Alma Wilford Richards (February 20, 1890 – April 3, 1963) was an American athlete. He was the first resident of

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

to win a gold medal at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

, in

1912 This year is notable for Sinking of the Titanic, the sinking of the ''Titanic'', which occurred on April 15. In Albania, this leap year runs with only 353 days as the country achieved switching from the Julian to Gregorian Calendar by skippin ...

, in the running high jump event.

Biography

Richards graduated from Brigham Young prep school in 1913, and then attended

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

with a scholarship, where he was also a member of the Quill and Dagger honor society, and earned 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),Honorees
Utah Sports Hall of Fame 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.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. Richards was a member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

, their first member to compete in the Olympics.

References

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
a
L. Tom Perry Special Collections

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

* * * * * * 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 {{US-athletics-bio-stub