Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Charles Allen Austin | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | December 19, 1967[1] Bay City, Texas, U.S.[1] | (age 56)|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 170 lb (77 kg)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Charles Allen Austin (born December 19, 1967) is an American former athlete who won the gold medal in the men's high jump at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. He was inducted into the United States Track & Field Hall of Fame in 2012. Currently, Charles and Javier Sotomayor are the only two high jumpers that have won gold medals in the Olympics, Outdoor World Championships, Indoor World Championships and World Cup Championships. Hennadiy Avdyeyenko, who won the inaugural 1983 Outdoor World Championship setting the championship high jump record with a jump of 2.32m (7' 7 1/4"), and Charles are the only two high jumpers to win and establish the championship record in both the Outdoor World Championship and Olympic Games. He currently holds or previously held the high jump record at the three biggest outdoor (Olympics, Outdoor World Championship and Zurich, Weltklasse) track and field competitions.