João Carlos de Oliveira, known as "João do Pulo", already showed his talent as junior when he broke the triple jump category world record with the 14.75 mark in 1973. Two years later, in the Mexico Panamerican Games, João do Pulo had the greatest moment of his career. He already ha won the gold medal in the long jump (8.19m) and he had a last attempt to also win the gold medal in the triple jump. With an amazing jump, he not only won the gold medal, but also broke the world record with the mark of 17.89 meters. This jump was so impressed that his world record lasted for 10 years. 

In Montreal 1976, João do Pulo won his first Olympic medal with a bronze, but his performances wasn't as good as the expected. Four years later, in Moscow Olympic Games, João do Pulo was one of the favorites for the gold medal. In a polemic competition, João got the bronze medal behind the Sovietics Jaak Udmae and Viktor Sansev. There is suspicions that the inspectors impaired him unfairly invalidating his best jumps to benefice the Sovietics. 

Still in 1980 a tragic car accident interrupted João do Pulo's career. He passed a year in the hospital and lost his right leg. João do Pulo passed away in 1999, when he was just 45 years old.

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