Fields attended Washingtonville High SchoolinWashingtonville, New York, where he set school records in both high jump and triple jump.[1][2] Originally, he jumped as Ben Fields; he adopted the spelling "Benn" later in his career to make his name more distinctive.[3] In 1972, his senior year at Washingtonville, Fields suffered from a bruised back but recovered fast enough to enter the New York State high school championship meet as one of the favorites in the high jump; he won the state title with a jump of 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m).[4][5][6]
Fields continued high jumping after graduating from Seton Hall, dedicating himself to qualifying for the 1980 Summer OlympicsinMoscow, Soviet Union.[3] In 1977, he placed fourth at the AAU championships with a jump of 7 ft 3 in (2.21 m) and was ranked #7 in the United States by Track & Field News for his first national top 10 ranking.[16][17] At the 1978 AAU meet Fields cleared 7 ft 4+1⁄4 in (2.24 m) to place shared second, losing only to former world record holderDwight Stones and tying with former world indoor record holder Franklin Jacobs.[16][18] He set his personal best, 2.30 m (7 ft 6+1⁄2in), in Valparaíso on November 1, 1978;[3][14]Track & Field News ranked him third in the United States and sixth in the world that year.[19]
Fields won the national indoor championship title at the 1979 AAU indoor championships, jumping a meeting record 7 ft 4+3⁄4 in (2.25 m) and edging out Jacobs and James Frazier on fewer misses;[20][21] Stones, the previous year's champion, had been declared a professional and thus wasn't eligible to jump.[22] At the outdoor championships Jacobs in turn won from Fields on countback as both cleared 7 ft 5 in (2.26 m); Jacobs, who had had a mediocre outdoor season until then, only narrowly missed at 7 ft 7 in.[23] That summer Fields represented the United States at the Pan American GamesinSan Juan, Puerto Rico, and then the Soviet Spartakiad in Moscow; he won silver medals in both meets. At the Pan American Games he only cleared 2.19 m (7 ft 2+1⁄4in), but still placed second behind Jacobs; at the Spartakiad, which as a dress rehearsal for the following year's Summer Olympics was inviting non-Soviet athletes for the first time, he jumped 2.24 m (7 ft 4+1⁄4in) and lost to the Soviet Union's Aleksandr Grigoryev on more misses.[24][25][26] Fields's best jump in 1979 was 2.27 m (7 ft 5+1⁄2in), which he jumped in Bratislava on June 7; he defeated world record holder Vladimir Yashchenko in that competition.[3][14]
Fields remained in good shape in 1980 and was disappointed with the American decision to boycott the Olympics in Moscow.[3][27] He skipped that year's national championships, but eventually decided to compete at the Olympic Trials (which were held separately); in windy conditions, he won the Trials with a jump of 7 ft 5 in (2.26 m), but due to the boycott he and the other qualifiers didn't get to compete at the Olympics.[27][28]Track & Field News ranked him a career-best fifth in the world that year, and first in the United States; it was his only national #1 ranking.[17][19]
Although Fields was never world-ranked again after 1980, he continued his jumping career. At the 1982 U.S.: outdoor championships, he placed second behind Milton Ottey, a Canadian. As the top United States jumper, he was the American champion.[16] 1982 marked the last time Fields was ranked in the national top ten;[17] he attempted to qualify for the Olympics again at the 1984 Trials, but no-heighted in the qualification round.[29]
Fields qualified for the 1980 U.S. Olympic team but was unable to compete due to the boycott. He did however receive one of 461 Congressional Gold Medals created especially for the spurned athletes.[30]
^Caroccioli, Tom; Caroccioli, Jerry. Boycott: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. Highland Park, IL: New Chapter Press. pp. 243–253. ISBN978-0942257403.
