~~
s
y
R A
In the 1900s, SU's Myer Prinstein leaped
to international acclaim in track and field
and grabbed four gold medals along the way
By
Jay
Cox
century ago, Syracusans
traveled
by
train, trolley,
horse-drawn
carriage,
and
Erie Canal boat.
Myer Prinstein covered
great
distances
then
too-in
a single bound, or a
hop
, step,
and
jump
that
carried
him
from Syracuse
to
Olympic silver
and
gold
in
Paris
in
summer
1900. Prinstein first leaped into
the
world
record books as a 19-year-old Syracuse
University freshman
in
1898, a remarkable
feat considering
he
had
only
been
compet-
ing for
two
years. In those days,
many
of
Prinstein's skillful performances occurred
at
track
and
field meets
on
the
University Oval.
He
ran
sprints
and
relays, pole-vaulted, hur-
dled,
and
high-jumped. And
when
it came
to
the
running
broad
jump
and
the
hop, step,
and
jump-forerunners
of today's long
and
triple
jump
s- Prinste
in
was
spectacular, set-
ting
the
world record twice
in
the
long jump,
capturing several national Amateur Athletic
Union
(AAU)
long-
jump
titles,
and
winning
four gold medals
in
jumping events
at
three
different Olympiads.
True,
the
early Olympics were f
ar
from
the
spectacle
th
ey are today. The 1900 Paris Olympi
cs,
where Prinstein collected a gold
in
th
e hop,
st
e
p,
and
jump
and
a silver
in
the
long jump, were a disorga-
nized alternative attraction
to
the
1900 Paris World
Exposition. Likewise,
the
1904
St.
Louis Games,
where
Prinste
in
struck double gold, were overshadowed
by
the
city's Lo
ui
s
ian
a Purchase Exhibition. The 1906 Athens
Games,
wh
ere Prinste
in
nabbed
hi
s f
ourth
Olympic
gold, were dubbed
th
e Intercalated
Ga
mes for
veering from
the
four-year Olympic cycle,
and
eventually relegated to "unofficial"
statu
s.
c
While
the
early modern Olympics struggled for
att
ention, Prinste
in
's
impressive athletic ability didn't
u
s
E u N v E R s
T
y
M
go unnoticed. At 5 feet, 7 3/4 inches tall
and
145
pounds,
the
stur-
dy-shouldered Prinstein, who played
on
one
of
SU
's earliest bas-
ketball teams, didn't have overpowering size,
but
he
was
fueled
by
a strong competitive spirit
and
earned
a reputation
in
the
track
and
field world for coming
up
big
in
the
big events.
"The
great feature
of
his jumping
is
the
rise which
he
gets after leav-
ing takeoff," New
York
sportswriter Malcolm Ford wrote. "
He
does
not
approach
the
takeoff
with
as much speed as [his
University of Pennsylvania rival] Alvin Kraenzlein,
but
he gets
higher
up
in
the
air
and
also
in
better
shape ..
..
He
has
an
unusu-
ally pretty style
and
impresses one
that
he always knows
what
he
is doing."
When Prinstein,
who
began
training
in
1894
at
the
Syracuse
YMCA
, enrolled
at
SU
in
1897
,
he
was
living
with
his family
on
Orange Street
in
the
shadow of Piety Hill. Orange Street, once
sandwiched
between
Grape
and
Almond streets
where
Route
81
now
slices
through
the
city, stretched
to
the
Erie Canal
and
was
part
of
an
immigrant neighborhood. His parents, Jacob
and
Julia
Pr
instein, were Polish-Russian Jews
who
settled in Syracuse in
188
3.
They
had
five daughters
and
four s
on
s,
a
nd
Jacob
wa
s a
grocer
and
baker. In
th
e 1898-1900 Syracuse city directory, Myer,
the
third oldest son,
was
simply listed as
an
"athlete."
That, of course, was like calling Beethoven a pianist. After all,
within only
two
years of taking
up
athletics-and
in
only his first
year of outdoor competition-Prinstein
won
his first major event:
th
e long
jump
at
the
New
York
metropolitan
AAU
meet. As
an
SU
fres
hman
in
May 1898, he
won
hi
s first of two Intercollegiate
As
sociation of
th
e Amateur Athletes of America
(IC4A)
titles in
th
e long jump, setting
the
American a
nd
coll
egia
te
records.
