Larry Myricks
{{Short description|American long jumper (born 1956)}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1956|3|10}}
| birth_place = Clinton, Mississippi, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| medaltemplates = {{MedalSport | Men's Athletics}}
{{MedalCountry | the {{USA}} }}
{{MedalCompetition|Olympic Games}}
{{MedalBronze| 1988 Seoul| Long jump}}
{{MedalCompetition|World Championships}}
{{MedalBronze | 1987 Rome | Long jump}}
{{MedalBronze | 1991 Tokyo | Long jump}}
{{MedalCompetition|World Cup}}
{{MedalGold |1979 Montreal|Long jump}}
{{MedalGold |1989 Barcelona|Long jump}}
{{MedalCompetition|World Indoor Championships}}
{{MedalGold |1987 Indianapolis|Long jump}}
{{MedalGold |1989 Budapest|Long jump}}
{{MedalCompetition|Goodwill Games}}
{{MedalSilver|1986 Moscow|Long jump}}
{{Medal|Competition|Liberty Bell Classic}}
{{Medal|Gold| 1980 Philadelphia | Long jump}}
}}
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.{{cite web |author=Ralph Hickok |url=http://hickoksports.com/history/ncamotr4.shtml#longjump |title=History - NCAA Men's Division I Outdoor Track 3 |publisher=HickokSports.com |date=2011-06-29 |access-date=2011-09-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324070435/http://hickoksports.com/history/ncamotr4.shtml#longjump |archive-date=2012-03-24 |url-status=dead }} 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.{{cite book|last1=Caroccioli|first1=Tom|last2=Caroccioli|first2=Jerry|title=Boycott: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games|year=2008|publisher=New Chapter Press|location=Highland Park, IL|isbn=978-0942257403|pages=243–253}} Myricks finished second to Lewis in the 1984 Olympic Trials.http://www.legacy.usatf.org/usatf/files/69/695a8112-b7a0-4b9d-9dbb-8b4bca22677c.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517231938/http://www.usatf.org/usatf/files/69/695a8112-b7a0-4b9d-9dbb-8b4bca22677c.pdf |date=2019-05-17 }} {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}} He finished fourth in the Olympics that year.
He set his personal best of {{convert|8.74|m|ftin|abbr=on}} in the long jump at the 1988 Olympic Trials. That jump still ranks Myricks as the number 5 long jumper ever.{{cite web|url=http://www.iaaf.org/statistics/toplists/inout=o/age=n/season=0/sex=M/all=y/legal=A/disc=LJ/detail.html |title=0 Toplists lj m - o |publisher=iaaf.org |access-date=2011-09-11}} 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.world-masters-athletics.org/records/outdoor-men |title=Records Outdoor Men |publisher=World-masters-athletics.org |date=2011-06-28 |access-date=2011-09-11 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110903223836/http://www.world-masters-athletics.org/records/outdoor-men |archive-date=2011-09-03 }}
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
| {{AchievementTable|Event=yes}} |
| colspan=6|Representing {{USA}} |
|---|
| 1976
|Montreal, Canada |3rd (q) |Long jump |7.92 m (q)1 |
| 1979
|Rome, Italy |bgcolor=gold|1st |Long jump |
| 1980
|Philadelphia, United States |bgcolor=gold|1st |Long jump |8.20 m |
| 1983
|Helsinki, Finland |34th (h) |200 m |
| 1984
|Los Angeles, United States |4th |Long jump |
| 1985
|Rome, Italy |bgcolor=silver|2nd |Long jump |8.22 m |
| 1986
|Moscow, Soviet Union |bgcolor=silver|2nd |Long jump |
| rowspan=4|1987
|Indianapolis, United States |bgcolor=gold|1st |Long jump |
| Pan American Games
|Indianapolis, United States |bgcolor=silver|2nd |Long jump |8.58 m (w) |
| World Championships
|Rome, Italy |bgcolor=cc9966|3rd |Long jump |
| Grand Prix Final
|Brussels, Belgium |bgcolor=cc9966|3rd |Long jump |8.06 m |
| 1988
|Seoul, South Korea |bgcolor=cc9966|3rd |Long jump |
| rowspan=3|1989
|Budapest, Hungary |bgcolor=gold|1st |Long jump |
| World Cup
|Barcelona, Spain |bgcolor=gold|1st |Long jump |
| Grand Prix Final
|Monte Carlo, Monaco |bgcolor=gold|1st |Long jump |8.54 m |
| rowspan=2|1991
|Tokyo, Japan |bgcolor=cc9966|3rd |Long jump |
| Grand Prix Final
|Barcelona, Spain |bgcolor=silver|2nd |Long jump |8.06 m |
{{smalldiv|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)}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.legacy.usatf.org/HallOfFame/TF/showBio.asp?HOFIDs=119 USTAF Profile]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20080703170139/http://vm.mtsac.edu/relays/HallFame/Myricks.htm Profile]
{{s-start}}
{{s-sports}}
{{succession box|before={{flagicon|YUG}} Nenad Stekić|title=Men's Long Jump Best Year Performance|years=1979|after={{flagicon|GDR}} Lutz Dombrowski}}
{{succession box|before={{flagicon|USA}} Carl Lewis|title=Men's Long Jump Best Year Performance|years=1989|after={{flagicon|USA}} Mike Powell}}
{{s-end}}
{{Footer World Indoor Champions Long Jump Men}}
{{Footer IAAF World Cup Champions Long Jump Men}}
{{USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners in men's long jump}}
{{Footer US NC 200m Men}}
{{Footer US NC long jump Men}}
{{Footer USA Track & Field 1976 Summer Olympics}}
{{Footer USA Track & Field 1984 Summer Olympics}}
{{Footer USA Track & Field 1988 Summer Olympics}}
{{Footer Collegiate Track Field Cross Country Athlete Hall of Fame}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Myricks, Larry}}
Category:American male long jumpers
Category:Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in track and field
Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1987 Pan American Games
Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics
Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics
Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics
Category:People from Clinton, Mississippi
Category:Track and field athletes from Mississippi
Category:World record holders in masters athletics
Category:World Athletics Championships medalists
Category:World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States
Category:Mississippi College alumni
Category:Doping cases in athletics
Category:Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics
Category:Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in athletics (track and field)
Category:Congressional Gold Medal recipients
Category:American masters athletes
Category:Goodwill Games medalists in athletics
Category:World Athletics Indoor Championships winners
Category:Competitors at the 1986 Goodwill Games
Category:Medalists at the 1987 Pan American Games
Category:NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners
Category:Mississippi College Choctaws men's track and field athletes
Category:NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships winners