John Howell (athlete)

Howell was born in London, England and was a member of the Herne Hill Harriers.^[2]

He first competed internationally at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy. Representing Great Britain, he finished in 27th place in the qualifying round of the long jump event with a jump of 7.19 metres.^[2]

Howell finished second behind John Oladitan in the long jump event at the 1961 AAA Championships^[3] and second behind Jorma Valkama at the 1962 AAA Championships but by virtue of being the highest placed British athlete he was considered the British long jump champion.^[4][5]

Shortly afterwards at the 1962 European Athletics Championships in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, Howell finished seventh in the final of the long jump with a leap of 24 ft 3+1⁄2 in (7.40 m).^[6] and two months later representing England, Howell finished in eighth place in the long jump at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Perth, Western Australia with a jump of 24 ft 2+3⁄4 in (7.39 m).^[7] At the same meet, Howell finished 11th in the triple jump with a leap of 27 ft 0 in (8.23 m)^[8] and was also due to compete in the high jump but pulled out to focus on the other events.^[9][10][11]