John Patrick Metcalfe (3 February 1912 – 16 January 1994) was an Australian athlete who competed in high jump,

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a ...

and javelin events, though he is best remembered as a

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down th ...

er.Jack Metcalfe
. sports-reference.com He was educated at

Sydney Boys High School , motto_translation = With Truth and Courage , established = , location = Cleveland Street, Moore Park, Sydney, New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinates = , pu ...

and competed for Sydney University Athletics Club. At the 1934 Empire Games, Metcalfe won the triple jump and took a bronze medal in the long jump. In the high jump event he finished fourth. Competing in Sydney on 14 December 1935, Metcalfe set a new

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

in the triple jump, leaping 15.78 metres. In 1936, Metcalfe won the bronze medal in the men's

at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

held in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. The winner

Naoto Tajima was a Japanese athlete who competed at the 1932 and 1936 Olympics. In 1932 he finished sixth in the long jump, while in 1936 he finished third in the long jump, behind Jesse Owens and Luz Long, and won the triple jump event, setting a world rec ...

of Japan broke the Australian's world record during the competition. It was later reported that Metcalfe, who was self-coached, assisted the Japanese athletes during the competition and that German officials had complained about this. Metcalfe also participated in the high jump competition and finished twelfth. Metcalfe's bronze was the only medal won by the entire Australian team at this

. At his final international competition – the

1938 British Empire Games The 1938 British Empire Games was the third British Empire Games, the event that evolved to become the Commonwealth Games. Held in Sydney, Australia from 5–12 February 1938, they were timed to coincide with Sydney's sesqui-centenary (150 yea ...

in his home-town of Sydney – Metcalfe defended his triple jump gold medal and also took bronze in the javelin.John 'Jack' METCALFE (NSW)
Athletics Australia profile In the long jump event he finished fifth and in the high jump competition he finished seventh.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Metcalfe, Jack 1912 births 1994 deaths Australian male triple jumpers Australian male long jumpers Australian male high jumpers Australian male javelin throwers Athletes (track and field) at the 1936 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Australia Olympic bronze medalists for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 1934 British Empire Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1938 British Empire Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Australia World record setters in athletics (track and field) People educated at Sydney Boys High School Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Medalists at the 1936 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes from Sydney Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Medallists at the 1934 British Empire Games Medallists at the 1938 British Empire Games Sportsmen from New South Wales