Former Sun Devil Dwight Phillips not only has gold on his old college attire, but also around his neck.
Phillips, a 2000 graduate of ASU, won the long jump competition at the Olympics in Athens, Greece Thursday. Phillips jumped 8.59 meters at Olympic Stadium to take home the gold.
"[Dwight] has put a lot of hard work and effort into his sport, and this is the fruition of many years of work behind him," ASU head track coach Greg Kraft said. "He is by far the most dominant jumper in the world, as well as the most deserving athlete to win."
Phillips executed the winning jump on his first leap in the semifinal of the event -- immediately gaining the lead in the 12-competitor field. He then fouled on his next two attempts.
In the long jump finals, Phillips passed on his first two jumps. On his final attempt, the gold was already locked up, but he decided to take a leap for fun anyways, jumping 8.32 meters.
Phillips was one of 11 current or former Sun Devil athletes to compete in Athens. He was the only one to represent the United States.
While he hasn't donned the maroon and gold for four years, Phillips has always remained a fixture at Sun Angel Stadium with the ASU track team. Kraft said that Phillips has attended and worked out with the track team for the majority of its practices since he graduated.
"Having him stay for the last four years to continue to train for us and be a mentor to a number of student athletes on our team, that's really been kind of the icing on the cake for us," Kraft said.
"It is really neat for all the kids within our program to share it with him because he's really a neat guy off the track and very supportive of our student athletes."
Winning Olympic gold just seemed like the next logical step in a now storied career for Phillips, who has steadily built on his accomplishments over the last six years.
After transferring from Kentucky to ASU in time for the 1999 season, Phillips placed fourth in the long jump and third in the triple jump at the NCAA Championships.
During his senior year in 2000, he took runner up in the long jump at nationals. That summer Phillips earned a place on the U.S. Olympic team by finishing second in the U.S. Team Trials. During the 2000 games in Sydney, Australia, Phillips finished eighth in the long jump.
Phillips' career began to spike again in 2003 when he won the 2003 U.S. Outdoor long jump championship. He then moved on to capture both the illustrious 2003 World Indoor and Outdoor Championships.
Heading into the Athens Olympics, Phillips owned the six longest jumps in the world this year.
"It wasn't a big stretch to see him come back (to another Olympics) and medal," Kraft said. "The surprising part is how dominating he's been the last two years.
"It's been a gradual progression. He's been able to stay relatively injury-free and healthy and develop over a six-year period."
Phillips is the seventh ASU male track athlete to win a gold medal in the Olympics and the ninth for men or women. His gold is the 24th by any ASU athlete and the 54th medal overall.
Reach the reporter at Christopher.Drexel@asu.edu.
