Walt Ashbaugh won fourth in the hop, step, and jump in the Olympics. He went farther than any American had ever jumped in the Olympics up to that time. In 1952, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) did not include the Hop, Step, and Jump as one of its events. Today, this event is called the triple jump. After the Olympics, Ashbaugh traveled to Turku, Finland, with Thane Baker and others to compete in an AAU Exhibition meet. He also played basketball for Cornell during their best season ever. “Ashbaugh Qualifies for Olympics; Red Crew Awaits Trials,” Ithaca (NY) Journal, June 30, 1952, evening edition, https://www.newspapers.com. “Hop, Step, and Jump,” Asa S. Bushnell, ed., United States 1952 Olympic Book, Quadrennial Report United States Olympic Committee: Games of the XVth Olympiad Helsinki, Finland July 19 to August 3, 1952, VI Olympic Winter Games Oslo, Norway February 14 to 25, 1952, 1st Pan American Games Buenos Aires, Argentina February 25 to March 8, 1951, (New York: United States Olympic Association, 1953), 107; NCAA, 31st Annual National Collegiate Athletic Association Track and Field Championships, (program, Berkeley, CA: Lederer, Street & Zeus, June 13-14, 1952); “Walter Ashbaugh,” Cornell University Sports Hall of Fame in Men’s Track and Field and Basketball, CBS Sports Digital, https://cornellbigred.com/hof.aspx?hof=125.
