Dwight Stones is on the cover of the June 14, 1976 issue of Sports Illustrated, and he joins Past Our Prime to take us back to one of the most electric moments of his remarkable career. That cover came on the heels of a world record in the high jump — a performance that announced to the world that Stones wasn't just a great athlete, he was an event. Being on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1976 wasn't just an honor, it was a cultural moment. In an era before social media, before highlight reels and YouTube, that cover was how America met its sports heroes, and Stones understood exactly what it meant. He had arrived — not just as a world-class jumper, but as a personality, a presence, and a star. What made Stones different from every other high jumper of his era was that he understood something most track and field athletes never figured out — the competition didn't start when the bar went up, it started the moment he walked into the stadium. He studied Muhammad Ali the way a film student studies Scorsese, borrowing Ali's gift for psychological warfare and applying it to the high jump pit. He talked, he taunted, he performed, and he made sure that every opponent in the building knew he was there and that beating him was going to cost them something mentally before it cost them anything physically. He even pioneered a new kind of dual role in the sport, competing in a meet and simultaneously serving as an analyst — giving new meaning to the idea of a dual meet and blurring the line between athlete and broadcaster in a way nobody had ever done before. Stones first discovered the Fosbury Flop as a young athlete and never looked back, and the man who invented it — Dick Fosbury — became not just a technical influence but a mentor and a genuine friend. Fosbury changed the sport forever when he went over the bar backwards at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, and Stones was among the first generation to fully embrace and master the technique. He'll tell us what it meant to have Fosbury in his corner and how a revolutionary way of clearing a bar became the foundation of everything Stones built his career on. It was more than a technique — it was a philosophy about seeing the world differently than everyone else, which suited Dwight Stones just fine. Then there are the two bronze medals — separated by four years and a lifetime of emotion. The first, at the 1972 Munich Olympics, was a stunning achievement for the youngest member of the American team, a teenager who had no business being on that podium and got there anyway through sheer talent and nerve. The second, at the 1976 Montreal Games, is a different story entirely — one that still irks him to this day. Stones joins Scott, Marc, and Bill on Past Our Prime to talk about both medals, the world record, the showmanship, the mind games, and what it felt like to be young, fearless, and on top of the world in the summer of 1976 — with his face on the cover of the greatest sports magazine that ever existed to prove it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
