EWRY, RAY C.

born Oct. 14, 1873, Lafayette, Ind., U.S. died Sept. 29, 1937, Douglaston, Long Island, N.Y. American track athlete, the only Olympic athlete to win eight gold medals in individual events. As a boy, Ewry contracted poliomyelitis and was expected never to walk again. He began his career as a jumper in a successful attempt to regain the use of his legs. At Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind., the lean, 6-foot 3-inch Ewry was a member of the track and football teams. Later, as a member of the New York Athletic Club, he helped win 15 United States amateur track championships. Ewry earned three gold medals at the 1900 Olympics in Paris and again at the 1904 Games in St. Louis, Mo., winning the standing long jump (discontinued after 1912), the standing high jump (discontinued after 1912), and the standing triple jump (discontinued after 1904). During the 1908 Games in London he repeated his triumphs in the standing broad jump and the standing high jump.