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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.
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| Born | March 10, 1956 Clinton, Mississippi, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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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.[1] 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.[1] 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.[2] Myricks finished second to Lewis in the 1984 Olympic Trials.[3] 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.[4] 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.[3]
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[4]).[3] 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.[5]
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).
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Representing  United States | |||||
| 1976 | Olympic Games | Montreal, Canada | 3rd (q) | Long jump | 7.92 m (q)1 |
| 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 | |
Notes:
- 1 Did not start in the final
- Also won the overall Grand Prix long jump title in 1987 (57 points) and 1989 (53 points)
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