Our California Track & Field-themed series continues this week as we’re joined by another former Olympian. One with quite the unique experience.
Imagine setting the high school national record in your event and then making the US Olympic team - then competing in the Olympics - and THEN returning to high school. That’s what Compton-native Reynaldo Brown did in 1968.
Reynaldo Brown was a basketball standout and high jumper for Compton High. He won three state championships in the high jump, and was also part of a state championship basketball team. He became the first high school athlete to high jump 7 feet and attended the 1968 Mexico City Olympics as a 17-year-old. He went on to help Cal Poly win an NCAA Division II National Title and briefly held the American Indoor High Jump record at 7-foot-4-inches in 1971. He shares stories about all those experiences in this episode.
