Jim Ryun
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromKansas's2nd district
In office November 27, 1996 – January 3, 2007
Preceded by	Sam Brownback
Succeeded by	Nancy Boyda
Personal details
Born	James Ronald Ryun (1947-04-29)April 29, 1947 (age 78) Wichita, Kansas, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Anne Ryun ​ (m. 1969)​
Education	University of Kansas (BA)
Sports career
Height	188 cm (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Weight	76 kg (168 lb)
Country	United States
Sport	Athletics/Track,Mid-distance running
Event(s)	Mile,1500 meters,800 meters
College team	Kansas Jayhawks
Club	Club West
Sports achievements and titles
Olympic finals	1964 Tokyo 1500m, 18th (sf) 1968 Mexico City 1500m, Silver 1972 Munich 1500m, 55th (h)
Personalbests	Outdoors 880yd/800m: 1:44.9/1:44.3 (Terre Haute 1966) 1500m: 3:33.1 (Los Angeles 1967) Mile: 3:51.1 (Bakersfield 1967) 2mi: 8:25.2AJR (Los Angeles 1966) 5000m: 13:38.2 (Bakersfield 1972) Indoor 880yd/800m 1:48.3i/1:47.7i (Lawrence 1967) Mile: 3:56.4i (San Diego 1971)
Medal record Men'sathletics Representing United States Olympic Games 1968 Mexico City 1500m

James Ronald Ryun (born April 29, 1947) is an American formerRepublican politician and Olympictrack and field athlete, who at his peak was widely considered the world's top middle-distance runner. He won a silver medal in the1500 m at the 1968 Summer Olympics, and was the first high school athlete to run a mile in under four minutes. He is the last American to hold the world record in the mile run. Ryun later served in theUnited States House of Representatives from 1996 to 2007, representingKansas's 2nd congressional district.

According to Ryun, he began running because

I couldn't do anything else. When you're cut from the church baseball team, the junior high basketball team, and you can't make the junior high track and field team ...I'd go to bed at night and I'd say, "Dear God, please help me do better at sports and let me find a good sport I am good at" I found myself trying out for the cross-country team and runningtwo miles even though I'd never run that distance before. All of a sudden, I made the team, I got aletter jacket, and I started thinking there's a girlfriend behind the letter jacket. But that's how it all began.^[2]

In 1964, as a high school junior atWichita East High School, Ryun became the first high school athlete to run a mile in under four minutes in the time of 3:59.0, when he took eighth place at the 1964 California Relays, the last under four minutes in a historic mass finish under 4:00. His time of 3:55.3, set winning the 1965 AAU Championship race ahead of Olympic gold medalist and former WR holderPeter Snell, was a high school record that stood for 36 years. Ryun ran five sub four-minute miles while in high school including the first sub four-minute mile run in a high school event, a 3:58.3, at the 1965 Kansas HS state meet. As a high school senior, he was voted the fourth-best miler in the world byTrack & Field News.ESPN.com named him the best high school athlete of all time, beating out people such asTiger Woods andLeBron James.^[3] He wasTrack and Field News "High School Athlete of the Year" in 1965.^[4]

In 1966, at age 19, Ryun set two world records, first in the half-mile (1:44.9), then the mile (3:51.3). He received numerous awards, includingSports Illustrated magazine's "Sportsman of the Year" award, theJames E. Sullivan Award as the nation's top amateur athlete, theABC'sWide World of Sports Athlete of the Year award, and theTrack & Field News' Athlete of the Year award as the world's best track and field athlete.

In 1967, Ryun set a world record in the indoor half mile (1:48.3) and the outdoor mile from (3:51.1), a record that stood for almost eight years. That same year, he set the world record for the 1,500 meters (3:33.1). In NCAA competition, Ryun was the 1967 NCAA outdoor mile champion. He was also the NCAA indoor mile champion in 1967, 1968, and 1969.

Ryun still holds theAmerican junior (19 and under) records at one mile (3:51.3) and two miles (8:25.1). His American junior record in the 1,500 meters of 3:36.1 was broken byHobbs Kessler on May 29, 2021, awaiting ratification byUSA Track and Field. His American junior record in the 800 meters lasted exactly 50 years. In all, he broke the American record for the mile four times, once as a high school senior (3:55.3 on June 27, 1965), twice as a college freshman (3:53.7 on June 4, 1966, and 3:51.3 on July 17, 1966), and once as a college sophomore (3:51.1 on June 23, 1967).

