At the 2024 Olympics held in Paris, France, OHS Alumnus Shelby McEwen competed in the men’s high jump and placed silver. McEwen was awarded an Olympic silver medal after completing a 2.36 meter (or 7.743 feet) jump, which was a personal record for him.
“It was like a dream come true to have my first Olympic medal, and the first Olympic medal for the United States in men’s high jump since 2012,” McEwen said. “It was amazing, and I’m still processing everything, trying to take it all in. It was such a great moment, great being in Paris, and great being able to compete. I loved being able to do what I enjoy and let all my hard work show.”
During his time at Oxford High School, McEwen was coached by both Christian Patton, current head coach for OHS cross country as well as track and field, and Christopher Bush, former head coach for OHS boys track and field. While Patton helped coach McEwen, he noticed traits about the athlete that he knew would make him a successful high jumper one day.
“Shelby has drive,” Patton said. “He is very driven and he is very competitive. When things get hard, he goes a little harder. He doesn’t tuck his tail. When the competition level rises, he rises with the competition. That’s what makes a champion.”
McEwen was a multi-sport athlete at OHS, playing for OHS Basketball and competing in the high jump for OHS Track and Field. He credits the support he got from the high school as well as fellow students as great factors in helping him be able to become a professional athlete.
“OHS supported me in every way,” McEwen said. “They knew I had the potential as an athlete. My basketball coach, Drew Tyler, always looked to me to be a leader on the court. I feel like it put confidence in me as I developed and grew to pursue my collegiate career. All of my time at OHS added up, from the support and all the things I learned while there, and played such an important role in my athletic career. Charger Nation has a lot of talent and they did a very great job supporting me and helping me believe in myself.”
While a high school athlete, McEwen practiced five times a week if not more with the OHS Track and Field team, as well as competing in the high jump on weekends. Even though McEwen was still a young athlete, Patton took notice of his
raw talent and strong motivation.
“He came to practice every day with the drive,” Patton said. “I never had to tell him what to do, he was already on it. And, he was a great listener, he listened to any advice I offered. He took that advice and went with it 100%. Being coachable and being a good listener, that is what makes you successful. Shelby was just always hungry for more. He was always hungry for information, hungry to be coached, hungry to be pushed. That made him the athlete he is today.”
Bush helped coach and train McEwen during his high school career, and knew that he could go on to do great things. But, without exposure to the proper schools and coaches, most high school athletes will go unrecognized for their talent and hard work. Because of this, Bush tried to ensure that McEwen was able to go to every competition possible.
“I think one of the biggest things that I was able to do for Shelby was exposure,” Bush said. “If the guys would qualify for a meet we would go, and when Shelby qualified for nationals we traveled all the way to North Carolina and he was able to compete at a very high level before college. I think that gave him an edge to get him such a high level of competition early on.”
McEwen began jumping for Oxford High School during his sophomore year, and after graduation went on to play college-level basketball for Northwest Community College from 2015 to 2017. During his time at Northwest, McEwen continued to compete on his own in high jump events, which led him to eventually be recruited by the University of Alabama, where he was a part of the track and field team from 2018 to 2019.
“I always told him he was going to be able to do something special in track and field,” Bush said. “He called me while he was at Northwest and I was able to put him in contact with a former coach from the University of Mississippi. We both worked to make sure Shelby could compete in meets, so he was competing unattached to a college. That gave him the ability to keep jumping but also keep his name out there with coaches so that they could see the marks that he was putting up while he was a basketball player at Northwest before he transitioned to Alabama.”
After McEwen graduated from the University of Alabama, he began to pursue his career as a professional athlete. McEwen first competed in the Olympics in 2020 and placed 12th overall. He says that his approach and mindset during the 2024 Olympic games was drastically different than when he competed in 2020.
“I have matured a lot as a person and an athlete,” McEwen said. “Discipline, dedication, and focus away from the track played a huge role in my season leading up to the Olympic games. Me and my coach had a plan going in, we knew what the mission was and what we were capable of doing together as a team. I think we looked at the 2020 Olympics so differently because of COVID-19, it was just really tough on a lot of athletes to not have a crowd. Being able to have my family there to support me made a great atmosphere and a huge difference.”
During the men’s high jump competition at the Paris Olympics, McEwen initially tied with Hamish Kerr, a high jumper who was competing for New Zealand. The pair decided to compete in a jump off to decide who would get gold instead
of sharing first place, a decision that came with a lot of backlash.
“It was a mutual decision, but there was a lot of controversy,” McEwen said. “The guy that I did the jump-off with had a dream the night before that he was going to do a jump-off during the competition, so he already had intentions of doing the jump-off before it happened. At the end of the day I stand firm on what I believe. You can only crown one champion. It wasn’t my time, so I got a silver medal. That just leaves room for improvement for the next Olympics in 2028. The
jump-off was done, some agreed on it, some disagreed, but either way if we had shared the gold there would
have been talk about that too. I didn’t want to share a medal with another country. Why would you crown champions? You don’t crown two champions of the NBA, you don’t crown two champions of high school titles, you don’t crown two
college football champions. At the end of the day you can only crown one champion.”
Back in Oxford, many citizens and friends of McEwen watched the competition from home and cheered him on through the television screen. For Bush, he could not have been more proud that one of his former athletes was able to achieve something of such significance.
“My whole household was glued to the television, we were cheering so loud you would have thought it was a football game,” Bush said. “We knew he had the potential to win not just silver but gold. We were doing our chant and screaming at the top of our lungs. We were very excited for him and so proud of what he was able to accomplish.”
Competing against the top athletes in the world and being able to place in the top three is a much sought-after accomplishment. McEwen was happy with his performance at the Olympics, but he still wants to push himself to do more in the future of his career.
“I will be at the peak of my career during the 2028 Olympics,” McEwen said. “I have intentions to break the American record and make attempts at the world record. I want to win an Olympic gold medal, too. I am going to go out, make the team, compete, and give it 110% effort. May the best man win, but I feel like I can get the job done. It feels far now, but it will be here in the blink of an eye. We start preparing now for moments like that. I don’t believe in days off. The high jump is all about how you take care of yourself and take care of your body, so I plan on continuing to train and stay in shape.”
