João Carlos de Oliveira
João Carlos de Oliveira, also known as "João do Pulo" was a Brazilian athlete who competed in the triple jump and the long jump.
Born in Pindamonhangaba, São Paulo De Oliveira won two Olympic bronze medals. His personal best of 17.89 metres, set on October 15, 1975 in Pan American Games, 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.
In 1981, he was in a car accident near São Paulo in which he lost one leg. Afterward, he became a vocal advocate for the rights of the disabled. He died in 1999 from complications of alcoholism.
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 Viktor Saneev 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.
