Jeff Bennett

Jefferson Taft "Jeff" Bennett (born August 29, 1948) is an American former decathlete who competed in the 1972 Summer Olympics.

Athletics in high school and college Bennett is a native of Vinita, Oklahoma. (As of April 2019, Sports Reference now gives Bennett's full name as Jefferson Taft "Jeff" Bennett and says he was born in Taft, Oklahoma.)

Military service After graduating from OC, Bennett accepted a teaching position in Midwest City, though he said he still wanted to compete in decathlons. Instead he received the notice stating he had been drafted into the U.S. Army. Most draftees at that time could expect to be sent to Vietnam for combat duty. Bennett knew that the army had its own track team and was looking for exceptional athletes to represent their service. Bennett jumped at the chance to join the team, since the assignment took him off the list for Vietnam. He worked full-time at athletics, then spent the rest of his duty time as a headquarters filing clerk.

1972 Olympics His assignment also enabled him to participate in the qualifying trials for the 1972 Olympics. He was able to be on the Munich-bound team. Tragically, a team of heavily armed terrorists succeeded in invading the venue, where they captured many of the Israeli competitors and their coaches on the day before the decathlon was to start. Bennett later recalled that there was much uncertainty about whether the games would be cancelled altogether.

Later life Bennett continued to compete after the 1972 Olympics. In the following year, he won the Amateur Athletic Union national decathlon championship. He had wanted to compete in the 1976 Olympics, but injuries prevented him from doing so. After that, he retired from the sport. He spent thirty years in the National Guard, while teaching and coaching in the Oklahoma City school system. Then, he retired from working in the public schools, and went to work for his alma mater, Oklahoma Christian University.