John Curtis Thomas was an American track and field athlete who set several world records in the high jump using the straddle technique. As a youth, he earned the Eagle Scout award. At the age of 17, while a freshman at Boston University, Thomas became the first man to clear 7 feet (2.1 m) indoors. He subsequently pushed the world indoor record to 7 ft 1+1⁄2 in (2.172 m), and broke the world outdoor record three times, with a career best jump of 7 ft 3+3⁄4 in (2.229 m) in 1960, at the age of 19. John Thomas set the men's high jump world record of 2.22 m in | Palo Alto, California on July 1, 1960. It stood 12 months, until Valeriy Brumel's 2.23 m on June 18, 1961. Wiki link