Bob Seagren

Who is Bob Seagren?

Robert "Bob" Seagren is a retired American pole vaulter, the 1968 Olympic champion.

A native of Pomona, California, Bob Seagren was one of the world's top pole vaulters in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He won six National AAU and four NCAA titles indoors and outdoors. Indoors he posted eight world bests between 1966 and 1969. He was also the Pan American Games champion in 1967. He jumped his first world record in Fresno on May 14, 1966, followed by his world records 1967 in San Diego, 1968 in Echo Summit near South Lake Tahoe and 1972 in Eugene.

In 1968, Bob Seagren participated in his first Olympic Games in Mexico City. In an exciting contest, he won the gold medal with the top three vaulters, including silver medallist Claus Schiprowski and the bronze medal winner Wolfgang Nordwig reaching the same height.

Four years later, in Munich, he's best remembered for the Olympic gold medal he didn't get. In the 1972 Summer Olympics, a last-minute ruling barred the new banana-Pole from Olympic competition, forcing some vaulters, including Seagren, to compete with unfamiliar poles. East German Wolfgang Nordwig didn't use a Cata-Pole and won the gold medal, with Seagren coming second. It was the first time an American had failed to win the Olympic gold medal in the pole vault. In fact, no American would again win a gold medal in the pole vault until Nick Hysong won in 2000.