Robert Eugene Richards nicknamed Vaulting Vicar was an American athlete, minister, and politician best known for being an Olympic gold medal winner and the first athlete to appear on the front of Wheaties boxes. Richards showed early athletic abilities in basketball and was a pole-vaulter and a star quarterback at Champaign Central High School. When he was 20 he was ordained a minister of the Church of the Brethren. Between 1947 to 1957, he dominated national and international competitions by cl... moreRobert Eugene Richards nicknamed Vaulting Vicar was an American athlete, minister, and politician best known for being an Olympic gold medal winner and the first athlete to appear on the front of Wheaties boxes. Richards showed early athletic abilities in basketball and was a pole-vaulter and a star quarterback at Champaign Central High School. When he was 20 he was ordained a minister of the Church of the Brethren. Between 1947 to 1957, he dominated national and international competitions by clearing 15 feet more than 125 times. He won two gold medals in the 1950 Olympics and Bronze the 1948 Olympics. He was also a 17 time A.A.U. championship winner in indoor and outdoor vaulting competitions, and United States decathlon championships in 1951, 1954 and 1955. His image was put on Wheaties boxes from 1958 to 1970 becoming the face of the breakfast cereal, he even ran for President of the United States in 1984 and lost. Richards was inducted to the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1983 and National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1975.
