Jim Ryun

Jim Ryun

Jim Ryun (actually James Ronald Ryun ; born April 29, 1947 in Wichita , Kansas ) is an American politician and former athlete . He is a member of the Republican Party and was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1996 to 2007 . As a middle-distance runner , he was among the world's best in the 1960s and early 1970s.

As a student at Wichita East High School in 1965, Ryun was under four minutes in the mile run (1609 m). He held the high school record for over 35 years. To date, five of the top six high school over a mile scores are from Ryun. In 1964 Ryun took part in the Olympic Games in Tokyo and reached the semi-finals in the 1,500-meter run . Two years later he held the world record over the mile and 1500 m; both were broken by the Tanzanian Filbert Bayi in the mid-1970s . In addition to a natural talent, favorable leverage and load-force ratios, he had trained a lot and very intensively at an early stage. His coach, Bob Timmons, used to be a swimming coach and adapted swimming training to athletics. For his achievements, he was in 1966 by the magazine Sports Illustrated for Athlete of the Year chosen.

At the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, Ryun won the silver medal in the 1500 m behind the Kenyan Kipchoge Keino . At the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich he was jostled over 1500 m in the run-up, fell and missed advancement.

After graduating from the University of Kansas , Ryun became a businessman and later got into politics. In 1996 he was elected to the United States House of Representatives to fill the vacant seat of Sam Brownback . Ryun represented the state of Kansas in Congress from November 27, 1996 to January 3, 2007 . In 2006 he faced the attempt to re- elect the Democrat Nancy Boyda , whom he had clearly defeated in the previous election with a 56 percent share of the vote. This time, however, Boyda won with 51 percent of the vote, replacing Ryun as the representative of the second constituency of Kansas. The National Journal listed Ryun as the most conservative member of Congress. He was a member of the Republican Study Committee , the federation of 103 parliamentarians who are conservative on fiscal and social policy. His attitude to environmental issues was also not considered environmentally friendly. On July 24, 2020, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by US President Donald Trump .

Personal bests

• 800 m : 1: 44.3 min, June 10, 1966, Terre Haute
• 1500 m: 3: 33.1 min, July 8, 1967, Los Angeles (then world record)
• 1 mile: 3: 51.1 min, June 23, 1967, Bakersfield
  • Hall: 3: 56.4 min, February 19, 1971, San Diego
• 2 miles: 8: 25.2 min, 1966
• 5000 m : 13: 38.2 min, May 20, 1972, Bakersfield

Web links

• Jim Ryun in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )
• Jim Ryun in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Arnd Krüger : Many roads lead to Olympia. The changes in training systems for medium and long distance runners (1850–1997) . In: N. Gissel (Hrsg.): Sporting performance in change . Czwalina, Hamburg 1998, pp. 41-56.
2. ↑ http://www.runnersworld.com/elite-runners/bob-timmons-coach-of-mile-icon-jim-ryun-dies-at-91
3. ↑ SPECIAL REPORT: 2006 VOTE RATINGS House Liberal Scores ( Memento of July 8, 2008 in the Internet Archive ), National Journal
4. ↑ Republicans for Environmental Protection 2005 Scorecard ( Memento of May 27, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
5. ↑ Trump Gives Medal of Freedom to Olympian, Former Lawmaker Jim Ryun , July 24, 2020, Bloomberg News