inches) swim at around 40 mph before leaving the water, usually for 150 feet at a time, but capable of much more if using the up drafts from cresting waves.

Question for students (and subscribers): Who or what would you add to the list? (Skiers? Insects? Reptiles and Amphibians?) Please let us know in the comments section below this article.

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