Robert Allen "Bob" Gutowski (25 April 1935 – 2 August 1960) was an American athlete who competed mainly in the

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 ...

. He competed for the United States in the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officially branded as Melbourne 1956, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December ...

held in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in the Pole Vault where he won the silver medal behind

Bob Richards Robert Eugene Richards (February 20, 1926 – February 26, 2023) was an American athlete, minister, and politician. He made three U.S. Olympic Teams in two events: the 1948, 1952, and 1956 Summer Olympics as a pole vaulter and as a decathlete ...

' second consecutive gold medal, after finishing fourth in the US Olympic Trials and only getting to the games on the withdrawal of Jim Graham. He attended

Occidental College Occidental College (informally Oxy) is a private liberal arts college in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1887 as a coeducational college by clergy and members of the Presbyterian Church, it became non-sectarian in 1910. It is ...

in Los Angeles where he won the NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championships in 1956 (tied) and 1957. He set the World Record in the pole vault on April 27, 1957. Later in 1957 he cleared the highest height ever cleared with a "straight" pole at 15'9.75" though that mark was never ratified as a World Record because the pole passed under the bar. In 1980, Bob Gutowski was inducted into the National Polish American Sports Hall of Fame. He is also a member of the Occidental College Track and Field Hall of Fame. He was killed in a head-on collision by a drunk driver at

Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps and is one of the largest Marine Corps bases in the United States. It is on the Southern California coast in San Diego County and is bordered by ...

on 2 August 1960 while serving as a 2nd Lieutenant in the

Marine Corps Marines (or naval infantry) are military personnel generally trained to operate on both land and sea, with a particular focus on amphibious warfare. Historically, the main tasks undertaken by marines have included raiding ashore (often in supp ...

Reserves.

References

External links

*
National Polish-American Sports HOF profile
* 1935 births 1960 deaths American male pole vaulters Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics American people of Polish descent Track and field athletes from California Road incident deaths in California Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics United States Marine Corps officers United States Marine Corps reservists Deaths of competitors in athletics NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners Occidental Tigers men's track and field athletes 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-athletics-Olympic-medalist-stub