Ryun participated in the1964,1968, and1972 Summer Olympics. At age 17 years, 137 days in 1964, he remains the second youngest American male track athlete to ever qualify for the Olympics, behind Quincy Wilson.^[5] In 1968, he won the silver medal in the 1,500 meters inMexico City, losing toKip Keino from Kenya, whose remarkable race remained the Olympic 1,500-meter record for 16 years. Before the race, Ryun had thought that a time of 3:39 would be good enough to win in the high altitude of Mexico City. He ended up running faster than that with a 3:37.8, but half-way through the race Keino had moved into the first position at world record pace. Ryun continued to move up during the last two laps from eighth to second but was never closer than about 30 yards from Keino, who finished in 3:34.91, an Olympic record that would stand until 1984, despite the altitude.^[6] Years later, in 1981, he told Tex Maule in an interview forThe Runner magazine, "We had thought that 3:39 would win and I ran under that. I considered it like winning a gold medal; I had done my very best and I still believe I would have won at sea level." Ryun was attacked by some writers who believed he had let his nation down. "Some even said I had let down the whole world. I didn't get any credit for running my best and no one seemed to realize that Keino had performed brilliantly." In the 1972Munich, Germany, Games, he was tripped and fell down during a 1,500-meter qualifying heat. Although theInternational Olympic Committee (IOC) acknowledged that a foul had occurred, U.S. appeals to have Ryun reinstated in the competition were denied by the IOC.^[7][8]

Ryun's 1,500-meter world record, run in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum during the United States vs. British Commonwealth meet in July 1967, was one of Ryun's greatest running performances.Track and Field News reported that "after 220 yards of dawdling, a record seemed out of the question." However, after 440 yards, which Ryun, in third, passed in 60.9 seconds, Kip Keino took the lead and ran the next lap in 56 seconds (the fastest second lap ever run at the time). Ryun, just behind, passed the 880-yard mark in 1:57.0. At 1,320 yards the two were side by side in 2:55.0. Ryun pulled away to finish in 3:33.1, a record that stood for seven years. With a last 440 yards of 53.9, a last 880 yards of 1:51.3, and the final 1320 yards in 2:47.4,Cordner Nelson ofTrack and Field News called it "the mightiest finishing drive ever seen," and said of Ryun's performance, "This was most certainly his greatest race."^[9]

Ryun's final season as an amateur in 1972 included the third-best mile of his career (at the time, the third-fastest in history - a 3:52.8 at Toronto, Canada, on July 29), a 5,000-meter career best (13:38.2 at Bakersfield, California, on May 20), and a win in the 1,500 m at the U.S. Olympic Trials. His last race at theOlympics was a 1,500 m preliminary heat on September 8, 1972. He fell after a collision withGhana'sBilly Fordjour as both trailed in the last 500 m. He got up despite being 80 m behind and completed the heat, but finished 30 m in back of the pack and did not qualify for the final.^[10] He left amateur athletics after 1972, and for the next two years, ran professionally on theInternational Track Association circuit.

Notes:

• Because the 880=yard race is longer than the 800 m, the 1:44.9 was converted into an estimated en route time at 800 m of 1:44.3, which equaled the existing 800 m world record, but was not ratified as a record in that event. The 880-yard mark remained the world and American records until broken byRick Wohlhuter's 1.44.6 in 1973.
• The 3:33.1 1,500 m mark remained the world record for six years until broken by Tanzania'sFilbert Bayi's 3:32.2 in 1974.
• The 3:51.1 one-mile mark remained the world record for eight years until broken byBayi's 3:51.0 in 1975.

• He won theTrack and Field News Athlete of the Year award for both 1966 and 1967, the first athlete to win this prestigious award two years in a row.
• He was the 1966Sports IllustratedSportsman of the Year; he also was on the cover ofSports Illustrated five times.
• 1966James E. Sullivan Award, presented to the best amateur athlete in the U.S.
• 1966ABCWide World of Sports Athlete of the Year award
• Jim Ryun'sTrack and Field News world rankings:

800 m: 1966 – 1

1500 m/mile: 1965 – 4, 1966 – 1, 1967 – 1, 1968 – 2, 1969 – 7, 1971 – 6, 1972 – 9

In 1980, Ryun was inducted into theNational Track and Field Hall of Fame,^[11] and in 2003 into theNational Distance Running Hall of Fame.

