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| Born | (1956-03-10) March 10, 1956 (age 68) Clinton, Mississippi, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Larry Myricks (born 10 March 1956) is an American former track and field athlete, who mainly competed in the long jump event. He is a two-time winner of the World Indoor Championships (1987, 1989) and a two-time winner of the World Cup (1979, 1989). He also won a bronze medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, and bronze medals at the World Championships in 1987 and 1991.
Career
Myricks was born in Clinton, Mississippi. A durable jumper, he first broke onto the track scene in 1976. While competing for Mississippi College, he was the NCAA Champion in the long jump. He followed that with a second place at the U.S. Olympic Trials, beating defending Olympic champion Randy Williams in the process. At the 1976 Olympics, he broke his foot while warming up for the final and was unable to compete. His teammates Arnie Robinson and Williams finished 1 and 2. The three American jumpers had been easily the top three jumpers in qualifying.
In 1979, he again won the NCAA Championship, this time both indoors and outdoors. He was also the US National Champion (27–2), and World Cup Champion (8.52 m). He repeated as U.S. national champion in 1980 and in 1989.
Myricks competed for the United States at the 1988 Summer Olympics held in Seoul, South Korea, where he won the bronze medal in the men's long jump competition. In addition to the 1976 Olympics, he won the 1980 Olympic Trials (over a young Carl Lewis), but the team did not get to go to the Olympics due to the multinational boycott. As consolation, he received one of 461 Congressional Gold Medals created specifically for the athletes. Myricks finished second to Lewis in the 1984 Olympic Trials. He finished fourth in the Olympics that year.
He set his personal best of 8.74 m (28' 8") in the long jump at the 1988 Olympic Trials. That jump still ranks Myricks as the number 5 long jumper ever. It was the trials record, for a few minutes, until surpassed by Carl Lewis. After qualifying for four straight Olympic teams, Myricks returned in 1992 as a 36-year-old to a fifth Olympic Trials, finishing in seventh place.
Myricks was the third-place jumper at the 1991 World Championships when Lewis and Mike Powell were fighting over the world record, what many consider the greatest long jump competition ever.
Based on a statistical comparison of 8.16 meters, Myricks had more competitions (170) over that mark than any other competitor. Moving that comparison to 8.50 m, he ranks second (17) to Carl Lewis (39) (as of 1996; since 1996, only 9 jumpers have jumped 8.50). Myricks' last 8.50 in 1991, at the age of 35, is tied with Lewis' mark from the 1996 Olympics as the M35 Masters World Record.
He was also a masterful 200 m sprinter, with a best of 20.03 s at the US National Championships in 1983 behind his nemesis Carl Lewis, who along with Mike Powell overshadowed him for most of his career. Myricks ran the 200 at the 1983 World Championships in Athletics. He won the U.S. nationals in the 200 meters in 1988.
Myricks is also a graduate of Mississippi College. He was coached there by Joe Walker (now at Ole Miss).
International competitions
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Representing  United States
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| 1976 | Olympic Games | Montreal, Canada | 3rd (q) | Long jump | 7.92 m (q) |
| 1979 | World Cup | Rome, Italy | 1st | Long jump | 8.52 m |
| 1980 | Liberty Bell Classic | Philadelphia, United States | 1st | Long jump | 8.20 m |
| 1983 | World Championships | Helsinki, Finland | 34th (h) | 200 m | 21.74 |
| 1984 | Olympic Games | Los Angeles, United States | 4th | Long jump | 8.16 m |
| 1985 | Grand Prix Final | Rome, Italy | 2nd | Long jump | 8.22 m |
| 1986 | Goodwill Games | Moscow, Soviet Union | 2nd | Long jump | 8.41 m |
| 1987 | World Indoor Championships | Indianapolis, United States | 1st | Long jump | 8.23 m |
| Pan American Games | Indianapolis, United States | 2nd | Long jump | 8.58 m (w) | |
| World Championships | Rome, Italy | 3rd | Long jump | 8.33 m | |
| Grand Prix Final | Brussels, Belgium | 3rd | Long jump | 8.06 m | |
| 1988 | Olympic Games | Seoul, South Korea | 3rd | Long jump | 8.27 m |
| 1989 | World Indoor Championships | Budapest, Hungary | 1st | Long jump | 8.37 m |
| World Cup | Barcelona, Spain | 1st | Long jump | 8.29 m | |
| Grand Prix Final | Monte Carlo, Monaco | 1st | Long jump | 8.54 m | |
| 1991 | World Championships | Tokyo, Japan | 3rd | Long jump | 8.42 m |
| Grand Prix Final | Barcelona, Spain | 2nd | Long jump | 8.06 m | |
- Did not start in the final
- Also won the overall Grand Prix long jump title in 1987 (57 points) and 1989 (53 points)
References
- ^ Ralph Hickok (2011-06-29). "History - NCAA Men's Division I Outdoor Track 3". HickokSports.com. Archived from the original on 2012-03-24. Retrieved 2011-09-11.
- Caroccioli, Tom; Caroccioli, Jerry (2008). Boycott: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. Highland Park, IL: New Chapter Press. pp. 243–253. ISBN 978-0942257403.
- ^ http://www.legacy.usatf.org/usatf/files/69/695a8112-b7a0-4b9d-9dbb-8b4bca22677c.pdf Archived 2019-05-17 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "0 Toplists lj m - o". iaaf.org. Retrieved 2011-09-11.
- "Records Outdoor Men". World-masters-athletics.org. 2011-06-28. Archived from the original on 2011-09-03. Retrieved 2011-09-11.
External links
| Sporting positions | ||
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Preceded by Nenad Stekić
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Men's Long Jump Best Year Performance 1979 |
Succeeded by Lutz Dombrowski
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Preceded by Carl Lewis
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Men's Long Jump Best Year Performance 1989 |
Succeeded by Mike Powell
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| World Indoor Champions in men's long jump | |
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| IAAF World / Continental Cup champions in men's long jump | |
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| USTFCCCA Collegiate Track & Field/Cross Country Athlete Hall of Fame | ||
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| Class of 2022 |
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| Class of 2023 | ||
| Class of 2024 | ||
- USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners
- 1956 births
- Living people
- American male long jumpers
- Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in track and field
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1987 Pan American Games
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics
- People from Clinton, Mississippi
- Track and field athletes from Mississippi
- World record holders in masters athletics
- World Athletics Championships medalists
- World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States
- Mississippi College alumni
- Doping cases in athletics
- Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics
- Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in athletics (track and field)
- Congressional Gold Medal recipients
- American masters athletes
- Goodwill Games medalists in athletics
- World Athletics Indoor Championships winners
- Competitors at the 1986 Goodwill Games
- Medalists at the 1987 Pan American Games
- NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners
- Mississippi College Choctaws men's track and field athletes
- NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships winners
- 20th-century American sportsmen