Billy Richard Olson (born July 19, 1958) is a retired

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a #bar, bar. Pole jumping was already practiced by the ...

er who held several

world records A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

, including the first 19-foot indoor pole vault.Al Pickett
"Abilene has produced more than its share of stars,"
''Abilene Reporter-News'', December 24, 1999.Frank Litsky

''The New York Times'', February 22, 1982, page C6, column 1 (late city final edition). Olson finished 12th at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

, and was to have been part of the U.S. team for the

boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent resistance, nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organisation, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for Morality, moral, society, social, politics, political, or Environmenta ...

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

. Olson vaulted for Abilene High School and

Abilene Christian University Abilene Christian University (ACU) is a Private university, private Christian research university in Abilene, Texas, United States. It is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as an R2 (High Research Spending and Doctorate Production) institutio ...

, from which he graduated.ACU Centennial: Billy Olson
Ted Dunnam

''Abilene Reporter-News'', June 25, 2000.All-Time U.S. Rankings — Men’s Pole Vault
, ranked #1 in the world for 1982. He was Inducted into the Texas Track and Field Coaches Hall of Fame, Class of 2012.

References

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* 1958 births Living people American male pole vaulters Olympic track and field athletes for the United States Sportspeople from Abilene, Texas Track and field athletes from Texas Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Abilene Christian Wildcats men's track and field athletes 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-polevault-athletics-bio-stub