Rose, Ralph W.
Track and Field
b. March 17, 1884, Healdsburg, CA
d. Oct. 16, 1913
Rose was the only man ever to win national championships in the shot put, discus, and javelin, and the first to put the shot more than 50 feet.
He won a total of six medals at three Olympic Games, but was perhaps best known as the man who refused to dip the American flag to King Edward VII of Great Britain during the opening ceremonies of the 1908 London games. "This flag dips to no earthly king," Rose said afterward.
The 6-foot-6, 235-pound Rose was the Olympic shot put champion in 1904 and 1908. He won a third gold medal in 1912 in the two-hand shot put. He won silver medals in the 1904 discus throw and 1912 shot put and a bronze in the 1904 hammer throw.
He was the AAU champion in the shot put from 1907 through 1910, the discus in 1905 and 1909, and the javelin in 1909. His put of 51 feet even at the 1909 meet was a world record that stood for more than sixteen years. Earlier in 1909 he had a shot put of 51-4 and a hammer throw of 178-5, both beyond the existing world records, but the marks weren't recognized.
Rose died of typhoid fever at the age of twenty-nine.