Trivia Quiz! Who was the 1st Olympic fiberglass vaulter?

[KirkB]

Nope, it's not Rafer Johnson! And I thought that would get this one for sure, dj, after talking to Ron Morris - who was there, winning the Silver - in 1960!

Could it be that this mystery vaulter didn't bend the pole much, so it didn't raise many eye brows? With all the stories about Bob Mathias in the 1952 Olympics, none mentioned his use of fiberglass in 1952.

Clearly, 1964 was the "break-thru" year for fiberglass. Just glancing at the heights attempted and made, there didn't appear to be many vaulters that DIDN'T use fiberglass. This is on the assumption that 4.70 (15'5") was Don Bragg's Gold medal height and 4.60 (15'1") was Morris' Silver medal height in 1960, yet in 1964 it took 4.60 just to make the finals, and there were 9 vaulters that cleared 4.80 (15'9") or higher in the finals!

I'll give you a couple more hints ...

On further research, I discovered that Georgios Roubanis was a Greek national that went to Occidental and UCLA. He was credited with being the first to vault with a fiberglass pole in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, but it appears that he might have only gotten that recognition because he won the Bronze with it.

There was ANOTHER 1956 Olympic vaulter that also used fiberglass, that didn't make the Final! So who's to say which of the two actually took the first "official" Olympic attempt? It could have been either one of them!

I get most of my detailed historic info from Gérard Dumas' "Who's Who in Pole Vaulting III", but as luck would have it, the vaulting order for 1956 was not published. From 1960 on, the order was published. So our mystery vaulter might have (or might not have) gone first in the order!

In my previous post, I was hinting that this mystery vaulter participated in the 1960 Rome Olympics. He did, in fact, but I have now discovered that he was also in the 1956 and 1964 Olympics!

So there's your hints!

If this isn't enough hints, I'll tell you what other Olympics he was in!

Kirk

p.s. I editted the bolded years after this original post.

[dj]

good morning

i don't want to "guess" again... i'll go back and do some research.. There’s a couple of likely candidates...

Ron said the old spun glass pole was not Gill.. that was when the phone was breaking up.. he said some company there in Cal used them for something else.. but that they might have put a gill label on them for the Games or Gill started carrying them after Mathias used it.

he said he thought Uelses and Tork were the first to use the "Browning" Skypole in 1962 and when Tork jumped on it at Mt Sac he just held high and feel over the bar.. just after that meet on April 28 Ron got his first Skypole from Herb Jenks and jumped 15-10.. i think he said.

I want to say more about poles and pole vaulting history so I’m going to switch my thoughts to the “Magic” pole thread so as not to “hog” this thread.

join me there.........

dj

[2-15-46]

dj..................
didn't shakespear or one of those fishing pole companies dabble in the vault pole business back then??
B

[dj]

hey

Ron might have said Shakespear... i might call him again in about an hour.. he is usually at work by then..

i just remember the poles were spun glass, white, heavy and wouldn't bend...

my senior year in high school a friends dad worked on a river boat and brought home a smaller more bending aluminum "Mark Twain" pole that i used to jump 12 feet. i put a wooden plug in it.. blue and white pole marked with a different white or blue every foot...

later

dj

[2-15-46]

I remember seeing one of those spun glass poles and they would shatter if someone didn't catch it and it landed on the ground... but even back then we all caught poles....it was a given.... should re-enforce that rule today....

B

[KirkB]

If this isn't enough hints, I'll tell you what other Olympics he was in!

He was in the Finals in 1960, and failed to qualify for the Finals in 1956 and 1964.

But he did compete in the Qualifying rounds of 1956 and 1964.

Georgios Roubanis, who first used fiberglass in 1956 (as did the mystery vaulter), was also in the 1960 Qualifying, but did not clear 4.40m (14'-5.25") which was required to make the Finals.

Ron Morris should have remembered them both from 1960. I think they were the only 2 on fiberglass that Olympics.

Kirk

[KirkB]

I asked Gerard Dumas (PV statistician extraordinaire, and author of "Who's Who in Pole Vaulting III") if he happened to know what order the vaulters jumped in the 1956 Olympic Qualifying.

Whether it was Roubanis or the mystery vaulter would truly prove who the first OFFICIAL Olympic vaulter in the Pole Vault event (Bob Mathias was the first ever – in the 1952 Decathlon).

I really think that the only reason that Roubanis got the glory of being the first (after Mathias) was because he medalled in the Final, whereas my mystery vaulter never made it to the Finals.