In
June, he turned
in
a world-record leap of23 feet, 8 7/8 inches at the
New York Athletic
Club
Game
s.
But Irish athlete W
.J
.
M.
Newburn
soon eras
ed
Prinstein's
mar
k,
sailing
24
feet,
11
/2
in
che
s.
In 1899, Prinste
in
was
up
ended
in
th
e long
ju
mp
at
the
Penn
Rel
ays
in
Philadelphia a
nd
the
IC4A
Ch
a
mp
ionships
in
New
York by Kraenzlein,
wh
o s
tr
etched
th
e world record
to
24
feet, 4
1/2 inches. At
th
e 1
900
Pe
nn
Relay
s,
Prinstein
out
-dueled
Kraenzlein,
who
was
recoveri
ng
from malaria, for top honors in
the
broad
jump
and
reclaimed
the
world record
with
a
jump
of
24 feet, 7 1/4 inches. "[The event] ended
with
a
br
oken world's
record
in
th
e
br
o
ad
jum
p, a
nd
with
new
g
lo
ry for Prins
tein
of
A
Ci
A z N
E
1
Cox: The Original Orange Olympic Champ
Published by SURFACE, 2000
Myer
Prinstein,
seated
in
the
first row,
second from left, in this photo
of
the
1899
SU
track
and
field team, compet-
ed in numerous events. Aside from
being a world-class athlete in
the
long
and
triple
jumps
,
he
ran sprints
and
relays, pole-vaulted, hurdled,
and
high-
jumped
during his collegiate career.
Syracuse University," a
New
York Times article reported. "Almost
unnoticed
in
mid-field
by
the
thousands
of
spectators, absorbed
in
the
more spectacular relay races,
the
versatile Syracuse athlete
won
the
world's, American,
and
intercollegiate championships from
A.
C.
Kraenzlein of Pennsylvania, by one magnificent leap
....
"
Later that spring, Prinstein
won
the
IC4A
long-jump crown to set
the
stage for a classic showdown
with
his rival at
the
Paris Games.
Before that happened, however, Prinstein
and
three
SU
teammates
had
to get to Pari
s.
They couldn't afford
the
transatlantic journey,
but
an
oil baron rescued
them
with
an
offer
to
ride aboard one of his
tankers. They accepted
and
trained for
the
games aboard
the
ship.
In
the
qualifying round of
the
long
jump
at
the
Paris Games
on
Saturday, July
13,
Prinstein emerged as
the
leader, leaping
23
feet, 6
1/2
in
c
he
s. But controversy soon erupted. Officials from Syracuse
and
several other Methodist-affiliated universities forbade their
s
tud
e
nt
a
thl
etes
in
Paris from competing
on
Sunday,
th
e Christian
Sabbath. They
had
appealed to French organizers not to hold events
on a Sunday,
but
the
request
was
ignored
and
the
games
went
on,
minus
the
majority
of
the
American athlete
s.
There was, however,
one notable exception: Kraenzlein. With Prinstein sidelined
by
the
Sabbath, Kraenzlein took six jumps
in
Sunday's finals
and
nipped
Prinstein's mark
by
a quarter-inch
to
set an Olympic record a
nd
grab
th
e
go
ld. Prinstein re
ce
iv
ed
th
e silve
r,
but
wa
s irate because
Kraenzlein had personally agreed
with
him
not to jump on Sunday.
Prinstein protested
and
challenged Kraenzlein to a jump-off on
Monday; Kraenzlein refused. Prinstein
then
reportedly hauled off
and
punched
hi
s rival. "The Prinstein-Kraenzlein feud was one
of
the
most fabled
in
the
early history of track a
nd
field," according to
the
Encyclopedia
of
Jews in Sports.
