Jim Ryun
| Jim Ryun | |
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| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Kansas's 2nd district |
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In office November 27, 1996 – January 3, 2007 |
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| Preceded by | Sam Brownback |
| Succeeded by | Nancy Boyda |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
James Ronald Ryun April 29, 1947 Wichita, Kansas |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Anne Ryun |
| Residence | Jefferson County, Kansas |
| Alma mater | University of Kansas |
| Occupation | Athlete, sports management executive |
| Religion | Evangelical Presbyterian |
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
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| Nationality | American | |||||||||||||
| Born |
April 29, 1947 Wichita, Kansas |
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| Sport | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | Track | |||||||||||||
| Event(s) | 1500 meters, Mile | |||||||||||||
| College team | University of Kansas | |||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||||
| Personal best(s) |
880 yards: 1:44.9 1500 meters: 3:33.1 Mile: 3:51.1 2-mile: 8:25.1 5000 meters: 13:38.2 |
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Medal record
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James Ronald ("Jim") Ryun (born April 29, 1947) is an American track and field athlete who won a silver medal in the 1968 Summer Olympics in the 1,500 metre run. He was the first high school athlete to run a mile in under four minutes. Ryun is the last American to hold the world record in the mile run.
A Republican, he was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1996 to 2007. Ryun represented Kansas's 2nd congressional district.
According to Ryun, he began running because
I couldn't do anything else. When you're cut from the church baseball team, the junior high basketball team, and you can't make the junior high track and field team…
I'd go to bed at night and I'd say, "Dear God, if you've got a plan for my life, I'd appreciate it if you'd show up sooner or later, because it's not really going very well." I found myself trying out for the cross-country team and running two miles even though I'd never run that distance before. All of a sudden, I made the team, I got a letter jacket, and I started thinking there's a girlfriend behind the letter jacket. But that's how it all began.
In 1964, as a high school junior, Ryun became the first high school athlete to run a mile in under 4 minutes. His time was 3:59.0. His time of 3:55.3 in 1965 was a high school record that stood for 36 years. In 2001, it was broken by Alan Webb's time of 3:53.43. Ryun ran a sub-four minute mile five times while in high school. He is the only high school athlete to have run more than three sub-four minute miles. As a high school senior he was voted the fourth best miler in the world by Track & Field News. ESPN.com named him the best high school athlete of all time, beating out people such as Tiger Woods and LeBron James. He was Track and Field News "High School Athlete of the Year" in 1965.
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