Ralph Boston

Ralph Boston

Ralph Boston at the 1960 Olympics
Personal information
Full name	Ralph Harold Boston
Born	May 9, 1939 (1939-05-09) (age 77) Laurel, Mississippi, U.S.
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	74 kg (163 lb)
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	Sprint, hurdles, long jump, high jump, triple jump, pole vault,
Club	Southern California Striders, Anaheim
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	100 yd – 9.6 (1964) 220 yd – 22.0 (1964) 120 ydH – 13.7 (1961) HJ – 2.04 m (1962) PV – 4.16 m (1960) LJ – 8.35 m (1965) TJ – 15.89 m (1964)
Medal record Representing the  United States Olympic Games 1960 Rome Long jump 1964 Tokyo Long jump 1968 Mexico City Long jump Pan American Games 1963 Sao Paulo Long jump 1967 Winnipeg Long jump

Ralph Harold Boston (born May 9, 1939) is a retired American track athlete. An all around competitor, he is best remembered for the long jump, in which he was the first person to break the 27 feet (8.2 m) barrier.

Boston was born in Laurel, Mississippi. As a student at Tennessee State University, he won the 1960 National Collegiate Athletic Association title in the long jump. In August of the same year, he broke the world record in the event, held by Jesse Owens for 25 years, at the Mt. SAC Relays. Already the world record holder, he improved the mark past 27 feet, jumping 27' 1/2" at the Modesto Relays on May 27, 1961.

He qualified for the Summer Olympics in Rome, where he took the gold medal in the long jump, setting the Olympic record at 8.12 m (26 ft 7 ¹⁄₂ in), while narrowly defeating American teammate Bo Roberson by a mere centimeter.

Boston won the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) national championship in the long jump six times in a row from 1961 to 1966. He also had the longest triple jump for an American in 1963. He returned to the Tokyo Olympics as the world record holder after losing the record to Igor Ter-Ovanesyan, then regaining the record a couple of months before the games, first in Kingston, Jamaica and improving it at the 1964 Olympic Trials. In the Olympic final, Boston exchanged the lead with Ter-Ovanesyan. Going into the fifth round, Boston was leading but fouled while both Lynn Davies and Ter-Ovanesyan jumped past him. On his final jump, he was able to jump past Ter-Ovanesyan, but could not catch Davies and ended winning the silver medal.