John Curtis Thomas 1941-2013

John Thomas (athlete) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other people named John Thomas, see John Thomas (disambiguation).
John Thomas Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing the United States
Olympic Games
Silver 1964 Tokyo High jump
Bronze 1960 Rome High jump
John Curtis Thomas (March 3, 1941 – January 15, 2013)[1] was an American track and field athlete who set several world records in the high jump using the straddle technique. At the age of 17, while a freshman at Boston University, Thomas became the first man to clear 7 feet (2.13 m) indoors. He subsequently pushed the world indoor record to 7'1½" (2.17 m), and broke the world outdoor record three times, with a career best jump of 7'3¾" (2.22 m) in 1960 while just 20 years old.

Thomas' meteoric career briefly captivated the track world, but he failed to win an Olympic gold medal, despite being favored to win in both his efforts. In 1960, he took the bronze medal behind Russia's Robert Shavlakadze (gold), and Valeriy Brumel (silver) In 1964 he was bested again by Brumel, who cleared the same top height as Thomas, but was declared the winner based on fewer misses at lower heights. Thomas graduated from Boston University, and later became a successful coach and businessman. He is an inductee of the USATF Hall of Fame.

[edit] References^ "Millrose Legend John Thomas Passes". armorytrack. http://www.armorytrack.com/News/Post/millrose-legend-john-thomas-passes. Retrieved 2013-01-17.
[edit] External linksUSATF Hall of Fame
Records
Preceded by
Yuriy Stepanov Men's High Jump World Record Holder
1960-04-30 – 1961-06-18 Succeeded by
Valeriy Brumel
[show]v t e US National Championship winners in Men's high jump

1876-1878
New York Athletic Club 1876-8: Edwards Ficken

1879-1888
NAAAA 1879: William Wunder 1880: Alfred Carroll 1881: C.W. Durand 1882: Alfred Carroll 1883: Malcolm Ford 1884: J.T. Rinehart 1885-87: William Page 1888Note 1: Tim O'Connor

1888-1979
Amateur Athletic Union 1888Note 1: Daniel Webster 1889: R.K. Pritchard 1890-91: Alvah Nickerson 1892-95: Mike Sweeney 1896: Charles Powell 1897-1900: Irving Baxter 1901: Sam Jones 1902: Irving Baxter 1903-4: Sam Jones 1905: Herbert Kerrigan 1906: Neil Patterson 1907: Con Leahy 1908: Harry Porter 1909: Egon Erickson 1910: Walter Thomason 1911: Harry Grumpelt/Harry Porter 1912: John Johnstone 1913: Alma Richards 1914: Jo Loomis 1915: George Horine 1916: Wes Oler 1917: Clint Larsen 1918: Carl Rice 1919-20OT: John Murphy 1921-22: Dewey Alberts 1923: LeRoy Brown 1924: Robert Juday 1925-26: Harold Osborn 1927: Robert King 1928OT: Robert King/Charles McGinnis 1929: Henry Lassalette 1930-31: Anton Burg 1932OT: Cornelius Johnson/George Spitz/Robert van Osdel 1933: Cornelius Johnson 1934: Cornelius Johnson/Walter Marty 1935: Cornelius Johnson 1936: Cornelius Johnson/Dave Albritton 1937: Dave Albritton 1938: Mel Walker/Dave Albritton 1939-40: Les Steers 1941: William Stewart 1942: Adam Berry 1943: Pete Watkins 1944: Fred Sheffield/Willard Smith 1945: Dave Albritton/Lester Howe/Richard Schnacke/Joshua Williamson 1946-47: Dave Albritton 1948: Tom Schofield 1949: Dick Phillips 1950: Dave Albritton/Jack Heitzman/Jack Razzeto/Virgil Severns 1951: Lewis Hall 1952-53: Walt Davis 1954: Ernie Shelton 1955: Charles Dumas/Ernie Shelton 1956-59: Charles Dumas 1960: John Thomas 1961: Bob Avant 1962: John Thomas 1963: Gene Johnson 1964: Ed Caruthers 1965-67: Otis Burrell 1968: Ed Hanks 1969: Otis Burrell 1970-71: Reynaldo Brown 1972: Barry Schur 1973-74: Dwight Stones 1975: Tom Woods 1976-78: Dwight Stones 1979: Franklin Jacobs

1980-1992
The Athletics Congress 1980: Franklin Jacobs 1981: Tyke Peacock 1982: Milt Ottey 1983: Dwight Stones 1984: Jim Howard 1985: Brian Stanton 1986: Doug Nordquist 1987: Jerome Carter 1988: Doug Nordquist 1989: Brian Brown 1990-92OT: Hollis Conway

1993-onwards
USA Track & Field 1993-94: Hollis Conway 1994: Ron Clark 1995-20002OT: Charles Austin 2001-02: Nathan Leeper 2003-04: Jamie Nieto 2005: Matt Hemingway 2006: Tora Harris 2007: Jim Dilling 2008: Jesse Williams 2009: Tora Harris 2010-11: Jesse Williams

Notes Note 1: In 1888 both the NAAAA and the AAU held championships OT: The 1920, 1928, 1932, 1992, 1996 & 2000 championships incorporated the Olympic Trials, otherwise held as a discrete event.