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Olympic high jumper and track and field legend Charles Austin celebrates a birthday today. Austin is the current American and Olympic record holder in the high jump category and a two-time world champion.

Born in 1967 in Bay City, Texas, Austin was raised in the town of Van Vleck as the youngest of 10 children. When he was a senior in high school, Austin didn’t know how he was going to pay for college.

It took friends at his school to convince him to join the track team and take on the high jump event. Austin won a scholarship at Texas State University, but wasn’t a standout at first. However, he was a quick study and rose to becoming the number one high jumper in the nation. Austin won Olympic gold in Atlanta at the 1996 Summer Games.

The following year, he won the gold at the World Indoor Championships in Tokyo. Austin won his last gold medal in 1998 at the World Cup Championship in South Africa. Today, Austin runs a pair of fitness centers in San Marcos, Texas.

He was inducted into the United States Track and Field Hall Of Fame in 2012. He has authored a book, Head Games: Life’s Greatest Challenges. This year, Austin introduced his Total Body Board fitness invention. He also serves as a motivational speaker.

(Photo Charlesaustin.net)

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