Editing Jim Ryun (section)

===After high school===
In 1966, at age 19, Ryun set two world records, first in the half-mile (1:44.9), then the mile (3:51.3). He received numerous awards, including ''[[Sports Illustrated]]'' magazine's "[[Sportsman of the Year]]" award, the [[James E. Sullivan Award]] as the nation's top amateur athlete, the [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]'s [[Wide World of Sports (U.S. TV series)|Wide World of Sports]] Athlete of the Year award, and the [[Track and Field News|''Track & Field News'']]' Athlete of the Year award as the world's best track and field athlete.

In 1967, Ryun set a world record in the indoor half mile (1:48.3) and the outdoor mile from (3:51.1), a record that stood for almost eight years. That same year, he set the world record for the 1,500 meters (3:33.1).  In NCAA competition, Ryun was the 1967 NCAA outdoor mile champion. He was also the NCAA indoor mile champion in 1967, 1968, and 1969.

Ryun still holds the [[United States junior records in athletics|American junior (19 and under) records]] at one mile (3:51.3) and two miles (8:25.1). His American junior record in the 1,500 meters of 3:36.1 was broken by [[Hobbs Kessler]] on May 29, 2021, awaiting ratification by [[USA Track and Field]]. His American junior record in the 800 meters lasted exactly 50 years. In all, he broke the American record for the mile four times, once as a high school senior (3:55.3 on June 27, 1965), twice as a college freshman (3:53.7 on June 4, 1966, and 3:51.3 on July 17, 1966), and once as a college sophomore (3:51.1 on June 23, 1967).

[[Image:TV-icon-2.svg|thumb|110px|'''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYzvUhVS-iw Official 1968 Olympic Video Highlights]''']]
Ryun participated in the [[1964 Summer Olympics|1964]], [[1968 Summer Olympics|1968]], and [[1972 Summer Olympics]]. At age 17 years, 137 days in 1964, he remains the second youngest American male track athlete to ever qualify for the Olympics, behind Quincy Wilson.<ref>{{cite web |author=Richard Hymans |title=The History of the United States Olympic Trials — Track & Field  |url=http://www.usatf.org/statistics/champions/OlympicTrials/HistoryOfTheOlympicTrials.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.usatf.org/statistics/champions/OlympicTrials/HistoryOfTheOlympicTrials.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live}}</ref> In 1968, he won the silver medal in the 1,500 meters in [[Mexico City]], losing to [[Kip Keino]] from Kenya, whose remarkable race remained the Olympic 1,500-meter record for 16 years. Before the race, Ryun had thought that a time of 3:39 would be good enough to win in the high altitude of Mexico City. He ended up running faster than that with a 3:37.8, but half-way through the race Keino had moved into the first position at world record pace. Ryun continued to move up during the last two laps from eighth to second but was never closer than about 30 yards from Keino, who finished in 3:34.91, an Olympic record that would stand until 1984, despite the altitude.<ref>{{cite Sports-Reference |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417171520/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1968/ATH/mens-1500-metres.html |title=Athletics at the 1968 Ciudad de Mexico Summer Games: Men's 1,500 metres |archive-date=2020-04-17 |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1968/ATH/mens-1500-metres.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> Years later, in 1981, he told Tex Maule in an interview for ''The Runner'' magazine, "We had thought that 3:39 would win and I ran under that. I considered it like winning a gold medal; I had done my very best and I still believe I would have won at sea level." Ryun was attacked by some writers who believed he had let his nation down. "Some even said I had let down the whole world. I didn't get any credit for running my best and no one seemed to realize that Keino had performed brilliantly." In the 1972 [[Munich, Germany]], Games, he was tripped and fell down during a 1,500-meter qualifying heat. Although the [[International Olympic Committee]] (IOC) acknowledged that a foul had occurred, U.S. appeals to have Ryun reinstated in the competition were denied by the IOC.<ref name="Wendel2013">{{cite book|author=Tim Wendel|title=Summer of '68: The Season That Changed Baseball&mdash;and America&mdash;Forever|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GPMJUJ6e5e0C&pg=PT162|date=12 March 2013|publisher=Da Capo Press|isbn=978-0-306-82248-3|pages=162–}}</ref><ref>{{cite Sports-Reference |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417171502/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1972/ATH/mens-1500-metres.html |title=Athletics at the 1972 Munchen Summer Games: Men's 1,500 metres |archive-date=2020-04-17 |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1972/ATH/mens-1500-metres.html |url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[Image:TV-icon-2.svg|thumb|110px|[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhkjIrzTiEA British Pathe' Highlights]]]
Ryun's 1,500-meter world record, run in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum during the United States vs. British Commonwealth meet in July 1967, was one of Ryun's greatest running performances. ''Track and Field News'' reported that "after 220 yards of dawdling, a record seemed out of the question." However, after 440 yards, which Ryun, in third, passed in 60.9 seconds, Kip Keino took the lead and ran the next lap in 56 seconds (the fastest second lap ever run at the time). Ryun, just behind, passed the 880-yard mark in 1:57.0. At 1,320 yards the two were side by side in 2:55.0. Ryun pulled away to finish in 3:33.1, a record that stood for seven years. With a last 440 yards of 53.9, a last 880 yards of 1:51.3, and the final 1320 yards in 2:47.4, [[Cordner Nelson]] of ''Track and Field News'' called it "the mightiest finishing drive ever seen," and said of Ryun's performance, "This was most certainly his greatest race."<ref>Nelson, Cordner (1967) ''The Jim Ryun Story''. Tafnews Press.</ref>

Ryun's final season as an amateur in 1972 included the third-best mile of his career (at the time, the third-fastest in history - a 3:52.8 at Toronto, Canada, on July 29), a 5,000-meter career best (13:38.2 at Bakersfield, California, on May 20), and a win in the 1,500 m at the U.S. Olympic Trials. His last race at the [[Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics &ndash; Men's 1500 metres|Olympics]] was a 1,500 m preliminary heat on September 8, 1972. He fell after a collision with [[Ghana]]'s [[Billy Fordjour]] as both trailed in the last 500 m. He got up despite being 80 m behind and completed the heat, but finished 30 m in back of the pack and did not qualify for the final.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1972/09/09/archives/jim-ryun-falls-and-fails-to-qualify-in-1500-ryun-falls-fails-in-a.html "Jim Ryun Falls and Fails to Qualify in 1,500," ''The Associated Press'' (AP), Friday, September 8, 1972.] Retrieved August 6, 2024.</ref> He left amateur athletics after 1972, and for the next two years, ran professionally on the [[International Track Association]] circuit.