 Richards in 1912 | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birth name | Alma Wilford Richards | |||||||||||
| Full name | Alma Wilford Richards, Esq. | |||||||||||
| Born | February 20, 1890 (1890-02-20) Parowan, Utah, U.S. | |||||||||||
| Died | April 3, 1963 (1963-04-04) (aged 73) | |||||||||||
| Alma mater | Brigham Young High School | |||||||||||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | |||||||||||
| Weight | 84 kg (185 lb) | |||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||
| Sport | Track and field | |||||||||||
| Event(s) | High jump, long jump, shot put, discus throw, decathlon | |||||||||||
| University team | Cornell University Big Red | |||||||||||
| Coached by | Eugene L. Roberts | |||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||
| Personal best(s) | HJ – 1.956 m (1915) LJ – 7.125 m (1915) SP – 14.01 m (1916) DT – 44.12 m (1922) | |||||||||||
Medal record
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Alma Wilford Richards (February 20, 1890 – April 3, 1963) was an American athlete. He was the first resident of Utah to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games, in 1912, in the running high jump event.
Biography
Richards graduated from Brigham Young prep school in 1913, and then attended Cornell University with a scholarship, where he was also a member of the Quill and Dagger honor society, and got a law degree.
He taught science at Venice High School in Los Angeles for 32 years. Richards was buried, according to his wishes, in the Parowan Cemetery. He was posthumously inducted into the Utah Sports Hall of Fame (1970), Helms Hall of Fame and Brigham Young University Hall of Fame.
Personal life
Richards’ first wife was Marian Gardiner Richards. They had one child, Joanne Richards. His second wife was Gertrude Huntimer Richards, and they had three children: Mary Richards Schraeger of La Habra Heights, California; Anita Richards Ricciardi of Whittier California; and Paul Richards of Los Angeles, California. Richards was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, their first member to compete in the Olympics.
References
- ^ Reese, W. Paul (February 1995) Alma Richards Was Utah's First Olympic Gold Medalist. History Blazer
- Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Alma Richards". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020.
- Alma Richards. trackfield.brinkster.net
- "Alma Richards". Olympedia. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
- "Alma: BYA Boy Wins Olympic Gold". Y Magazine. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
- "Alma Richards (1986) - Hall of Fame". Cornell University Athletics. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
- Benson, Lee; Robinson, Doug (January 1, 1992). Trials & Triumphs/Mormons in the Olympic Games. Deseret Book Company. ISBN 978-0875796284. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
- ^ Wallechinsky, David and Loucky, Jaime (2008). "Track & Field (Men): High Jump." In "The Complete Book of the Olympics – 2008 Edition." London: Aurum Press, Limited. p. 197.
- Honorees. Utah Sports Hall of Fame
- Deseret News 1999-2000 Church Almanac. Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret News. 1998. p. 555. ISBN 1573454915.
External links
- Photograph of Alma Richards in a triumphal parade after his return from the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, UA P 2 Series 2 Item 1100 box 7 folder 70–89 at L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Brigham Young University
- Alma Richards at Find a Grave
- Alma Richards
- Alma Richards at Olympedia (archive)
- Alma Richards at Olympics.com
- Alma Richards at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
- Olympics 1912 High jumpers (16-second-video) on YouTube
| Olympic champions in men's high jump | |
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| US National Championship winners in men's decathlon | |
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| 1915–1979 Amateur Athletic Union |
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| 1980–1992 The Athletics Congress |
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| 1993-onwards USA Track & Field |
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| Notes |
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   | This biographical article about an American track and field athlete is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it. |
- 1890 births
- 1963 deaths
- American Latter Day Saints
- Latter Day Saints from Utah
- Latter Day Saints from California
- Schoolteachers from California
- 20th-century American women educators
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1912 Summer Olympics
- Cornell University alumni
- Stanford University alumni
- BYU Cougars men's track and field athletes
- USC Gould School of Law alumni
- American male high jumpers
- Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field
- People from Parowan, Utah
- Track and field athletes from Utah
- Medalists at the 1912 Summer Olympics
- 20th-century American educators
- Brigham Young High School alumni
- American military personnel of World War I
- United States Army personnel of World War I
- Cornell Big Red men's track and field athletes
- 20th-century American sportsmen
- American track and field athletics biography stubs