DWIGHT PHILLIPS
Event: Long Jump
Height: 5-11
Weight: 180
PRs: LJ - 8.60m/28-2.75 (’04, '05); TJ - 16.41m/53-10.25 ('99)
Born: Oct. 1, 1977, in Decatur, Ga.
Current Residence: Snellville, Ga.
High School: Tucker (Ga.) '96
Colleges: Kentucky '98; Arizona State '00
Coach: Loren Seagrave
Agent: Caroline Feith
Club: Nike 

Career Highlights: 2004 Olympic gold medalist; 2-time World Outdoor champion (’03, ’05); 2007 World Outdoor bronze medalist; 2003 World Indoor champion; 4-time USA Outdoor champion (’03, ’04, ’07. ‘09); 3-time USA Outdoor runner-up (’00, ’05, ’06); 2001 U.S. Indoor champion

Phillips leaped back on the world stage in posting the longest jump in the world since National Track & Field Hall of Famer Mike Powell set the world record in 1991 at the 2009 Nike Prefonatine Classic. He easily won the event when he sailed to 8.74 meters/28 feet 8.25 inches, which ties him with Larry Myricks and Erick Walder for the eighth-best outdoor mark in history, and the trio are also tied as the #5 performers all time…Phillips won his third USA Outdoor men’s long jump title in June, 2007 before capturing the bonze medal at the World Outdoor Championships in Osaka, Japan, and ending the season ranked #1 in the U.S. for the fifth consecutive year. Phillips ended the suspense early on at the 2005 World Outdoor Championships in the men’s long jump final when he landed in the sand at 8.60m/28-2.75 on his first attempt to successfully defend his world title won in Paris in 2003. His performance not only equalled his career best, it also was the best jump in the world in 2005. Phillips, who ended the 2005 campaign in ownership of the top four jumps in the world that season, ended the year ranked #1 in the world by Track & Field News for the third consecutive year, joining an exclusive club that includes only Ivan Pedroso, Carl Lewis, Arnie Robinson, Ralph Boston and George Brown. He had an emphatic victory at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. Phillips won the competition with a leap of 8.59m/28-2.25, just shy of his personal best of 8.60m/28-2.75 set at Linz earlier in the 2004 season. It was the first U.S. Olympic men’s long jump gold medal since Carl Lewis won at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. With Phillips’ triumph in Athens, U.S. men’s long jumpers have now won that event 22 times out of the 26 occasions the event has been contested in modern Olympic competition... In 2003 Phillips exploded on the world scene by winning the World Indoor and Outdoor Championships, establishing himself as the world’s leading long jumper. Phillips started out as a triple jumper at the University of Kentucky, but after transferring to Arizona State in 2000, he has specialized more in the long jump. A native of Tucker, Ga., Phillips placed second in the long jump at both the 1999 and 2000 NCAA Indoor Championships. After fouling on his first qualifying attempt at the Olympics in Sydney, he jumped 25-11 advancing to the final on his third and last attempt of 26-8.25. He placed 8th overall at the Games…regarded as a medal possibility at the 2001 World Outdoor Championships, Phillips was unable to take his final three attempts in the final at Worlds due to a pulled right hamstring. He bounced back with a stellar 2002 that earned him a #3 world ranking behind fellow Americans Savante’ Stringfellow and Miguel Pate...As a high schooler, Phillips was a 1996 All-American and all-state selection. Set school records in triple jump (15.31m/50-3), 200m (20.90w) and 400m (47.50)...member of 4x400m relay team that set a national age-group record (3:06)... But who knew that at age 14 both his legs were broken in a motorcycle accident and it took two years for him to recover well enough to walk properly. “My brother’s friend hit me while I was in the street playing football with my friends,” Phillips said. “I didn’t know where he was coming from and I moved in the wrong direction,” to try to get out of the way.  His legs were left twisted, requiring eight months of rehabilitation and using a walker after the casts were removed. Communications major while at ASU...married Valerie in October ‘04...son Dwight Jr., born Dec. 29, 2005.

6/24/09