Voting Station

Jim Ryun

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Athlete

The Resume

    (April 29, 1947- )
    Born in Wichita, Kansas
    Long distance runner
    Won a silver medal in 1500 meters at the 1968 Olympics
    Held the world record in the 1500 meters (1967-74) and the mile (1966-75)
    Named Athlete of the Year by ABC's Wide World of Sports and Sports Illustrated (1966)
    Won the James E. Sullivan Award as best amateur athlete (1966)
    Congressman representing Kansas's 2nd District (1996-2007)
    Republican

Why he might be annoying:

    Ironically, the year that he set the world record in the mile and won all those athlete of the year awards, NCAA regulations barred him from competing for the University of Kansas since he was a freshman.
    He said, 'The two things I didn't ever want to do were coach and be in the political arena. I ended up doing both.'
    He was rated as the most conservative member of Congress by the National Journal (2006).
    When Mark Foley resigned from Congress for sending sexually explicit emails to teenage pages, he claimed to barely know Foley and to be unaware that they lived across the street from each other in DC.
    It was later revealed that he and Foley had held a block party on their street as a joint fundraiser, with invitations showing the pair side by side.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was the first high school student to run a four-minute mile.
    He was ranked as the #1 high school athlete of all time by ESPN.com.
    He lost 50% of his hearing from a childhood case of measles and developed the Sounds of Success program to help children with hearing loss.
    He and his family host running camps each summer for high school athletes.
    He said, 'Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 11 Votes: 45.45% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 12 Votes: 41.67% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 7 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 11 Votes: 9.09% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 15 Votes: 53.33% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 15 Votes: 46.67% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 66 Votes: 53.03% Annoying