Ralph Boston

Athletic career

Boston qualified for the Summer Olympics in Rome, where he won the gold medal in the long jump, setting the Olympic record at , while narrowly defeating American teammate Bo Roberson by a mere centimeter. Beamon took the 1968 National Championships. At the 1968 Olympics, Boston watched his pupil obliterate the tied world record by jumping . Boston was then 29 years old. He won a bronze medal behind Beamon and Klaus Beer and retired from competitions shortly thereafter. He was the field event reporter for the CBS Sports Spectacular coverage of domestic track and field events. He was inducted into the USA Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1974 and into the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Hall of Fame in 1985.

Later years Boston participated in the raising of the Olympic flag for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, and by 1997, Boston had moved into Peachtree City, Georgia.

A Los Angeles Times article on Boston from August 2, 2010, coinciding roughly with the 50th anniversary of his initial world record, described him as a divorced great-grandfather who was writing an autobiography. He split his time between Atlanta, Georgia and Knoxville.

Boston died of complications from a stroke at his home in Peachtree City on April 30, 2023, at the age of 83.