Lafayette remembers Olympic record-setter - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

Michael Phelps is now the most decorated Olympian with 19 medals. Nine of those medals are individual gold, but while Phelps holds the overall record for medals, there is a Hoosier Olympian who has won more individual gold.

A small group of people gathered in Spring Vale Cemetery in Lafayette, where even the heavy rain, the first in nearly a month, was welcome. There would be some introductions - after all, it was a convergence of two families who have never met and a promise they both made to Ray Ewry, a man they never knew. The most prolific Olympic athlete no one has ever heard of.

"It's a great story and great stories are exciting to tell," said retired Purdue professor Cindy Eberts.

Born in Lafayette 1873, Ewry lost his mother at age five, lost the use of his legs at age seven and then found his calling.

"The key to me, in my mind, is Ray took the words 'I can't' and turned it into 'I can'," said Ewry's grandson, Tom Carson.

He set the bar high and then soared over it, winning ten gold medals in the standing jumping events in four consecutive Olympics - Paris in 1900, St. Louis in 1904, Athens in 1906 and London in 1908.

Now, ironically 104 years later, Phelps is poised to become the second Olympian to ever accomplish that feat in, of all places - London.

"Ten gold medals, so he holds the world record for individual gold medals. Phelps is probably going to beat him out this summer. Phelps currently has nine individual gold medals, but Ray Ewry has ten," Eberts said.

After Ewry's Olympic career had concluded, he returned to Purdue University's Ross Aide Stadium for a special exhibition of his skills that included jumping backwards for seven feet.

He would go on to receive undergraduate and master's degrees in engineering from Purdue and even taught there for a time before moving to New York. Since the standing jump events were eliminated from Olympic competition after 1912, the accomplishments of "The Human Frog" were all but forgotten.

Until now.

A Ray Ewry monument was dedicated recently at Jefferson High School in Lafayette, thanks to Dick Leill, who vowed he would live to see his story celebrated.

"So Ray, this monument is for you. If it makes you smile one more time, it might help you recall the thrill of clearing the bar and the excitement of flying across the sand," Leill said.

Flanked by Ewry's grandson and great-grandson, Leill returned to lay ten roses on Ewry's grave - one for each gold medal.

"I wanted to come here this morning before we have the unveiling of your monument to tell you, Ray, that I kept my promise," Leill said.

That Ray Ewry's Olympic spirit should have life far beyond the grave.