Jerome Biffle

Jerome Cousins Biffle (March 20, 1928 - September 4, 2002) was an American athlete who competed mainly in the long jump.
Biffle was born in Denver, Colorado and attended Denver East High School, where he won all-state honors in the 100 and 220-yard sprints, high jump and broad jump before landing at the University of Denver. Biffle was known as "the one-man track team" while attending DU. He led the Pioneers to the Skyline Conference title in 1949. In 1950, Biffle captured first-place finishes at the Kansas, Drake, and West Coast Relays, which were known as the "big three" of college track events during that period, as well as winning the NCAA long jump title. In that same year, Biffle was named Track and Field News' top collegiate track star. After DU, he earned a spot on the 1952 U.S. Olympic team. He competed for the United States in the 1952 Summer Olympics held in Helsinki, Finland in the long jump where he won the gold medal on his final attempt.
He later became a track coach and youth counselor at Denver East. In conjunction with Murray S. Hoffman, MD (President of the Colorado Heart Association) and Marilyn Van Derbur (1958 Miss America) he worked with the Colorado Heart Association to establish one of the earliest jogging programs to promote heart health. He died in Denver in 2002 from pulmonary fibrosis.