Matt Hemingway
| Olympic medal record | ||
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Representing the  United States
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| Men's athletics | ||
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Athens 2004 | High jump |
Matt Hemingway (born October 24, 1972) is an American track and field athlete. He won a silver medal in the high jump at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens by clearing a height of 2.34 meters (7 ft 8 in). Reflecting on this he said: "I'm ecstatic about winning the silver. You don’t lose gold medals. People win them. I won a silver and Stefan Holm won a gold." His personal best jump came at the 2000 US Indoor Championship where he leaped 2.38 m (7 ft 9 3⁄4 in). He jumps off of his left leg.
Hemingway is 6 ft 7 in (or 2.01 m) tall and weighs approximately 185 lb (or 84 kg). He originally is from Buena Vista, Colorado and graduated the University of Arkansas in 1996. His best college performance was a second-place finish at the 1996 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
He came eighth at the 1991 U.S. Junior Championships and jumped 7 ft 4 in. In 1993 he placed 8th at the NCAA Outdoors and was 15th in qualifying at USA Outdoors with a jump of 7 ft 4.5 in. He was fourth at the collegiate SEC Outdoors in 1994. In 1995 he was third at the NCAA Outdoors, second at the SEC Outdoors and 12th (a tie) at USA Outdoors. His year's best was a jump of 7 ft 4.5 in. In his senior year, 1996, he finished third at the Southeastern Conference championships, but then earned 2nd place at the NCAA Outdoors championships. At the 1996 USA Olympic Trials he earned first alternate position for the US Olympic Team by placing fourth. He finished the 1996 season ranked fifth in U.S., with a best jump of 7 ft 6.5 in.
His first year out of school was disappointing, with a best of only 7' 3" (set indoors) followed by a tenth-place finish at the 1997 USA Outdoors championships. Saying he was burnt out and that jumping was no longer fun, Hemingway sat out for two years and worked as a white water rafting guide in Colorado in 1998 and 1999, marrying his Arkansas college sweetheart, Kate, in 1998. He then returned to competition in a big way in 2000.
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