Copyright 2023, The Spokesman-Review | Community Guidelines | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Copyright Policy. He was 97. He dove. His sons followed in his pole-vaulting footsteps. 1 eight times in an era when pole vaulting and other Olympic track-and-field events were chronicled on the front page of sports sections. FILE - American pole vaulter Bob Richards, left, talks with Brazilian pole vaulter Helcio Buck-Silva during a break in a training session in Helsinki, July 11, 1952. Richards himself never vaulted more than 15 feet 6 inches. They had never gotten on a track. Robert Eugene Richards was born on Feb. 20, 1926, in Champaign, Ill., the third of five children of Leslie and Margaret (Palfrey) Richards. Ex-NFL star Irv Cross, who died in 2021, diagnosed with CTE. He was a six-time NCAA champion and won 20 national AAU titles, including 17 in the pole vault and three in decathlon. Be Nice. Staff report. Feb. 27, 2023 Updated 2:44 p.m. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. A Facebook post by his son Brandon said that Richards "passed in his sleep peacefully surrounded by loved ones.". Bob Richards. It sounds cornball, but when you finally realize that dream and you walk up that podium and The Star-Spangled Banner plays, Im telling you, the tears just start flowing. Bob Richards, a two-time Olympic pole vault gold medalist who also became an ordained minister, has died The Rev. A million guys stronger, faster, he continued. Bob showed early abilities in basketball and was a pole-vaulter and a star quarterback at Champaign Central High School. Mr. Richards purchased a 300 acre ranch on the Brazos River in Waco, known as the Crossbar Ranch. Feb. 28 (UPI) -- Bob Richards, the first person to win two Olympic pole vault gold medals and the first athlete to appear on the front of a Wheaties box, died at age 97 on Sunday. Bob Richards of the US team eases over the bar to set a new record for the Olympics pole vault. (renews at {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}}/month + tax). The versatile athlete known as the Vaulting Vicar also competed in the Olympic decathlon in 1956. INDIANAPOLIS, March 1 (UPI) -- Alabama linebacker Will Anderson Jr. and several other top pass rushers say they model their games after today's NFL stars. Richards was the most successful pole vaulter in U.S. track and field history, in terms of Olympic success. He was also a successful businessman who formerly owned Bear Ridge Golf Course and Lake Waco Golf Club. Ex-Blackhawks winger Patrick Kane calls trade to Rangers 'bittersweet'. His eyes shut tightly, his hands knifing through the air, he carries the salesmen to successive peaks of grim determination, Sports Illustrated noted. His parents were divorced when he was a teenager, but a minister gave him a home, steered him away from the streets and awakened his interest in religion. Copyright 2023 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Class Of 1983, Olympian. He also appeared on a box of Wheaties cereal. Bob Richards was born on February 20, 1926 in Champaign, Illinois, USA. Robert Eugene Richards (February 20, 1926 - February 26, 2023) was an American athlete, minister, and politician. 1. How close is Florida's Trinity Thomas to the NCAA's perfect 10 record? Richards was interested in athletics from boyhood, participating in diving and tumbling before . He became a pastor who went all around to give lectures, leading to a career as a motivational speaking. Bears explore trade for No. USA Track and Field confirmed his death. I cant do anything. Feb. 28 (UPI) -- Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James will not play Tuesday due to his recent right foot injury, the team announced. He won the Helms Foundation Trophy and James E. Sullivan Award in 1951 as the outstanding amateur athlete in America. He graduated from high school in 1943, and in 1944 he enrolled at the Brethren affiliated Bridgewater College in Virginia. He was 97. Use the 'Report' link on Sportswriters called him the Vaulting Vicar because he was an ordained minister. His son, Brandon, wrote in a social media post that his father "passed in his sleep peacefully surrounded by loved ones.". He was 97. 2021 (Eugene, Oregon, June 21) 1. Please use the button below to manage your account. His sons followed in his pole-vaulting footsteps. Bob Richards was the second man to vault 15 feet and, like the first man over this height, Cornelius "Dutch" Warmerdam, he dominated the event for a number of years. Bob Richards of La Verne . Richards was elected to the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1983, and to the U.S. National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1975. But pole vaulting, which he took up in junior high, was his obsession. INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Bob Richards, a two-time Olympic pole vault gold medalist who also became an ordained minister, died Sunday. I went over the crossbar by a foot. The Champaign native went on to become a six-time NCAA champion at the University of Illinois. Richards continues to reside on his ranch near Waco, Texas. Bob Richards of the US team eases over the bar to set a new record for the . In 1970, he bicycled 3,300 miles from Los Angeles to New York to promote fitness. He was 97. Richards was the first athlete to appear on the front of the Wheaties cereal box in 1958 and was a national promoter of physical fitness. . Bobbing and weaving, his forehead glistening with perspiration, he is Rocky Marciano on the attack against Archie Moore. 