Seagren, "Bob" (Robert L.)
Track and Field
b. Oct. 17, 1946, Pomona, CA
After winning a gold medal in the Olympic pole vault in 1968, Seagren was embroiled in controversy at the 1972 Olympics. He had vaulted a world best 18-5 3/4 that year using a carbon pole. The IAAF ruled that the pole was illegal shortly before the Olympics.
Seagren and other vaulters protested, and the ban was lifted four days before competition was to begin. However, the night before the qualifying round, the IAAF once again posed the ban and "illegal" poles were confiscated. Forced to vault with an unfamiliar pole, Seagren managed to win a silver medal with a vault of 17-81/2.
The 6-2, 195-pound Seagren attended the University of Southern California. He won the NCAA outdoor championship in 1967 and 1969, was the AAU outdoor champion in 1966, 1969, and 1970, and won a gold medal at the 1967 Pan-American Games.
At the 1968 Olympics, Seagren astounded everyone by passing when the bar was at 17 feet, 6 3/4 inches. He was unfamiliar with the metric system used in international competition, and he thought that 5.35 meters was relatively low. However, he cleared 17-8 1/2 and won the gold medal because he had the fewest misses.
Seagren set his first world record, 17-5 1/2, on May 14, 1966. After that mark was broken, he set another record of 17-7 on June 10, 1967. That was also broken, but Seagren reclaimed the world record with a vault of 17-9 at the 1968 Olympic trials.
A knee injury and subsequent operation sidelined him for the second half of 1970 and all of 1971. While he was out of action, the world record was raised several times. On May 23, 1972, Seagren cleared a record 18-4 1/4, becoming the first American to vault over 18 feet.
Seagren turned professional in 1973 and won the first televised Superstars competition that year. He also won the first World Superstars competition in 1976.
Seagren later became a TV and movie actor, with some success. He now heads International City Racing, which manages road races and fitness events.