Erik Kynard, Jr.

Who is Erik Kynard, Jr.?

Erik Kynard, Jr. is an American track and field athlete who competes in the high jump. In his Olympic debut at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London as a 21-year-old, he won a silver medal in the men's high jump.

Kynard was born in 1991, the son of Erik Kynard and Brandynn Adams. He is a 2009 graduate of Rogers High School in Toledo, Ohio, and currently is a senior at Kansas State University where he trains under Cliff Rovelto.

At the 2012 United States Olympic Trials, Kynard made the Olympic team by placing second behind Jamie Nieto with a height of 2.28 m. At the Olympics, Knyard won silver behind Russian Ivan Ukhov with a height of 2.33 m, the first major international medal of his career. Ukhov won the competition with a height of 2.38 m. Throughout the high jump competition, Kynard was noticed by his American-themed tube socks.

At the start of the 2013 outdoor season, he cleared a world-leading mark of 2.34 m at the Mt SAC Relays.