Here’s his reply, which he has kindly allowed me to share with you. Keep in mind that he has a heavy French accent, and a rather dry sense of humor. He did point out a few trivia facts that surprised me. Like perhaps the first “Town Square” Vault in 1955. The typos are all his …

No, I do not have the running order of the 1956 qualification round. It must have been only one section. English statisticians do not have this. That event sheet probably finished in the garbage can that evening.

I do not have also the exact time of every jumps in the 3 qualification groups in the 1908 Olympics. Ah aah !

Note that for the 1924 Games, the Frenchman Maurice Vautier ( page 643) is ranked 8th. in the final (IAAF revised bulletin) Volume 15th # 3 in 2000 page 43.

It is interesting to know that Vautier NEVER participated in that final. He was given the height he did in the qualif: That performance of 3.55m was the actual eighth performance registered that day. See attempt number of all qualifications jumps. But do we know if the two groups were jumping simultaneously or one after the other. Do we care? NO.

I have a letter here written to me by Vautier in 1966. He states that he naturally qualified For the final but his Mum died that evening and Vautier did not want to jump thereafter. Fair enough.

I don’t know if it’s the IAAF or the French Federation that placed him in the final. Remember, it was in Paris. So everything is possible.

The 3.65m I have in the book is a missprint. It should be 3.55m.

Page 431, Georges Breitman, whom I saw this july (88 year old) did jump with a fiberglass pole in the courtyard of a factory in Paris. (1955)

I was there and I remember having done two jumps with a white, light fiberglass stick of 8 feet. It was a disaster. The technology there was bad and we stopped immediately. That pole was too soft and not strong at all. A SNAFU, first class. Breitman was financing that project and he realised that we would have needed more money. ( his own).

He was in the 1952 Games decathlon and did not do the second day. (injury) He may have tried to do this after having seen Mathias jumping with the Fiberglass. Possible. I never asked him. There is a Victoria guy who was there and who finished that decathlon ( Bob Adams 3.70m) Bob was one of the best Canadians vaulters at the time. Page 411 of my book.

NO, in 1964 I can tell you that no one used a metal pole. My friend Maurice Houvion was there ( no heighting at 4.20m with a hamstring injury )

Maurice would have surely noticed that. Despite none of the participants were still using that pole in 1964.

[dj]

good morning

looks like Roland Cruz from Puerto Rico fits the spot.. he finished 4th in 1960 with 4.55m, the same as silver medalist Eeles Landstrom from finland but had a miss at that height and Landstrom cleared on his first...

dj

ps.. well i just spoke to ron and he thought Cruz was still jumping on steel!!!

i have printouts of all three games and who Qualified and who didn't.. but of course it doesn't say what pole they used.........

[dj]

more on the games.......

Olympics 1956
The defending champion, Bob Richards, was back and was the favorite again. He had been AAU Champion every year since 1948, save for 1953, and was also Pan-American champion in 1951 and 1955. In the qualifying he missed twice at his opening height of 4.00 (13-1½), but got over on his third attempt and eventually qualified easily. There were expected to be two Europeans contending, Ragnar Lundberg (SWE), 1952 bronze medalist and 1950 European Champion, and 1954 European Champion, Eeles Landström of Finland. They would finish fifth and seventh respectively. The best European turned out to be the surprising Georgios Roubanis (GRE), who was the first vaulter to use a fiberglass pole in a major international competition. He used it to good effect, clearing a PR 4.50 (14-9) and winning the bronze medal. Richards won the competition for gold fairly easily. He jumped every height from 4.15 (13-7¼) to 4.53 (14-10¼) and had no misses. He then cleared 4.56 (14-11½) on his third attempt for the gold medal. Still with him at that height was American Bob Gutowski, who had missed four times at earlier heights, and failed to clear 4.56 (14-11½), earning the silver medal. In April 1957, Gutowski vaulted 4.78 (15-8¼) in a collegiate dual meet for a world record, finally breaking the vaunted world record of 4.77 (15-7¾) set by Cornelius “Dutch” Warmerdam in 1942. Richards predicted that Gutowski would become the first 16-foot vaulter but he was killed in a car crash in August 1960.

