Madeline de Jesús

Madeline de Jesús Candelaria (born November 4, 1957, in Brooklyn, New York) is a retired female track and field athlete from Puerto Rico, who competed in the women's long jump and triple jump during her career. Her personal best (6.96 metres) in the long jump was set on July 24, 1988, in Mexico City. She finished fifth in the long jump at the 1987 Pan American Games. De Jesús twin sister Margaret de Jesús also competed at the 1984 Summer Olympics, in the women's 400 metres. Madeline is currently living in Belgium where she's active as a sports teacher and coach.

Madeline de Jesús

Personal information
Full name	Madeline de Jesús Candelaria
Born	(1957-11-04) November 4, 1957 (age 67) Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Height	167 cm (5 ft 6 in)
Weight	57 kg (126 lb)
Sport
Country	Puerto Rico
Event(s)	long jump and triple jump
Medal record Women's athletics Representing  Puerto Rico Central American and Caribbean Games 1982 Havana Long jump Central American & Caribbean Championships 1977 Jalapa 4×400 m relay 1979 Guadalajara 4×100 m relay 1979 Guadalajara Long jump 1981 Santo Domingo Long jump 1983 Havana 4×100 m relay 1983 Havana 4×400 m relay 1983 Havana Long jump 1987 Caracas Long jump Ibero-American Championships 1988 Mexico City Long jump

Olympic cheating

After Puerto Rico's Madeline de Jesus got injured while competing in the long jump, she was unable to run in the 4×400-meter relay at the 1984 Los Angeles Games. She came up with a plan and enlisted her identical twin sister, Margaret, as an imposter for a qualifying heat. Margaret ran the second leg of the qualifier, and the team advanced but when the chief coach of the Puerto Rican team learned of the ruse, he pulled his team out of the final.^[1][2]

Achievements

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing  Puerto Rico
1977	Central American and Caribbean Championships	Xalapa, Mexico	3rd	4 × 400 m relay	3:48.57
1979	Central American and Caribbean Championships	Guadalajara, Mexico	3rd	4 × 100 m relay	47.16
			2nd	Long jump	5.87 m
	Pan American Games	San Juan, Puerto Rico	–	4 × 100 m relay	DQ
			7th	Long jump	5.88 m
1981	Central American and Caribbean Championships	Santo Domingo, DR	3rd	Long jump	6.20 m
	Universiade	Bucharest, Romania	13th	Long jump	6.17 m
1982	Central American and Caribbean Games	Havana, Cuba	3rd	Long jump	6.47 m
1983	Central American and Caribbean Championships	Havana, Cuba	2nd	4 × 100 m relay	46.69
			2nd	4 × 400 m relay	3:39.36
			2nd	Long jump	6.49 m
1984	Olympic Games[3]	Los Angeles, United States	21st (q)	Long jump	5.63 m
1987	Central American and Caribbean Championships	Caracas, Venezuela	2nd	Long jump	6.11 m
	Pan American Games	Indianapolis, United States	5th	Long jump	6.28 m
1988	Ibero-American Championships	Mexico City, Mexico	1st	Long jump	6.96 m A
	Olympic Games[3]	Seoul, South Korea	23rd (q)	Long jump	6.08 m

See also

• List of Puerto Ricans

References

1. "In 1984, These Puerto Rican Twins Hatched an Insane Plan to Switch Places at the Olympics". Remezcla. August 18, 2016.
2. Tomizawa, Roy (November 5, 2017). "The Tale of Madeline and Margaret de Jesus: Twins Who Almost Got Away with It at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics". The Olympians.
3. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Madeline de Jesús". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 3 December 2016.

External links

• Madeline de Jesús at World Athletics
• Madeline de Jesús at Olympedia