On Feb. 20, 1890, Alma Richards was born in the small southern Utah town of Parowan. And Utah’s Olympic history began. Parowan is proud of Utah’s first gold medalist, who won the high jump gold in …
A look back at local, national and world events through Deseret News archives.
On Feb. 20, 1890, Alma Richards was born in the small southern Utah town of Parowan.
And Utah’s Olympic history began.
Parowan is proud of Utah’s first gold medalist, who won the high jump gold in 1912 in Sweden. More on that in a minute.
Richards went to school in Parowan and Beaver as a youth, and competed in athletics in those years. BYU coach Eugene Roberts saw Richards compete at Brigham Young High School and saw a talent.
According to Deseret News reports, Roberts began grooming the young athlete for the upcoming 1912 Olympics, but when it came time for the U.S. Olympic finals, he couldn’t raise enough money for both of them to travel to Chicago. The 22-year-old Richards made the trip alone.
After qualifying in Chicago with a jump of 6 feet 2 inches — with an admittedly unorthodox jumping style — Richards was on his way to the 1912 Stockholm Summer Games.
The Olympic moment
There were 57 high jumpers in the high jump finals, including Richards and fellow American Jim Thorpe, who won two gold medals and is considered one of the greatest athletes of all time. But Thorpe was out when Richards and German Hans Liesche battled for the gold.
On his final jump, Richards cleared 6-4, an Olympic record, and Liesche failed on three straight tries.
According to reports, Swedish King Gustav presented the gold medal and an olive wreath to Richards.
Why the floppy hat?
Many photos of Richards in competition showed the Utahn wearing a hat.
He reportedly developed an eye infection on his way to Stockholm, and he wore a floppy felt cap to keep the sun out of his eyes. He kept the cap on throughout most of the competition, adopting it as a good luck charm.
Per reports, Richards was showered in a ticker tape parade in New York City, showered by yet another parade when he got off the train in Provo, and given a college scholarship by Cornell, where he became the national collegiate high jump champion.
He later won the national AAU decathlon in San Francisco and would have been the Olympic decathlon favorite in 1916 if World War I hadn’t interfered. As it was, he was the most-decorated athlete at the combined Armed Forces track & field championships in Paris in 1919, as a 29-year-old.
After competition, Richards served in the military and taught school in Los Angeles. He is a member of the Utah and BYU sports halls of fame. Richards died in 1963 and was buried in Parowan.
Here are some stories from Deseret News archives about Richards, his road to stardom, and how he helped ignite Utah’s Olympic flame:
“Utah native leaped to fame in 1912 Summer Games”
“He came, he saw and he went home with gold”
“Scrapbook of the 20th century: August 1912: Alma Richards”
“Route to honor Utah golden boy?”
“Twila Van Leer: Utah’s extended family includes a 1912 Olympic gold medalist”
“A history of Utahns in Olympic track & field”
“10 Olympians who came from Utah”
Source: Utah News