John Melvin Craft (born March 24, 1947, in

Laurel, Mississippi Laurel is a city in and the second county seat of Jones County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 17,161. It is located northeast of Ellisville, the first county seat, which contains the first coun ...

) is an American former

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 who placed 5th in the Men's triple jump at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

. He attended

Eastern Illinois University Eastern Illinois University is a public university in Charleston, Illinois. Established in 1895 as the Eastern Illinois State Normal School, a teacher's college offering a two-year degree, Eastern Illinois University gradually expanded into a co ...

and graduated in ‘69 and ‘74. Craft also served as assistant coach at Eastern until 2002.

References

1947 births Living people American male triple jumpers Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics College track and field coaches in the United States Eastern Illinois Panthers athletic directors Eastern Illinois Panthers men's track and field athletes Olympic track and field athletes of the United States Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 1971 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1971 Pan American Games {{US-triplejump-athletics-bio-stub