大象传媒

This countdown aims to be fully interactive so, after three long months of questions to answer, it's time for the physical participation section. Let's hear your best efforts in the now-defunct Olympic sports of standing long jump, standing triple jump and standing high jump.

If you don't have the space in the office, pop out to the local park, or any bit of green space nearby. Remember to take a tape measure.

The reason is in honour of this countdown legend.

is a man you may not be too familiar with, but he is the

He dominated the standing jumps at the first three Olympiad of the 20th Century and won eight golds.

Ewry's story starts with him being confined to a wheelchair after contracting polio as a child. Doctors feared he may be paralysed for life, but the seven-year-old taught himself to walk and jump, and eventually he ditched the chair.

By the time of the 1900 Paris Games, Ewry had broken world records in the standing long jump, standing high jump and standing triple jump.

The Human Frog, as the French fans called him, set a new world record of 1.65m, or five feet five inches if you prefer, to win the standing high jump by an incredible 13cm margin.

In the long jump he soared 3.3m, or just under 11 feet, while in the triple jump, he leapt an amazing 10.58m or 35 and a half feet.

And remember he was taking off from a standing start in these events.

Four years later he defended all three titles with some ease.

By the time of the London Games in 1908, Ewry didn't possess quite the same spring, but he still managed to win the long and high jumps.

He would probably have won the triple jump too had it not been abandoned as an event after the 1904 Games.

His collection of eight gold medals is remarkable and if you were to include the two he won in the standing long and high jumps at the 1906 Intercalated Games, that would take his tally to 10 - the only person to achieve such a feat.

The were backed by the International Olympic Committee but fell by the wayside after the second event was held in 1910.

As a consequence, medals won by athletes were later expunged from the Olympic record books, meaning Ewry officially has won eight golds.

But what are you doing sitting there now? Organise yourselves an impromptu standing jump competition and let us know your best results.