 Jones running the 3000 meter steeplechase at the 1960 Summer Olympics | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | August 31, 1934 Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States | |||||||||||
| Died | September 7, 2007 (aged 73) Hillside, Illinois, United States | |||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | |||||||||||
| Weight | 146 lb (66 kg) | |||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||
| Sport | Track | |||||||||||
Event | Steeplechase | |||||||||||
| College team | Iowa | |||||||||||
| Club | U.S. Army | |||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||
| Personalbest | 3k steeple: 8:42.4[1] | |||||||||||
Medal record
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Charles Nicholas "Deacon" Jones (August 31, 1934 – September 7, 2007) was an Americansteeplechase runner. He competed at the 1956 and 1960 Olympics and finished in ninth and seventh place, respectively. He was a three-time AAU champion (1957–58 and 1961) and won a silver medal at the 1959 Pan American Games.[2]
"I was definitely a rarity in those days...I was a black athlete from Nebraska who was a distance runner. People kind of did a double-take when they saw me out there."
At the age of 13, Jones won a mile race at an intramural track meet inBoys Town, Nebraska, in a time of 4:35. He ran the race in street shoes, and was especially motivated by ice cream as a reward for the top race finishers.[3] He went on to post a time of 4:17.6 in the mile in 1954 as a high school student, a national high school record at the time.[3][4] In addition to track, he played as ahalfback for the Boys Town High School football team, as a guard on their basketball team, and playedright fielder on the baseball team.[3] The basketball team he played on made it to Nebraska's state high school championships, and was an all-state performer in football.[3] His coach, George Pfeifer, said that Jones was "the best all-around athlete I ever saw."[3]
He turned 19 years old on August 31 his senior year of high school, losing eligibility to run races in his last year of high school.[3] He ran for a year in addition to working as anumpire at baseball games, and played both baseball and basketball withBob Gibson.[3]
"If not for Boys Town, I probably would have met the fate of a lot of kids I grew up with in St. Paul...A lot of those kids fell on bad times. A lot of them went to prison. I am very thankful for my time at Boys Town. That place saved my life." -Jones in 2005.[3]
Jones was recruited byUniversity of Iowa. He went on to win the men's 6.4 kilometer race at the1955 NCAA Cross Country Championships in 19:57.4.[5] It was the first time a sophomore ever won the championship.[6] By the time he graduated from Iowa, he set the school record in the 3000 meter steeplechase at 8:47.4.[6]
Jones was the only American to qualify for the final heat in themen's 3000-meter steeplechase at the 1956 Summer Olympics. He finished in ninth overall.
He was the men's runner-up in the 3000 meter steeplechase at the1959 Pan American Games. It was during this competition where Jones met Cassius Clay before he changed his name toMuhammad Ali. Having been a barber in his childhood, Jones gave many people haircuts. Clay walked into his dorm and asked for a haircut.[3] After Jones cut his hair, Clay wasn't satisfied andtalked trash. And so Jones replied to him, "If you want a better haircut, you have to come in here with better hair."[3]
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