Franklin Jacobs

Franklin Jacobs (born December 31, 1957^[1] ) is a former high jumper from the United States. His personal best of 2.32 meters (7 ft 7 in) was a world indoor record in 1978,^[2] and at 59 centimeters (23 in) above Jacobs' own height of 1.73 meters (5 ft 8 in),^[2] it remains the record for height differential, now held jointly with Stefan Holm, and the record for jump at highest rate of one's size.^[3]

[edit] Biography

Jacobs was one of ten children of Jannie Jacobs, living in a shack in Mullins, South Carolina.^[4] His parents separated when he was young.^[5] The impoverished family moved to Paterson, New Jersey when he was three and lived with four cousins.^[4] His first love was basketball, and he played for Paterson East-side High.^[4] He only started high jumping in his senior year, after the end of the basketball season.^[4] He cleared 6 feet 8 inches (2.03 m) that year.^[4] His natural talent overcame his lack of technique: he called his style the "Jacobs Slop", as opposed to the Fosbury Flop;^[6] but later renamed it the "Slope", from the trajectory of his launch.^[7]

Jacobs barely graduated high school and got no athletic scholarship, but enrolled at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, New Jersey with a federal grant.^[4] He cleared 7 feet 1 inch (2.16 m) in his freshman year.^[4] In March 1977 he tore cartilage in his right leg playing basketball, but competed for over a year without surgery.^[5] He established a rivalry with Dwight Stones over the next two years,^[4] with media emphasizing the contrast between Jacobs, a short inner-city African American, and Stones, a tall blond Californian.^[8] Stones antagonized Jacobs by criticizing his unorthodox jumping style.^[5] Jacobs beat Stones at the 1978 Millrose Games in Madison Square Garden, at which he set a world indoor record of 2.32 meters (7 ft 7 in).^[6] He waived his right to try for an even higher record, saying he "didn't feel nervous enough".^[6] The next day, Vladimir Yashchenko broke the record in Milan.^[9] In July, at a highly publicized international between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, Jacobs lost to Yashchenko on countback.^[10] In August, Jacobs won the Tanqueray Award for outstanding amateur athlete; by then he had won 27 collegiate events.^[11]

Jacobs anticipated gaining lucrative endorsements from the 1980 Olympics, but the U.S. boycott of the Games precluded this.^[8] He was extremely disappointed and wanted to skip the U.S. "Olympic Trials"; he attended by request of his college, but failed his opening height.^[2] He gave up the high jump and did not return to college.^[8] A planned return to competition in 1982^[12] did not happen.^[2] In 1991, he commented, "I was upset and my dreams were shattered. I probably could have come back in 1984, but I was a naive kid. It was like the floor fell in."^[13]

He subsequently had various jobs around Paterson,^[2][8] working for a construction company 1986–91.^[13] He married Naomi Livingston c.1990 and had a daughter Shannon in 1992.^[2][8] Around 1995, they moved to Gilbert, Arizona.^[2] In 1998 he was working for an electrical installation company.^[2][8] That year, he attended a Millrose Games tribute to stars of memorable previous meets.^[2]

[edit] Championship results

1. ^ Officially, 7 ft 5 in; NCAA switched to metric in 1979.
2. ^ Officially, 7 ft 5 in; USATF switched to metric in 2003.
3. ^ ^{a b} Officially, 7 ft 4¼ in; USATF switched to metric in 2003.

[edit] References