Dwight_Phillips

Dwight Phillips

Dwight Phillips

American long jumper

Dwight Phillips (born October 1, 1977) is an American former athlete and a four-time world champion in the long jump. He was the 2004 Olympic champion in the event. His personal best of 8.74 meters, set in 2009, makes him the joint fifth best jumper of all time.[2]

Quick Facts Personal information, Nationality ...

Phillips has also competed in the 60 and 100-meter dashes. His personal record for the 100 m is 10.06 seconds and his time of 6.47 seconds over 60 m ranks among the top twenty fastest ever.[3]

He is a now a track and field ambassador at SPIRE Institute and Academy.[4] He will be joining the others such as Elizabeth Beisel and Caeleb Dressel representing the school. The goal of the partnership with SPIRE and the ambassadors is to emphasize the development of peak performance in athletics, academics, character and life.[5][6]

Career

Phillips was a promising sprinter in his early days, but concentrated on the triple jump while at University of Kentucky, before switching to the long jump after moving to Arizona State University in 2000. He competed at 2000 Sydney Olympics and finished eighth in the long jump with a jump of 8.06 m. He was the best American performer in the event. At his first World Championships he again finished eighth, after sustaining a hamstring tear.

He came to prominence in 2003, when he won both the IAAF indoor and outdoor World Championships. The indoor championship event was a close contest, with Phillips only beating Spain's Yago Lamela by a centimeter. He won the outdoor title with a winning margin of four centimeters over James Beckford of Jamaica.[7][8]

In the run up to the 2004 Athens Olympics, Phillips was ranked number one in the world, and he won the gold medal by a margin of 12 cm over his compatriot John Moffitt. His winning jump of 8.59 meters was the fourth biggest in Olympic history, after Bob Beamon (1968) and Carl Lewis (1988, 1992).[9][10]

His success continued at the next two World Championships, taking the gold medal at the 2005 Helsinki event, and winning bronze in Osaka two years later.[11][12]

Phillips finished fourth in the long jump at the U.S. Olympic Trials, meaning he would not compete at the Beijing Olympics and would not defend his Olympic title.

On June 7, 2009, Phillips won the long jump at the Prefontaine Classic with a personal-best third jump of 8.74 m, defeating 2008 Olympic gold medalist Irving Saladino.[13] A jump that put Phillips in the all-time performers top 10, despite a 1.2 metres/second headwind. He won the US Championships later that month, giving him another chance to reach the podium at the World Championships.[14]

At the 2009 World Athletics Championships, in Berlin, Phillips won the gold in the long jump with a jump of 8.54 m.[15] He repeated the feat in Daegu in 2011 with a leap of 8.45 m. During the championships in Daegu, Phillips was assigned the bib number 1111. After winning, Phillips proudly pointed to the number appropriate for finishing first in four championships.[16]

A car accident just before the start of the 2012 outdoor season left him with back and neck injuries.[17] Further to this, an Achilles tendon injury recurred and instead of preparing for the 2012 London Olympics, Phillips opted to undergo surgery to prolong his career.[18]

At the 2013 World Athletics Championships, in Moscow, Phillips placed 11th in the long jump with a jump of 7.88 m and announced this was his last competition and retirement.[19][20]

In 2018, Phillips was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame.[21]

In September 2020, SPIRE Institute and Academy signed Phillips to become an international track and field ambassador.[22]

Personal life

Phillips is currently CEO and partner at Epiq.tv.
Phillips is also the founder of The winners circles.[23]

Personal bests

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  • All information from IAAF Profile

Achievements

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References

  1. [1]
    "Dwight Phillips". teamusa.org. USOC. Archived from the original on January 3, 2015. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  2. [2]
    Long Jump All Time. IAAF. Retrieved on June 16, 2012.
  3. [3]
    60 Metres All Time. IAAF. Retrieved on June 16, 2012.
  4. [4]
    "SPIRE – This is a Place Where Even Olympians Marvel". SwimSwam. September 15, 2020. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  5. [5]
    "Swimmers: Achieve Your Peak Potential At SPIRE Institute and Academy". SwimSwam. August 18, 2020. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  6. [6]
    "U.S. Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte discusses why the Spire Institute & Academy is the perfect place to train athletes for success". Swimmer's Daily. September 27, 2020. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  7. [7]
    "Dwight Phillips takes World Long Jump title back to the States". IAAF. March 15, 2003. Retrieved June 25, 2009.
  8. [8]
    Lionel Cironneau (August 29, 2003). "Capel, Phillips take gold at World Championships". USATODAY. Retrieved June 25, 2009.
  9. [9]
    Olympic Games Medallists – Athletics (Men) – GBR Athletics
  10. [10]
    Tom Weir (August 26, 2004). "Phillips, Moffitt leap to gold and silver". USATODAY. Retrieved June 25, 2009.
  11. [11]
    "Fabulous Phillips triumphs again". JamaicaObserver. August 14, 2005. Archived from the original on August 29, 2009. Retrieved June 25, 2009.
  12. [12]
    "Phillips Claims Bronze in Long Jump at IAAF World Championships". August 30, 2007. Archived from the original on August 29, 2009. Retrieved June 25, 2009.
  13. [13]
    Kirby Lee (June 8, 2009). "Phillips sails 8.74m in Eugene for best Long Jump in world since 1991 – IAAF World Athletics Tour". IAAF. Retrieved June 24, 2009.
  14. [14]
    Morse, Parker (June 28, 2009). World season leads for Demus and Merritt as team takes shape in Eugene – USA Champs, Day 3. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-06-30.
  15. [15]
    RAF CASERT (August 22, 2009). "Phillips wins men's long jump at worlds". The Associated Press. Retrieved August 23, 2009.
  16. [16]
    "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on December 2, 2011. Retrieved March 2, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  17. [17]
    Car accident setback isn't dampening Phillips’ enthusiasm for upcoming US Olympic trials - IAAF Online Diaries. IAAF (May 2, 2012). Retrieved on 2012-06-16.
  18. [18]
    2004 Olympic Long Jump champion Phillips to miss London Games. IAAF. Retrieved on June 16, 2012.
  19. [19]
    "Long Jump Series Result - 14th IAAF World Championships | iaag.org". Archived from the original on September 23, 2013.
  20. [20]
    "Moscow 2013 - Dwight PHILLIPS USA - Long Jump - Final - 11th". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on December 22, 2021.
  21. [21]
    "USA Track & Field - Olympic medalists Dwight Phillips, Kathy Hammond and longtime contributor Bob Hersh named to National Track & Field Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on October 6, 2018. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
  22. [22]
    "SPIRE – This is a Place Where Even Olympians Marvel". SwimSwam. September 15, 2020. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  23. [23]
    "The Winners Circle".


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