LARRY MYRICKS - LONG JUMP (Inducted 2001)

Born March 10, 1956, Clinton, Miss.

His long jump duels with Carl Lewis became legendary and Larry Myricks will go down as one of the greatest jumpers in U.S. track and field history. A 1979 graduate of Mississippi College, Myricks broke onto the international scene in spectacular fashion in 1976, winning the NCAA title and placing second at the Olympic Trials. At the Olympics, he qualified for the final but suffered a broken foot on a warmup jump and was forced to scratch from the final. He was still ranked sixth in the world, the first of 14 world rankings in the long jump. One of his best seasons was 1979 when he swept just about everything in sight. He was ranked first in the world and won the NCAA, USA and World Cup titles. He was also on the 1980, 1984 and 1988 Olympic teams, taking fourth in 1984 and third in 1988. He was third at both the 1987 and 1991 World Championships and was also on the 1983 World Championship team as a 200-meters runner. In the 200, he was twice nationally ranked and was ranked fifth in the world in 1983.