Willie BANKS

Willie Banks achieved virtually everything possible during his long triple jump career except capture an Olympic medal. Early in his career, he came fourth in the 1976 US Olympic Trials and just failed to make the team. In 1980, he won the US Trials, but was prevented from competing in the Moscow Olympic Games due to the US boycott. However, he was beginning to compile an impressive record in other international competitions, including fifth place at the 1979 World Cup in Montreal and third in the 1981 World Cup in Rome. He regularly competed in Europe, with mixed success, for example the British AAA championships where in 1982 he finished third finish with a leap of 16.70m (see photo above). Banks had an uncanny knack of whipping up the crowd's support whenever he competed, encouraging them to clap him down the runway to an accelerating tempo.

He employed this skill well when capturing the enthusiasm of the Helsinki crowd at the 1983 World Championships. Banks led from round one, but was surpassed by Pole Zdzislaw Hoffmann in round five. Banks responded with a leap good enough for gold, but it was a borderline foul and he had to settle for the silver medal. In 1984 he competed in his first Olympic Games at Los Angeles, but only finished sixth with a jump of 16.75m. Banks' best year was undoubtedly 1985, in which he won his fourth US national championships with a new World Record of 17.97m. In October that year, at the World Cup in Canberra, he gained his only major international victory with jump of 17.58m. Unfortunately, his remaining international championships were not as successful. He failed to qualify for the final of the 1987 World Championships and he finished sixth at the 1988 Olympic Games. (Ron Casey)