Louise Ritter
SKU:
High jumper Louise Ritter broke the collegiate women's high jump record her freshman year at Texas Woman's University. Under the tutelage of coach Bert Lyle, Ritter won three NCAA high jump championships from 1977-1979. The Red Oak native set an American record in the high jump in 1987 and was a member of three U.S. Olympic teams (1980, 1984, 1988). At the 1988 games in Seoul, South Korea, Ritter defeated the reigning world champion Stefka Kostadinova of Bulgaria in a jump off for the gold medal. Ritter's jump of 6 feet, 8 inches set an Olympic record. She was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1997.