A day later, P
rin
ste
in
collected
th
e gold in
th
e hop, step, a
nd
j
ump
wit
h
an
Olympic record leap
of
47
feet, 5 3/4 inches. In w
in
-
ning
the
gold, he defeated American
teammate
James Connolly,
who'd
won
the
event at
the
1896 Athens Games to become
th
e
first Olympic champion of
the
modern era. Kraenzlein, meanwhile,
hit go
ld
in
thr
ee o
th
er eve
nt
s,
ensuring
him
self a place
in
hi
s
to
ry
as
the
only a
thl
e
te
to
win
four individual
tr
ack-a
nd
-field golds
in
one Olympiad.
That fa
ll
, a preview of
th
e upcoming
19
01
tr
ac
k a
nd
field season
in
the
SU Weekly reported
that
team
captain Prinstein would "com-
pete in
the
jumps,
the
pole vault,
and
all
th
e dashes
up
to
440 yards.
Trainer McCormick has no objections to his
tr
aining for all
th
ese
events, as he is
co
nfid
en
t of his ability to do all well. Prinstein will
probably be
the
best all-around athlete Syracuse has ever had."
In
hi
s final season
at
Syracuse, Prinstein continued to register
impressive performances
in
the
jumps
and
dashes. He
won
the
long
jump
at
the
Penn Relays,
but
was injured
in
the
IC4A
Cham-
pionships.
"
It
is
to be regretted
that
Myer Prinstein, who has done
so much for Syracuse
in
athletics, will not be
with
us next year,"
an
editorial
in
the
SU
Weekly said.
Hi
s storied
SU
career
at
an
end, Prins
tein
,
who
'd studied liberal
arts
and
law
and
was
proudly claimed
by
both
the
classes
of
1
901
and
1902,
began practicing
law
in
Syracuse
and
eventually landed
in
New
York
City, competing for
the
Irish-American Athletic
Club.
His days
of
international acclaim were far from over.
At
the
1904
St.
Louis
Games,
he
turned
in
a remarkable perfor-
mance
by
winning gold medals
in
both
th
e long
and
triple jumps
in
the
sa
me
day. In
the
long jump, he
cove
red
24
feet, 1
in
ch
to
s
mash
Kraenzlein's
co
ntroversial Olympic record
of
four y
ea
rs earlier.
He
also finished fifth
in
the
6o
-
and
400-
meter
dashes.
Two
years later in Athens, Prinstein squared off
in
the
long
jump
with
Ireland's Pat O'Connor,
who
had toppled Prinstein
's
1900 world
record a
month
after it
had
been
set.
Pr
inste
in
accomplished his mis-
sion, beating O
'Co
nnor
to
win
his fourth Olympic gold. An injury,
how
eve
r,
hindered his triple-jump performance
and
he finished
back
in
th
e pack, failing
to
cap
tur
e a third-straight gold in
the
event.
With that, Prinstein
co
nclud
ed
his Olympic career. Away from
the
jumping pits,
the
Jamaica, Queens, resident practiced law,
an
d later
became a businessman. On March
10,
19
25, less
than
two decades
after his final Olympic exploits, he died from a
he
art ailment
at
Mount Sinai Hospital
in
New
York.
He
was only
45
and left a wife
a
nd
young son behind. "Prinstein Is Dead; Was Not
ed
Athlete," read
The New York Times h
ead
line. In its obituary, Syracuse's Post-
Standard
cited him as "one of
the
greatest
ath
l
et
es developed
at
Syracuse University."
Even today, it's hard to ignore Prinstein's accomplishments, which
include being inducted pos
thumou
sly into
the
International Jewish
Sports Hall of Fame
in
Israel. The distances he leaped have been s
ur
-
passed,
but
in
the history
of
tr
ack and field he sta
nd
s among
the
first
Americans
who
began
th
e
co
unt
ry
's
longtime domination of
the
Olympic long jump.
Lik
ewis
e,
after he
won
th
e triple jump
in
th
e
1904 Games, it would be 8o years before another American,
Al
Joyner, captured
the
title. And don't forget
that
double-gold
me
dal
day
in
St.
Loui
s- -no jumper yet has won
the
long
and
tr
iple
jum
ps
in
th
e
sa
me Olympics, let alone on
th
e same day.
SUMMER
2 0 0 0
"'
2
Syracuse University Magazine, Vol. 16, Iss. 4 [2000], Art. 13
https://surface.syr.edu/sumagazine/vol16/iss4/13
