Robert Seagren (born October 17, 1946) is a retired American

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, the 1968 Olympic champion. A native of

Pomona, California Pomona ( ) is a city in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. Pomona is located in the Pomona Valley, between the Inland Empire and the San Gabriel Valley. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city's population was ...

, Seagren was one of the world's top pole vaulters in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He won six National AAU and four

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titles indoors and outdoors. Indoors he posted eight world bests between 1966 and 1969. He was also the

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champion in 1967. He set his first

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on May 14, 1966, followed by his world records 1967 in

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, 1968 in

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near South Lake Tahoe and 1972 in Eugene . In 1968, Seagren participated in his first

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. In an exciting contest, he won the gold medal with the top three vaulters, including silver medalist

Claus Schiprowski Claus Schiprowski (born 27 December 1942 in Gelsenkirchen) is a West German Olympic silver medalist who competed mainly in the pole vault. He won his silver medal at the Mexico City 1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics (), official ...

(

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) and the bronze medal winner

Wolfgang Nordwig Wolfgang Nordwig (born 27 August 1943) is a former East German pole vaulter. He competed in the 1968 and 1972 Olympics and won a bronze and a gold medal, respectively, clearing 5.50 m in 1972.East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

) reaching the same height . Four years later, in

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, he remains best remembered for the Olympic gold medal he didn't get. In the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

, a last-minute ruling barred the new ''banana-Pole'' from Olympic competition, forcing some vaulters, including Seagren, to compete with unfamiliar poles. East German Wolfgang Nordwig didn't use a ''Cata-Pole'' and won the gold medal, with Seagren coming second. It was the first time an American had failed to win the Olympic gold medal in the pole vault. In fact, no American would again win a gold medal in the pole vault until Nick Hysong won in 2000. A 1968

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graduate, Seagren took a try at professional track and later he started his career in

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and

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s as a show host and

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actor. He was also taken in the 1967 ABA Draft by the

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, despite never having played basketball at any level. Seagren won the inaugural American '' Superstars'' sports competition in 1973 as well as the first ''World Superstars'' in 1977, his lone victories in both events. He was able to enjoy the spoils from these competitions because he had become a professional athlete having signed to join the

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(ITA) tour after the 1972 Olympics. On the ITA tour he renewed his very personal antagonistic rivalry with fellow American pole vaulter Steve Smith. Seagren went on to become an actor, appearing in several movies and television shows, including the controversial sitcom ''

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'' in 1977 in which he played Dennis Phillips, a

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player in a relationship with

Billy Crystal William Edward Crystal (born March 14, 1948)On page 17 of his book ''700 Sundays'', Crystal displays his birth announcement, which gives his first two names as "William Edward", not "William Jacob" is an American comedian, actor, and filmmaker. ...

's character Jodie Dallas. He appeared as a guest star in an episode of ''

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'' in 1980, called "Toni's Boys" as a detective who worked for a friend of Charlie who was also in the detective business. The episode was a backdoor pilot for a new series but the show wasn't picked up by the network. He was referred to in the episode as an "Olympic Champion" although he played a fictional character. He also guest starred on the TV series ''

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'' in the episodes called "Stolen Faces" and "The Man Who Could Not Die". Seagren played himself, serving as an LAPD youth camp counselor on the "Camp Two" episode of ''

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''. Today, he is

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of International City Racing, which specializes in the development, management, and implementation of

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, and fitness events, including the

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International City Marathon. He is also an active supporter of the Commission on Athletics of the California Community Colleges. He was named to the inaugural class of the Mt. SAC Relays Hall of Fame. In 1986 he was inducted into the

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National Track and Field Hall of Fame National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

. He was married to actress and Playboy Playmate of the month (January 1990) Peggy McIntaggart, and they had twins (a boy and a girl), McKenzie and Mika Seagren, born in 1997.

References

External links

* See the Eugene record jump @ 19:20 * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Seagren, Bob 1946 births Living people 20th-century American sportsmen American chief executives American male pole vaulters Athletes (track and field) at the 1967 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics FISU World University Games silver medalists for the United States Junior college men's track and field athletes in the United States Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1967 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1967 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Mt. SAC Mounties men's track and field athletes NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships winners New Orleans Buccaneers draft picks Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in athletics (track and field) Sportspeople from Pomona, California Track and field athletes from California Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) USC Trojans men's track and field athletes World record setters in athletics (track and field)