American Jerome Biffle of the University of Denver earned a gold medal in the Men’s Broad Jump, now known as the long jump. In 1950, he was the NCAA Broad Jump winner. In 1951, he put on the United States Army uniform. He had an injury in the spring of 1952, but still qualified third in the Olympic Tryouts in Los Angeles. During the Olympic competition. Meredith “Flash” Gourdine led after the first two rounds, but Biffle’s third jump brought him into the lead with a jump of 24 feet, 10 inches or 7.57 meters. He fouled his last three jumps. In the end, Biffle beat Gourdine by an inch and a half. Gourdine recalled that the rain worsened the runway conditions as the Olympic broad jump progressed. The other American, George Brown, fouled his second two jumps, but placed fourth. The Denver Public School system employed Biffle as a college counselor.
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), 106-107; Gourdine, Meredith “Flash,” tapes made for his family and shared by his daughter Traci; “Jerome Cousins Biffle, Biography,” International Olympic Committee, accessed March 8, 2024, https://olympics.com/en/athletes/jerome-cousins-biffle.
Below is a link to Jerome Biffle and Meredith Gourdine’s leaps. Please note the long coats and hats worn by the spectators and officials which demonstrate the weather.
“Helsinki 1952/Jerome Biffle/Long Jump/Athletics/Olympic Summer Games/9,” TF Filmarchiv, filmed on July 21, 1952, in Helsinki, Finland, YouTube video, :44 seconds, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bcxdcs0d80.
For more information and another video of Biffle’s jumping, please see also:
Olympic Gold Medalist Jerome Biffle Was a Member of Kappa Alpha Psi – Watch The Yard
