MEN'S TRACK & FIELD • 1945-47

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. 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. Richards also competed as a decathlete in the 1956 Olympics. He was a six-time NCAA champion and won 20 national AAU titles, including 17 in the pole vault and three in decathlon. The most dominant vaulter of his time, as he was ranked as the world’s No. 1 vaulter for eight consecutive years. 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. He is the only two-time male Olympic gold medal winner in the pole vault, and also won gold medals at the 1951 and 1955 Pan American Games, while earning silver in the decathlon at the ’55 Pan American Games. Richards was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1983 and the U.S. National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1975. In 2000, Richards was inducted as a Laureate of The Lincoln Academy and awarded the Order of Lincoln (state’s highest honor) by the state of Illinois. He won the Helms Foundation Trophy and James E. Sullivan Award in 1951 as the outstanding amateur athlete in America. Richards continues to reside on his ranch near Waco, Texas.