John Capel Jr. (born October 27, 1978) is an American former

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete who was a world champion sprinter. Capel played

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for the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

, where he was also a member of the Florida Gators track and field team.

Early years

Capel attended Hernando High School, while there he was considered one of the nation's top wide receivers and was also one of the nation's top prep sprinters (winning the 100 and 200 meters at the prestigious National Scholastic Championships in the summer of 1997). He was named to several prep All-American teams. He rated as the nation's top receiver prospect by ''National Recruiting Advisor'' and received All-American honors from the publication. He was named to the ''

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'' All-American Team. He ranked among the nation's top 35 prep players by ''

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''. He played mostly

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

, where he rushed for 1,229 yards in 1997 (9.1 avg) with 12 touchdowns and also recorded 28 receptions for 434 yards (15.5 avg) and three touchdowns. He was named to Florida's Super Seniors Team. He won the state 4A championship as a junior in 1997 in both the 100 (10.49) and 200 (21.01) meters.

College career

Capel accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the

, where he played for coach

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Florida Gators football The Florida Gators football program represents the University of Florida (UF) in American football, American college football. Florida competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the ...

team in

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and

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

.
2011 Florida Gators Football Media Guide
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 85, 139, 150, 180 (2011). Retrieved August 28, 2011. Capel played in every game as a true freshman in 1998, earning his only career start when the team opened with a three-receiver formation against

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

. He had two receptions for four yards and rushed the ball 11 times for 80 yards (7.3 avg) and a touchdown. He returned eight punts for 77 yards (9.6 avg) and 10 kickoffs for 274 yards (27.4 avg). Against

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he scored his first career touchdown, an eight-yard run. Against

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in the

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he returned three punts for 29 yards and two kickoffs for 37 yards. As a sophomore in 1999, Capel again played in every game, listed third on the depth chart at flanker. He did not participate in spring football drills due to schedule conflicts with his commitments to the school's track team. He recorded nine receptions for 84 yards (9.3 avg) and 63 yards on nine carries (7.0 avg). He returned nine kickoffs for 141 yards (15.7 avg) and two punts for -3 yards. Against

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in the

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he rushed the ball twice for seven yards. Against

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the ...

in the

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he recorded 109 yards on five kickoff returns with a long of 38 yards. Capel did not play football in 2000, while he was competing as a sprinter on the U.S. Olympic team. After the Olympics, he decided to forgo his remaining NCAA college eligibility and entered the

2001 NFL draft The 2001 NFL draft was the 66th draft annual of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft, which is officially referred to as the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at the Th ...

Amateur track career

Capel was a standout sprinter in high school, he arrived on the world competition stage in 1999. He withdrew from Florida in April 2000 to concentrate on track. In 1997, Capel won the National Scholastic 100 (10.49) and 200 (21.01) meter dash titles while attending Hernando High School. In 1998, he ran a personal best 10.40 in the 100 meters at Florida. In 1999, he won the

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Outdoor 200-meter championship (19.87). He finished second in the NCAA Outdoor 100 meters (10.03), fourth in the USA Outdoor 200-meter finals (20.29). He ran on the winning 4 x 100-meters relay at

World University Games The FISU World University Games, formerly the Universiade, is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The former name is a portmanteau of the words "Universi ...

. He ran a 10.12 100 meters, a mark that ranks second best in University of Florida history, behind only Olympic medalist

Dennis Mitchell Dennis Allen Mitchell (born February 20, 1966) is an American former college and international track and field athlete, who was a member of the gold medal-winning team in the 4 × 100 metres relay race at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Athletics car ...

. He won the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

Outdoor 200 m dash title in a Florida record 19.99 (the time ranked as the top American mark and the second fastest time in the world when run). He was named Florida's Most Valuable Track Athlete.

Professional football career

Capel tested positive for

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

use at the 2001

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, and was arrested a few months later for possession of marijuana. He was selected in the seventh round (208th overall) of the

by the

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, but was released during

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. He then spent part of training camp in 2002 with the

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, but was again released before the season.

Professional track career

Capel won the 200-meter sprint at the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials with a personal-best of 19.85 seconds; he finished eighth in the 200-meter final with a time 20.49 at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

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. He finished second in the 200-meter sprint at the NCAA indoor track championships, running the distance in 20.26 seconds and breaking the American indoor record. He finished fourth at the

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Invitational (10.13). He finished second at the

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Oregon Track Classic 100 (10.21), third in 200 (20.42). He had bests of 10.12 in a heat at the Olympic Trials and 19.85. Capel's major athletic highlight came in winning the 200-meter

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at the 2003 World Championships, held at the

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in Saint Denis,

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. In August 2005, he won the bronze medal in the 200-meter at the 2005 World Championships.

Ban and return to track

Capel tested positive in 2004 and then again at the

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Norwich Union Indoor Grand Prix in February 2006, that time for a

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, which resulted in a two-year ban from track. Since his two-year ban for testing positive in 2006, he has become clean, and returned to competition, which he attributes to his then 7-year-old daughter searching for his name online and learning of his past troubles. In June 2008, Capel traveled to

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

to compete to make the American Men's Olympic Sprint team, which would represent the

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in the

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, in

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. He failed to advance out of the semifinals, but recorded a time of 10.06 seconds: a strong performance after two years away from track competition.

Life after sports

When not competing in track meets, Capel worked for Flagstone Pavers in Brooksville, Florida, driving a

forklift A forklift (also called industrial truck, lift truck, jitney, hi-lo, fork truck, fork hoist, and forklift truck) is a powered industrial truck used to lift and move materials over short distances. The forklift was developed in the early 20th c ...

and picking defective blocks from outgoing orders. He also served as a coach for track and field and football at his alma mater, Hernando High School in Brooksville, Florida. As of 2013, he was working as an assistant at Oak Hill Hospital. He is married to his high school sweetheart, with whom he has four children.

Personal bests

*All information from IAAF Profile As of August 2024, Capel holds three track records for 200 metres including Athens, Georgia, USA (19.99, 1999), Boise, Idaho (19.87, 1999) and Sacramento, California (19.85, 2000).

Notes

External links

USA Track & Field profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Capel, John 1978 births Living people American male sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Doping cases in athletics Florida Gators football players Florida Gators men's track and field athletes Olympic track and field athletes for the United States Sportspeople from Brooksville, Florida Players of American football from Florida Track and field athletes from Florida World Athletics Championships medalists Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) FISU World University Games silver medalists for the United States FISU World University Games gold medalists for the United States World Athletics Championships winners Medalists at the 1999 Summer Universiade 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners

Early years

College career

Amateur track career

Professional football career

Professional track career

Ban and return to track

Life after sports

Personal bests

See also

Notes

External links