Phillip Kent Shinnick (born April 21, 1943) is an American track and field athlete, known primarily for the long jump.

[1] He qualified for the Olympics by finishing third at the 1964 United States Olympic Trials, where winner Ralph Boston set the world record of 8.34 m (27 ft 4+1⁄4 in), to beat the 8.31 m of Igor Ter-Ovanesyan set two years earlier and equalled by Boston a month earlier.

So in effect, had the jump been officiated properly and the wind legal, Boston should have been beating Shinnick's mark.

"For reasons that have never been explained to any relevant parties, the IAAF did not respond to the request for recognition as a World Record within the appropriate time-frame, and Mr. Shinnick was left with no avenue of appeal.

For forty years he waged a battle to get his record recognized, enlisting the support of Olympic Gold Medallists Lee Evans, Tommie Smith, Hal Connolly, and Bob Beamon.

"“I have regretted this happening all these years, also as I have always felt that the wind was under the allowable and you should have a world record.”Shinnick's minor victory came when United States Track and Field recognized his mark as the American record for that point in time, in December 2003.

Shinnick has written for The New York Times, Sovietski Sport, New China, Runner's World and in many scientific journals.