Ralph Boston

Who is Ralph Boston?

Ralph Harold Boston is an American athlete. He was an all around athletic star, but he is best remembered for his successes in the long jump during the 1960s. He was the first person to jump 27 feet.

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. 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, while narrowly defeating American teammate Bo Roberson by a mere centimeter.

Between the Olympic Games, Boston won the Amateur Athletic Union national championship in the long jump in 1961, 1962, 1963, and 1964. 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.