Ryan has competed inMasters Athletics, as well.^[12]

Ryun was born inWichita, Kansas. He now lives inLawrence, though he was listed in the House roll as "R-Topeka". He also owns a farm inJefferson County.

Ryun met his wife, Anne, when she asked him for an autograph after he broke the world record for the mile in Berkeley.^[13] They married in 1969 and have two sons, Ned and Drew Ryun, two daughters, Catherine and Heather, and 13 grandchildren. Along with his sons,Ned and Drew, he has co-authored three books:Heroes Among Us,The Courage to Run, and In Quest of Gold – The Jim Ryun Story.

After graduating from theUniversity of Kansas in 1970 with a degree in photojournalism, Ryun moved toEugene, Oregon, looking for a good training situation to continue his track career.^{[citation needed]} Six months later, he moved toSanta Barbara, California, with his family and remained for nine years. They moved back to Lawrence in 1981.^{[citation needed]}

Though raised in theChurch of Christ, Ryun and his wife are members of GraceEvangelical Presbyterian Church in Lawrence.^{[citation needed]}

President Donald Trump awarded Jim Ryun thePresidential Medal of Freedom on July 24, 2020.^[14]

Before being elected to the House of Representatives in 1996, Ryun had operated Jim Ryun Sports, a company that ran sports camps, and worked as a motivational speaker at meetings of corporations and Christian groups around the country.^[15] Among his projects, Ryun, who has a 50% hearing loss, helped the ReSound Hearing Aid Company develop a program called Sounds of Success, aimed at helping children with hearing loss. Since 1973, Ryun and his family have hosted running camps every summer for promising high school-aged runners.^[16]

According to Ryun, he was interested in politics, but did not have plans to run for Congress untilTodd Tiahrt told him during the1996 Summer Olympics torch relay that the Topeka-based2nd District would have a vacancy and suggested that he run.^[2]

Ryun was first elected in 1996 to fill a seat vacated by RepublicanSam Brownback. He won the three-person Republican primary with 62% of the vote, defeating formerTopeka MayorDoug Wright and Cheryl Brown Henderson,^[17] the daughter ofthe plaintiff in the historicBrown v. Board of Education of Topeka desegregation case.^[15] In the general campaign, Ryun was in a tight race withDemocrat John Frieden, a prominent Topeka trial attorney, who outspent Ryun $750,000 to $400,000.^[15] Ryun won that contest with 52% of the vote. He did not face another contest nearly that close for almost a decade; he was re-elected three times with at least 60% of the vote.

In 2004, DemocratNancy Boyda, a formermoderate Republican, ran a campaign with spending near that of Ryun's, $1,105,838 (compared to Ryun's $1,136,464).^[18] Ryun defeated her by a margin of 55 to 42%, mainly due to the presence ofGeorge W. Bush atop the ticket.^{[citation needed]}

In the2006 election, Boyda was again the Democratic nominee, with Roger Tucker of theReform Party of the United States of America also on the ballot.^[19] Initially expected to win, Ryun found his campaign faltering as internal polling for both his campaign and Boyda's revealed Boyda was ahead. In response, Ryun's campaign recruited both President Bush andVice President Cheney to visit Topeka to campaign and raise campaign funds for Ryun. Ryun was defeated in anupset by Boyda, 51 to 47%.^[20]

In March 2007, Ryun confirmed that he would run for his old seat.^[21] In the Republican primary, he facedKansas State TreasurerLynn Jenkins, a slightly more moderate Republican who served two terms as state treasurer, a partial term in theKansas Senate, and two years in the Kansas House. Ryun lost to Jenkins, who went on to win the seat in the general election, 51 to 46%.^[22]

Ryun served on the Armed Services, Budget, and Financial Services committees. He tallied a strongly conservative voting record.

Ryun generally supportedGeorge W. Bush's legislative agenda, voting to support it 89% of the time, average for a House member who was from the same party as the sitting president.^[23] In 2003, he voted against the $373 billion end-of-session spending bill because he considered it to be too costly and had come to Congress to support fiscal restraint.

