- Robert Howard (athlete)
Robert Howard (born
26 November ,1975 inBrooklyn, New York , died8 August ,2004 inLittle Rock, Arkansas ) was an American world-class triple andlong jump er and a nine-timeNCAA collegiate champion.High school
Howard graduated from Shea High School in
Pawtucket, Rhode Island in 1994. His top triple jump while competing in the high school ranks was 51-5.75 (15.69m). He received the Tom Doherty Memorial Award as the state's male athlete of the year.Collegiate career
In choosing a college, Howard elected to follow in the lengthy vertical jumping tradition at the University of Arkansas, where he would follow in the footsteps of such luminary jumpers as
Mike Conley, Sr. ,Edrick Floreal ,Jérôme Romain ,Brian Wellman andErick Walder .Putting his own stamp on the track program, Howard won nine individual collegiate championships while jumping for Arkansas [http://www.hogwired.com/pdf2/103362.pdf?ATCLID=801339&SPSID=30837&SPID=2430&DB_OEM_ID=6100 Razorback Track & Field Media Guide ] :
Death
On August 8th, 2004, shortly after his failure to make the Olympic team and in the opening hours of the
2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Howard is believed to have murdered his wife, Robin Mitchell, a chief neurosurgery resident at UAMS, and later leapt to his death from the 10th story of a medical school dormitory. Police found Mitchell dead in the couple’s bed with multiple stab wounds. [ [http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/6135796/ Olympian haunted by failures, suicide note says - Olympics - NBCSports.com ] ] [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1355/is_10_106/ai_n6197084 Murder-suicide] [ [http://www.wholehogsports.com/nwat/18962 WholeHogSports.com - McDonnell ‘saddened’ on news of Howard tragedy ] ] [ [http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:oNKEEzJAl_0J:www.ncdsv.org/images/SlayingQuickensPushMedSchoolChecks.pdf+triple+jump+%22Robert+Howard%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=57&gl=us 403 Forbidden ] ] [ESPN Story on death http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/news/story?id=1860120 ]References
*Razorback Track & Field Media Guide http://www.hogwired.com/pdf2/103362.pdf?ATCLID=801339&SPSID=30837&SPID=2430&DB_OEM_ID=6100
*iaaf name|id=130291|name=Robert Howard
* [http://www.usatf.org/athletes/bios/oldBios/2002/Howard_Robert.asp USATF Biography]
*2004 Olympic Trial results http://www.usatf.org/events/2004/OlympicTrials-TF/results/fullResults.asp
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