The Harvard record in the long jump—25 feet, 3 inches—a world record when it was set by Edward O. “Ned” Gourdin ’21 93 years ago on July 23, 1921, has finally been broken. Gourdin was the first man in the world to jump farther than 25 feet; he was also a national champion in the 100-yard dash and the pentathlon. In a biographical sketch that appeared in this magazine in 1997 (see Vita: “Edward Orval Gourdin,” from this magazine’s archives), the scholar-athlete was hailed as “a breaker of barriers” because his achievements stretched beyond track and field: he became in 1958 the first African American appointed to the Massachusetts Superior Court, a fact that attracted “widespread press comment” at the time.
Taking up the mantle of Harvard record-holder in the long jump is freshman Elliot Safo, of Caterham, England, a former European Youth Olympic champion in the event. His jump of 25 feet, 4.5 inches on May 10, 2014, landed him not only the Harvard record, but also the Heptagonal meet title in the event. (The current world record, set by American athlete Mike Powell in 1991, stands at 29 feet, 4.25 inches).
The Heptagonal meet determines the Ivy League track and field champion. This year, the Harvard women won the title for the first time since 1990, taking first in five events: the 4 x 100 meter relay; the 800m; the 100m and 400m hurdles; and the shotput, in which freshman Nikki Okwelogu broke the previous Harvard record by more than a meter. The Harvard men placed third overall, behind Cornell and Princeton.
