Greg Bell obit

Long Jump Olympic Champion Greg Bell Passes Away

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The American Gregory "Greg" Bell, who won the Olympic gold medal in long jump at the 1956 Melbourne Games, has passed away on Saturday at the age of 94.

Greg Bell’s winning jump in the Olympic final in Melbourne measured 7.83 meters. With this leap, he secured victory ahead of his compatriot John Bennett (7.68 meters) and Finland’s Jorma Valkama, whose bronze medal performance of 7.48 meters remains Finland's only Olympic medal in long jump history.

The Olympic gold in Melbourne was Bell’s sole international championship during his career. He achieved silver at the Pan American Games in 1959.

Bell set his personal best of 8.10 meters in Austin in June 1957. At the time, it was the fifth-best jump in the world’s history, falling just three centimeters short of Jesse Owens’ then-world record.

Greg Bell spent his professional career at a hospital in Logansport, Indiana, where he served as the director of dental care services for over 50 years.

Bell was born in Terre Haute, Indiana on November 7, 1930. He won three national AAU championships, two NCAA Championships, earned NCAA All-American status three times and was a four-time national AAU All-American. From 1956 to 1958, he was ranked first in the world in the long jump. He set an NCAA record in the long jump, which stood for seven years, and is a charter member of both the Indiana Track and Field and IU Athletic halls of fame.

He was inducted into the USATF Hall of Fame in 1988. Following his appearance in the Summer Olympics, he worked as director of dentistry at Logansport State Hospital for over 50 years and retired on 30 May 2020.

Bell died in Logansport, Indiana on 25 January 2025, at the age of 94.