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| SportsWednesday, March 22, 2006 1:06 AM CST |
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Conway jumps at new role
By Randy Sharer rsharer@pantagraph.com NORMAL — At the end of one of the world’s greatest high jumping careers, Hollis Conway felt like a failure. He hadn’t met his goals of setting a world record nor had he won an Olympic gold medal. Now five years removed from his last competition, Conway sees he accomplished enough to make people listen. They were listening to the two-time Olympic medalist at the Brown Ballroom in Illinois State’s Bone Student Center Tuesday night during the annual Fellowship of Christian Athletes Home Team Banquet, a fundraiser for the FCA’s ministry in the north-central Illinois region. “I want them to understand there are millions of people like me who could not have made it without people who cared and got involved,” said Conway, who grew up poor in Shreveport, La. Conway, 39, is a motivational speaker and the Area Director for the Northeastern Louisiana Fellowship of Christian Athletes based in West Monroe, La. The 1988 Olympic silver medalist and 1992 bronze medalist spoke at 38 events last year at places ranging from schools and churches to corporations. “If you have all success, kids who struggle can’t identify with you,” Conway said. “If you have some failures and disappointments, they can identify with you in the process of pursuing their success.” Conway, who has a wife and three daughters, struggled financially and emotionally when his 10-year professional track career ended. “There was a three- or four-year period where I sat around and I had no idea who I was,” said the graduate of Southwestern Louisiana (now known as Louisiana-Lafayette). “Even though I graduated from college and everything, my pursuit was athletics. I had to figure out, ‘What am I good for? All I’ve ever been is an athlete.’” Conway found the answer when he heard a preacher say “whatever you need to be successful, you already have inside of you.” “The more I look in there, the more I find, but it takes the same work (as pro track),” he said. Conway worked his way to national prominence early in his college career, winning the 1988 NCAA indoor title as a sophomore. He set the still-standing collegiate record of 7 feet, 9¼ inches in 1989. Conway finished second in the 1988 NCAA outdoor meet to Illinois State’s Tom Smith of Heyworth, who cleared 7-7¾. “Tom was a great guy,” said Conway, who nevertheless was disappointed with the loss. “I was kind of upset until I made the Olympic team.” Later that summer, Conway went 7-8¾ to finish second behind Gennadiy Avdeyenko of Russia in the Olympics at Seoul, South Korea. Conway was the top-ranked U.S. high jumper for seven straight years from 1988 to 1994. He was ranked No. 1 in the world by Track and Field News in 1990 and 1991. Conway cleared a still-standing American indoor record 7-10½ in 1991. Only four men in the world have ever gone higher indoors or out. Conway’s records are especially remarkable considering he is barely over 6 feet tall while his competitors were often 6-5 to 6-8. Conway ranks third in history for jumping 22½ inches over his head. The record of 23¼ inches is shared by Franklin Jacobs of the U.S. and Stefan Holm of Sweden. Conway was not intimidated by taller opponents. “I was a tenacious competitor,” he said. “I just felt like I could beat them. The high jump is an event where you are not directly competing against a person. You’ve got to make the bar.” Conway, whose career was never the same after a 1995 knee injury, is both surprised and disappointed no Americans have gone higher than his 7-10½. He guesses some who could go higher have “stayed on the basketball court.” “I’m not naïve enough to think there aren’t many more people out there who could do it,” he said. “The potential is there.” Conway thinks drug scandals have put a damper on track, which has had a rash of throwers and sprinters suspended over the years. He believes the high jump also has drug cheats. “I don’t think any event is immune,” he said. “You have suspicions about people. Even if you think you know, you don’t have any proof. I was foolish enough to believe I could beat them regardless.” Get area high school sports scores and statistics at Varsity Sports. E-mail this story | Print this story | Search archives | RSS Show comments |  Hide comments | Hide comments on all stories |
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