Jack Lloyd Yerman (born February 5, 1939) is an American former

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

and winner of the gold medal in the

relay A relay Electromechanical relay schematic showing a control coil, four pairs of normally open and one pair of normally closed contacts An automotive-style miniature relay with the dust cover taken off A relay is an electrically operated switc ...

at the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 1960 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awar ...

. Jack Yerman was sixth in the 400 m at the 1959 Pan-American Games and won the silver medal as a member of an American relay team. He won the 1960 U.S. Olympic Trials 400 m at

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

with a time of 46.3, but at the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

itself, he only reached the semifinals. Jack Yerman won a gold medal as the lead-off runner with the American relay team and set a new

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

of 3:02.2. Yerman also played fullback for

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California *George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer to ...

in the

Rose Bowl Rose Bowl or Rosebowl may refer to: * Rose Bowl Game, an annual American college football game * Rose Bowl (stadium), Pasadena, California, site of the football game, and the home stadium of the UCLA Football team * Rose Bowl (cricket ground), West ...

. Previously he ran for Woodland High School in

Woodland, California Woodland is a city in and the county seat of Yolo County, California, United States. Located approximately northwest of Sacramento, it is a part of the Sacramento metropolitan area. The population continues to grow every year, with a growth ra ...

, finishing third at the 1956

CIF California State Meet The CIF California State Meet is the annual championship track and field meet for the California Interscholastic Federation. The meet was started in 1915 for boys and 1974 for girls. Every athlete in every high school in California has a direc ...

. Yerman lives in

Paradise, California Paradise is an incorporated town in Butte County, California, United States, in the Sierra Nevada foothills above the northeastern Sacramento Valley. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 4,764, a decline of over 80% from the 26,218 ...

. He is a retired high school teacher and father of four. He is a Latter-day Saint. Yerman joined

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

after his participation in the Olympics.''LDS Church Almanac'', 2009 Edition, p. 326

World records

* Mile Relay * 1600 Meter Relay * Two Mile Relay * Distance Medley Relay * Indoor 400 Meter short track * 660 yard sprint (unofficial)

Major events

* Olympic Gold Medal – 1600 meter relay 1960 * Rose Bowl 1960 * Pan American Games : (only Jack Yerman and

Bob Mathias Robert Bruce Mathias (November 17, 1930 – September 2, 2006) was an American decathlete, politician, and actor. Representing the United States, he won two Olympic gold medals in the Decathlon, at the 1948 and the 1952 Summer Games. As a Re ...

have accomplished all three of the above) * First US-USSR dual meet, 1958 * Two Time Donkey Derby Champion

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yerman, Jack 1939 births Living people American football fullbacks American male sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics California Golden Bears football players California Golden Bears men's track and field athletes Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Oroville, California Track and field athletes from California American Latter Day Saints Latter Day Saints from California Converts to Mormonism People from Paradise, California Sportspeople from Butte County, California Athletes (track and field) at the 1959 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1959 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in athletics (track and field) 20th-century American sportsmen