Ralph Boston obituary

U.S. Olympic track and field legend Ralph Boston has died. He died Sunday April 30, 2023 at the age of 83 following complications from a recent stroke.

Born on May 9, 1939, in Laurel, Mississipi, Boston rose to fame during an Olympic tune-up meet in August 1960 where he set the long jump world record with a leap of 26 feet and 11.25 inches, besting the mark set by the legendary Jesse Owens 25 years prior by three inches.

The next month, Boston represented Team USA at the XVII Olympiad, where he won gold after setting an Olympic record in the long jump with a leap of 26-7 1/2 meters. In addition to his Olympic success, Boston won the NCAA long jump championship while at TSU, where he also excelled in the high jump, triple jump, and hurdles.

From 1961 to 1966, Boston won the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) national long jump championship six years in a row.

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 it to Igor Ter-Ovanesyan and then regaining it a few months before the games, first in Kingston, Jamaica, and then improving it at the 1964 Olympic Trials.

Boston’s final record improvement to 8.35m came in 1965 at the Modesto Relays. Ter-Ovanesyan set the record at altitude in 1967. In 1967, he lost the national championship to Jerry Proctor.

After retirement, Boston worked as the field event reporter for the CBS Sports Spectacular coverage of domestic track and field events.

He was inducted into the USA Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1974 and into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1985.