Charles Dumas
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| Olympic medal record | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Men's Athletics | |||
| Gold | Melbourne 1956 | High Jump | |
Charles Everett Dumas (February 12, 1937 – January 5, 2004) was an American high jumper, the 1956 Olympic champion, and the first person to clear 7 ft.
Dumas, from Tulsa, Oklahoma, made his memorable jump on June 29, 1956, in the US Olympic trials in Los Angeles, breaking a barrier previously thought unbreakable.
This jump not only ensured him of a place in the American Olympic team, but also made him the top favourite for the gold medal at the 1956 Summer Olympics. In Melbourne, he did not disappoint, and grabbed the title in a new Olympic Record.
Next, he enrolled at the University of Southern California, winning the NCAA track and field title with the university team in 1958. In 1960, Dumas competed in his second Olympics, but a knee injury prevented him from winning a second medal, finishing 6th.
After his career, in which he won five national high jump titles, Dumas became a teacher, working at several schools in the Los Angeles area. He died of cancer at age 66 in Inglewood, California.
| Olympic champions in men's high jump |
|---|
| 1896: Ellery Clark | 1900: Irving Baxter | 1904: Samuel Jones | 1906: Cornelius Leahy | 1908: Harry Porter | 1912: Alma Richards | 1920: Richmond Landon | Harold Osborn | 1928: Robert King | 1932: Duncan McNaughton | 1936: Cornelius Johnson | 1948: John Winter | 1952: Walter Davis | 1956: Charles Dumas | 1960: Robert Shavlakadze | 1964: Valeriy Brumel | 1968: Dick Fosbury | 1972: Jüri Tarmak | 1976: Jacek Wszoła | 1980: Gerd Wessig | 1984: Dietmar Mögenburg | 1988: Gennadiy Avdeyenko | 1992: Javier Sotomayor | 1996: Charles Austin | 2000: Sergey Klyugin | 2004: Stefan Holm |
