João Carlos de Oliveira, also known as "João do Pulo" (May 28, 1954May 29, 1999) was a Brazilian athlete who competed in the

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 long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down the tr ...

and the

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 gr ...

. Born in

Pindamonhangaba Pindamonhangaba is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the Federative units of Brazil, state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Brazil, located in the Paraíba Valley, between the two most active production and consumption regions in the co ...

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

De Oliveira won two

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

bronze medals. His personal best of 17.89 metres, set on October 15, 1975, in

Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

, stood as the world record until 1985. As of today, it is still in the top twenty of all-time best results in the event.

Career

Orphaned by his mother, he started working at the age of seven, as a car washer. In 1973, coached by Pedro Henrique de Toledo, he broke the junior triple jump world record at the South American Athletics Championships with the mark of 14.75 m. In 1975, already as an adult athlete at the Pan American Games in Mexico City, the

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The rank is usually the lowest ranking non-commissioned officer. In some militaries, the rank of corporal nominally corr ...

of the

Brazilian Army The Brazilian Army (; EB) is the branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces responsible, externally, for defending the country in eminently terrestrial operations and, internally, for guaranteeing law, order and the constitutional branches, subordina ...

won the gold medal in the long jump with the mark of 8.19 m and, on October 15, also the gold medal in the triple jump, with the incredible mark of 17.89 m, breaking the world record of this modality in 45 cm, that belonged to the Soviet

Viktor Saneyev Viktor Danilovich Saneyev (; ka, ვიქტორ სანეევი, Vikt’or Saneevi; 3 October 1945 – 3 January 2022) was a Georgian triple jumper who competed internationally for the USSR. He won four Olympic medals – three gol ...

. He was the gold medal favorite in the triple jump at the

Montreal Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal w ...

, but, recovering from belly surgery, he jumped just 16.90 m and was surpassed by Saneyev (17.29 m) and the American James Butts (17.18 m), taking the bronze medal. In addition, he was fourth in the long jump. At the Pan American Games in Puerto Rico, he became twice champion in both the triple jump and the long jump, accumulating a four-time Pan American championship in two events. In the latter, he defeated none other than the future four-time Olympic champion of the event,

Carl Lewis Frederick Carlton Lewis (born July 1, 1961) is an American former track and field athlete who won nine Olympic gold medals, one Olympic silver medal, and 10 World Championships medals, including eight gold. Lewis was a dominant sprinter and lo ...

. There exists some doubt on the judging of the 1980 Olympic men's triple jump final. Several jumps of winning distance by both Oliveira and Ian Campbell of Australia were adjudged as fouls by the all-Soviet judging panel, despite video replays showing this was not the case. One of Oliveira's jumps was estimated to be a new world record beyond eighteen metres. These decisions resulted in Soviet athletes Jaak Uudmäe and

winning the competition with performances in the low 17-metre area. Harry Seinberg, coach to Uudmäe, confirmed off-the-record that the judging had leaned in favour of the home athletes.Lane, Tim (2013-08-13)
Cheating the only conclusion you can jump to
''Sydney Morning Herald''. Retrieved 2018-04-01. Only in 2000, twenty years after the Moscow Games, the Australian newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald, the largest in Australia, made a major report demonstrating that the Brazilian's canceled jumps were part of a Soviet operation to give Saneyev the fourth Olympic title. The plan didn't work out because of Uudmäe's best jump, but even so, the gold medal went to the USSR.
/ref> In contrast to the lack of luck in the Olympics, in the pre-World Championships in Athletics, João do Pulo was three-time world champion in the triple jump in 1977 (in Düsseldorf), 1979 (in Montreal) and 1981 (in Rome, with 17.37 m, beating Jaak Uudmäe, a year after the Olympics, and future world record holder Willie Banks of the United States). Flag bearer of Brazil in the opening parade in Montreal 1976 and in Moscow 1980, João was the main idol of the Brazilian sport between 1975 and 1981.

Death

In 1981, he was in a car accident near

in which he lost one leg. Afterward, he became a vocal advocate for the rights of the

disabled Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physica ...

. He died in 1999 from complications of

alcoholism Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World He ...

. His world record was only broken almost ten years later, by the North American

Willie Banks William Augustus Banks III (born March 11, 1956) is an American athlete. Born at Travis Air Force Base, California, he grew up in San Diego County and went to Oceanside High School. Banks is an Eagle Scout. Track and Field Banks was a track ...

, with 17.90 m, in Indianapolis, on June 16, 1985. His Brazilian and South American record was only broken more than twenty-one years later, by

Jadel Gregório Jadel Abdul Ghani Gregório (born 16 September 1980) is a Brazilian athlete competing in long jump and triple jump. Based in São Paulo, he has competed in several international championships since 2001. His jump of 17.90m is the South American a ...

, with 17.90 m, in Belém, on May 20, 2007 (who coincidentally was also an athlete of João do Pulo's former coach).

International competitions

¹Representing the Americas ²Did not start in the final

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oliveira, Joao Carlos De 1954 births 1999 deaths People from Pindamonhangaba Brazilian male triple jumpers Brazilian male long jumpers Olympic athletes for Brazil Olympic bronze medalists for Brazil Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Pan American Games athletes for Brazil Pan American Games gold medalists for Brazil Pan American Games gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 1975 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1979 Pan American Games World record setters in athletics (track and field) Deaths from cirrhosis Alcohol-related deaths in Brazil Medalists at the 1975 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1979 Pan American Games Athletes from São Paulo (state) 20th-century Brazilian sportsmen Esporte Clube Pinheiros sportspeople