Shelby McEwen, born on April sixth, nineteen ninety-six, is an accomplished American track and field athlete specializing in the high jump. His athletic journey began at Northwest Mississippi Community College, where he not only played basketball but also competed in track and field events as an unattached athlete from two thousand fifteen to two thousand seventeen.
In two thousand eighteen, McEwen joined the Alabama Crimson Tide, participating in both indoor and outdoor track seasons. His performance peaked in two thousand nineteen when he achieved an impressive indoor jump of two point thirty-one meters and an outdoor jump of two point thirty meters. This remarkable feat earned him a second-place finish at the USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships, qualifying him for the World Championships in Doha, where he narrowly missed the final.
On May twenty-second, two thousand twenty-one, McEwen cleared two point thirty-three meters at Roy P. Drachman Stadium in Tucson, Arizona, meeting the qualifying standard for the two thousand twenty Summer Games. He later secured third place at the U.S. Olympic Trials with a jump of two point thirty meters and represented the United States at the Tokyo Olympics, finishing twelfth with a jump of two point twenty-seven meters.
At the twenty twenty-four Summer Olympics, McEwen showcased his talent by jumping two point thirty-six meters, tying for the lead with New Zealand's Hamish Kerr. Both athletes were presented with the option to share the gold medal, but Kerr opted for a jump-off, which ultimately led to McEwen earning a silver medal.