1 pole vaulter for eight consecutive years. Until 2012, he had lived on a ranch in Santo, Texas, which he named the Crossbar Ranch and which was involved in numerous commercial activities, including oil and gas exploration and horse and cattle grazing. Pan American Games. I was competing with a slippery pole.. By then, Mr. Richards was hopscotching around the country delivering what would add up to more than 25,000 motivational speeches at sales conferences, awards dinners and corporate retreats. His autobiography, Heart of a Champion, was published in 1959. Mayor Lori Lightfoot came in third and becomes the first elected Chicago mayor to lose a reelection bid since 1983, when Jane Byrne, the citys first female mayor, lost her Democratic primary. Richards was born and raised in Illinois, but moved to the Waco area after his athletic career ended. He was 97. In his Facebook post, Brandon Richards said his father began reading the Bible and preaching as a way to overcome his stuttering. Robert Eugene 'Bob' Richards nicknamed the Vaulting Vicar or the Pole Vaulting Parson in his competitive days was a versatile athlete who made three US Olympic Teams in two events. Bob Richards is Illinois greatest pole vaulter in school history, while also earning a spot as one of the best U.S. vaulters in the history of the event. In 1970, he married Vonda Joan Beaird. He was 97. Wrote Brandon Richards of his dad: We lost a national treasure. He added that his father always motivated us kids the same way to be the best we could be. He was a three-time Olympic pole vaulter for the U.S. in 1948, 1952 and 1956, winning Gold in 52 and 56 after winning a Bronze medal in 48. His autobiography, Heart of a Champion, was published in 1959. Took 1st Place and Gold Medal in Pole Vault at the Olympic Games in Helsinki. He started at quarterback for his high school football team. INDIANAPOLIS -- Bob Richards, a two-time Olympic pole vault gold medalist who also became an ordained minister, died Sunday. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism To this day, Richards three Olympic medals (two gold, one bronze) are more than any other mens competitor in history. March 1 (UPI) -- Veteran winger Patrick Kane says it was "bittersweet" to learn he was traded from the Chicago Blackhawks to the New York Rangers, but the move puts him in a "better spot" for a fourth championship. FILE - American pole vaulter Bob Richards, left, talks with Brazilian pole vaulter Helcio Buck-Silva during a break in a training session in Helsinki, July 11, 1952. Following a college career as a standout at the University of Illinois, he made his Olympic debut in 1948 in London and nabbed a bronze medal in a rainy competition. There is no feeling in the world that can match it, Richards said in 2016. Bob Richards . In 1984, saying the country must work to get rid of these tyrants who rule us, he ran for president on the Populist Party ticket. His athletic success was celebrated on the cover of Wheaties cereal boxes for 13 years after he became the first athlete to appear on the front of a Wheaties box in 1958. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. In 1958, Olympic pole vaulter Bob Richards became the first athlete to be featured on the front of a Wheaties box. Olympic-winning pole vaulter, pastor Bob Richards dies at 97. Pole vault. Bob Richards 2.jpg 801 1,000; 128 KB. Richards competed at the 1948, 1952 and 1956 Olympics in the pole vault, and eventually appeared on a box of . He also was the oldest living Olympic track and field champion before his death. 1 eight times in an . In between pole vaulting competitions, he taught at LaVerne College, a Brethren-affiliated school in Southern California. He married the college presidents niece, Mary Leah Cline, in 1946. His success in the air, combined with wholesome looks and an upbeat ministerial eloquence, made Mr. Richards a fixture in American households. In 2000, Richards was inducted as a Laureate of The Lincoln Academy and awarded the Order of Lincoln (states highest honor) by the state of Illinois. To feel that youve got it? We have used your information to see if you have a subscription with us, but did not find one. Bob Richards, a two-time Olympic pole . He was the greatest dad I could ever ask for and I will miss him dearly. Known alternatively as the Vaulting Vicar and the Pole Vaulting Pastor, Mr. Richards was one of the most dominating athletes of his time, leaping as high as 15 feet 6 inches with a stiff metal pole in the days before flexible fiberglass helped Olympic vaulters cross over bars nearly 20 feet in height. Time skulks along slowly between the arrival of each Olympics, an. Bob Richards, a two-time Olympic pole vault gold medalist who also became an ordained minister, died Sunday, Feb. 26, 2023. He won a bronze medal in his first Olympic go-around, followed by back-to-back gold medals. INDIANAPOLIS Bob Richards, a two-time Olympic pole vault gold medalist who also became an ordained minister, died Sunday. Long before modern athletes began riding fiberglass poles to unimaginable heights, the Rev. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.. 1 pick, commit to quarterback Justin Fields. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, Ravens hope to extend Lamar Jackson by Tuesday, but will consider options. With the ministers help, Mr. Richards enrolled at Bridgewater College, a Brethren-affiliated school in Virginia, where he dominated collegiate pole vaulting. Vaulting Vicar also competed in the air, combined with wholesome looks and an upbeat ministerial eloquence, made Richards! Us kids the same way to be the best we could be 1st! 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