Ryun broke with the President over two major initiatives,No Child Left Behind andMedicare reform legislation that included a prescription-drug benefit. In voting against No Child Left Behind, Ryun said he believed states should have more control over their own education system. In opposing the Medicare bill, Ryun said the bill did not provide enough reform to keep future costs from soaring.

In 2006, theNational Journal rated Ryun as the nation's mostconservative member of Congress.^[24] He was a member of theRepublican Study Committee, a caucus of 103 fiscally and socially conservative House Republicans.

In 2005, Ryun scored 0 percent on theRepublicans for Environmental Protection ("REP") scorecard. Twelve issues were considered by the REP to be critical environmental issues.^[25] Jim Ryun voted with what the REP would consider pro-environment on none of the issues voted upon. These issues consisted of the drilling of oil and natural gas, CongressmanRichard Pombo's bill designed to weaken theEndangered Species Act of 1973, an amendment to theEnergy Policy Act of 2005, by CongresswomanLois Capps to remove section 1502, a provision that would provide liability protection for manufacturers of the gasoline additiveMTBE, and the movement to increase fuel economy standards.^[25]

Ryun also scored a 0 on theLeague of Conservation Voters's scorecard. Many of REP's critical issues were present on the scorecard.^[26]

In 2006, Ryun improved his REP scorecard when he voted pro-environment on two of seven critical issues. This earned him a 17% rating.^[27] He voted to help reduce the impact theArmy Corps of Engineers had on the environment. The issues in which he voted against the REP were ones involving oil drilling in theArctic National Wildlife Refuge, renewable resource programs, and the movement to end debate and accept theGulf of Mexico Energy Security Act.^{[citation needed]}

On December 15, 2000, Ryun bought a townhouse in the District of Columbia fromU.S. Family Network for $410,000.^[28][29][30] The townhouse had been purchased about two years earlier, for $429,000,^[31] to house Ed Buckham's consulting firmAlexander Strategy Group and Tom DeLay's ARMPAC.

After questions were raised as to the purchase of Ryun's townhouse, his office released official documents showing that Ryun paid $80,000 more than the tax assessed value of the house, that he put another $50,000 into house repairs, and that another home on the same block was sold for $409,000 on the same day he bought his home. According to property records, the other home does not have a garage or a back patio and is on a plot about half the size of Ryun's. It was assessed in 2006 as worth $528,000, compared to $764,000 for Ryun's home. In contrast, homes across the street from Ryun's were sold for over $900,000.^[32]

After Rep.Mark Foley resigned in October 2006, following revelations he had sent sexually explicit emails to teenaged congressional pages, Ryun contended that he barely knew Foley, had never spent time with him, and was unaware that they lived directly across the street from each other inWashington, DC. "I know that [we were neighbors] only because somebody has mentioned that, too, already," he told reporters at the time. Later, though, Ryun and Foley were found to have hosted a joint fundraiser on their street on May 18, 2006, called the "D Street Block Party". An invitation to the fundraiser included side-by-side pictures of Ryun and Foley. Ryun's campaign manager later said that Ryun had always known he was Foley's neighbor.^[33]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toJim Ryun.

• Biography at theBiographical Directory of the United States Congress
• National Track & Field Hall of Fame entry at theWayback Machine (archived 2006-07-21)
• Kansas Sports Hall of Fame entry at theWayback Machine (archived 2011-07-18)
• Jim Ryun atOlympics.com
• Jim Ryun atOlympedia
• 1968 Olympic 1500 final onYouTube
• 1967 World Record onYouTube
• high school record onYouTube
• Appearances onC-SPAN

• 1947 births
• 20th-century American sportsmen
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• Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics
• Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics
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• James E. Sullivan Award recipients
• Kansas Jayhawks men's track and field athletes
• Living people
• Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics
• NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners
• NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships winners
• Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field
• Politicians from Wichita, Kansas
• Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
• Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Kansas
• Sportspeople from Wichita, Kansas
• Track and field athletes from Kansas
• Track & Field News Athlete of the Year winners
• United States collegiate record holders in athletics (track and field)
• Wichita East High School alumni
• World record setters in the sport of athletics
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