Bob Seagren

Bob Seagren 2012

Robert "Bob" Lloyd Seagren (* 17th October 1946 in Pomona , California ) is a US -American Olympic champion and former world record holder and Olympic champion in the pole vault .

Life

Bob Seagren was one of the world's best pole vaulters from the mid-1960s to the early 1970s. He won the US Championship six times and the Pan American Games in 1967 . He jumped his first world record (5.32 m) on May 14, 1966 in Fresno . Then he improved the world record in 1967 in San Diego (5.36 m), 1968 in South Lake Tahoe (5.41 m) and 1972 in Eugene (5.63 m) three times. He also jumped a new indoor world record six times between 1966 and 1969. He knew how to coordinate college and club sports without any problems.

At the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City , he became Olympic champion in one of the most exciting pole vault finals . At the end of the day, besides himself, the silver medalists Claus Schiprowski ( FRG ) and Wolfgang Nordwig ( GDR ) had jumped the new record height of 5.40 m. He was the favorite at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich , but had the misfortune that the new type of catapult rod he used was not approved for the competition at the last minute. Nevertheless, he was also on the podium in Munich and won silver. The gold medal went to Wolfgang Nordwig, who with a new Olympic record (5.50 m) became the first non-American to become Olympic champion in this technically difficult discipline.

As a graduate of the University of Southern California , he tried his luck as a professional athletics with the International Track Association for a short time after 1972 . Here he regularly fought exciting duels against his long-time rival Steve Smith . Then he renounced the re- amateurization and became a film actor and successful on television as a serial actor and show master . Eventually he became the director of a company specializing in the development, organization and management of major road endurance races and fitness events - such as B. the Long Beach International City Marathon in California - specializes.

Web links

• Bob Seagren in the Internet Movie Database (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Arnd Krüger : American sport between isolationism and internationalism. Competitive sport. 18: 1, pp. 43-47 (1988) ; 2, pp. 47-50 . 4th November 2016
2. ↑ SportsReference to Bob Seagren . 4th November 2016
3. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0780479/bio auf. 4th November 2016