Olympics 1960
Don Bragg was the favorite. He had been world-ranked in the top three since 1955, was ranked #1 in 1959, and broke the world record at the US Olympic Trials in July 1960. The competition seemed endless, taking over six hours. Four vaulters survived 4.55 (14-11) – Bragg, American Ron Morris, 1954/58 European Champion Eeles Landström, and surprising Puerto Rican Rolando Cruz, who had been 1959 Pan-American Games bronze medalist behind champion Bragg. Only Bragg and Morris cleared 4.60 (15-1), and Bragg led with a first-attempt clearance, Morris missing once. Both tried 4.70 (15-5), with Bragg going over on his first try. Morris missed three times and the gold and silver medals were decided. Landström won the bronze as he had cleared 4.55 (14-11) on his first attempt, Cruz on his second. Bragg’s dream was to play Tarzan in the movies. After his vaulting victories he usually punctuated them with a Tarzan yell. Bragg never quite achieved his dream, though he came close. He was chosen for one role and the shooting had begun on _Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar_ but the filming was stopped because of legal problems. Bragg never appeared in the movies in any role.

Olympics 1964
In May 1961, George Davies changed the pole vaulting world when he broke the world record with a fiberglass pole, clearing 4.83 (15-10) in the Big Eight Conference Championships. Between then and the 1964 Olympics, the world record was bettered 15 times. Improvement was so rapid that many marks never received IAAF approval, as they were quickly superseded by a better mark. The best jumpers in 1962-63 were John Pennel and Brian Sternberg. Sternberg broke the world record three times, the last on 7 June 1963. He was a superb athlete, also one of the best in the United States on the trampoline. On 28 June 1963 he was practicing on the trampoline doing a double-back with a full twist, a simple maneuver for him. But he landed badly, breaking his neck and was rendered a quadriplegic. He would never vault, or walk again, though he remained alive to 2008.
With Sternberg out, the favorites for Tokyo were Pennel and a vaulter who came on in 1964, Fred Hansen. Hansen set three world records in June-July 1964. He was AAU Champion in 1964 and won the Olympic Trials. Pennel injured his back shortly before the Olympics and would finish only 11th. In the final the competition came down to Hansen and three Germans, Wolfgang Reinhardt, Klaus Lehnertz (both FRG), and Manfred Preußger (GDR). All four cleared five metres on their first attempts. Hansen passed 5.05, while Reinhardt went over on his first try, with Lehnertz and Preußger failing at that height. Thus the gold medal was Reinhardt’s unless Hansen could outjump him at 5.10 (16-8¾). And he did, clearing 5.10 (16-8¾) on his third try while the German missed all three attempts.

dj

[KirkB]

And the winner is ... [drum roll] ...

DJ and PVStudent! Yes, it's a tie!

Here's the final tally ...

First to use fiberglass in Olympics: Bob Mathis (DJ) Year: 1952 (DJ) Place: Gold (PVS) Ht: 13-11.5 (PVS)

Second to use it: Georgios Roubanis (PVS) Year: 1956 (PVS) Place: Bronze (PVS) Ht: 4.50m (PVS)

Third to use it: Rolando Cruz (DJ) Year: 1960, but 1956 in Qualifying Round (DJ) Place: 4th (DJ) Ht: 4.55m (DJ)

Six correct guesses each! We'll need a jump-off now. I'll come up with some fresh questions for that.

And after Roubanis and Cruz used fiberglass in 1960, the 1964 Olympics was entirely fiberglass - as confirmed by Gerard Dumas.

Kirk

[KirkB]

Here's some data about Rolando Cruz, as documented by Gerard Dumas in his "Who's Who in PV III" book ...

Cruz, Rolando. (Peurto Rico). Born: 17.09.1939 in Ponce, Peurto Rico. 1.78m 68 kgs.
He attended the U. of Villanova (PA) and was one of the first vaulters to successfully use a fibergtlass pole (with Georgios Roubanis) in the 1956 Olympics (Qual: 4.00m) and again in the 1960 in Rome where he was the only one to use the flexible pole, finishing fourth in the final with 4.55m. In fact he was a three times Olyjmpian since he competed again in Tokyo (1964). He did not qualify for the final there (4.50m). His brother Ruben was also a vaulter in high school who reached 4.50m in 1967.

Hmm ... So Dumas didn't actually say that Roubanis used fiberglass in 1960. He does say that Roubanis COMPETED in the Olympics that year (but failed to make the final). So after using fiberglass in 1956, did he go back to steel in 1960?

I'll have to ask Dumas. Stay tuned.

Kirk

[dj]

hey

you mentioned a courtyard vault.. was anyone on here at the MALL vault in Montreal in 1979?

ask Gerard if he was around... i do remember a Frenchman... someone introduced him as a coach...... about 5-9 thin long straight hair

the 5 young Canadian vaulters at the time(16 footers) jumped... inside this twin tower mall as a promotion for the 1979 "world Champs".... they were all college age Dave W?? and another one went to a small college in Kentucky..

i'll come up with the names.. or maybe get in touch with Bruce Simpson.. i think he is an attorney in Toronto…

dj