Alma Richards
Richards in 1912 | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alma Wilford Richards, Esq. | |||||||||||
| Born | Alma Wilford Richards February 20, 1890 Parowan, Utah, U.S.[1] | |||||||||||
| Died | April 3, 1963 (aged 73) Long Beach, California, U.S. | |||||||||||
| Alma mater | Brigham Young High School | |||||||||||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[2] | |||||||||||
| Weight | 84 kg (185 lb) | |||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||
| Sport | Track and field | |||||||||||
Event(s) | High jump, long jump, shot put, discus throw, decathlon | |||||||||||
| University team | Cornell University Big Red | |||||||||||
| Coached by | Eugene L. Roberts[1] | |||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||
| Personal best(s) | HJ – 1.956 m (1915) LJ – 7.125 m (1915) SP – 14.01 m (1916) DT – 44.12 m (1922)[3] | |||||||||||
Medal record
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Alma Wilford Richards (February 20, 1890 – April 3, 1963) was an American athlete. He was the first resident of Utah to win a gold medal at the 1912 Olympic Games, in Stockholm, Sweden, in the running high jump event.[1][4]
Biography
Richards graduated from Brigham Young prep school in 1913, and then attended Cornell University with a scholarship, where he was also a member of the Quill and Dagger honor society,[5][6] and earned a law degree.[7]
He served in the US Army during World War 1. He was discharged as a 1Lt.
Rather than practice law he chose to teach science at Venice High School in Los Angeles for 32 years.[1] Richards was buried, according to his wishes, in the Parowan Cemetery.[8] He was posthumously inducted into the Utah Sports Hall of Fame (1970),[9] Helms Hall of Fame and Brigham Young University Hall of Fame.[1]
Personal life
Richards’ first wife was Marian Gardiner Richards. They married in 1918. They had three children, Joanne Richards, Marion Richards, who died in infancy (1924), and Carolyn Richards, who died when she was 2 years old (1928). His second wife was Gertrude Anita Huntimer Richards. They married in 1932. They had three children: Mary Richards Schraeger of La Habra Heights, California; Anita Richards Ricciardi of Whittier California; and Paul Richards of Los Angeles, California. His third and final wife was Lenore Catherine Griffin, whom he married in 1948. They did not have any children.[8] Richards was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, their first member to compete in the Olympics.[10]
A movie, Raising the Bar: The Alma Richards Story was released in April 2025.[11][12] It was written and directed by LDS filmmaker, T.C. Christensen, who is a grand-nephew of Alma Richards.[13]
References
- ^ a b c d e Reese, W. Paul (February 1995) Alma Richards Was Utah's First Olympic Gold Medalist. History Blazer
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Alma Richards". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020.
- ^ Alma Richards. trackfield.brinkster.net
- ^ "Alma Richards". Olympedia. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
- ^ "Alma: BYA Boy Wins Olympic Gold". Y Magazine. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
- ^ "Alma Richards (1986) - Hall of Fame". Cornell University Athletics. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
- ^ Benson, Lee; Robinson, Doug (January 1, 1992). Trials & Triumphs/Mormons in the Olympic Games. Deseret Book Company. ISBN 978-0875796284. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
- ^ a b Wallechinsky, David and Loucky, Jaime (2008). "Track & Field (Men): High Jump." In "The Complete Book of the Olympics – 2008 Edition." London: Aurum Press, Limited. p. 197.
- ^ Honorees. Utah Sports Hall of Fame
- ^ Deseret News 1999-2000 Church Almanac. Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret News. 1998. p. 555. ISBN 1573454915.
- ^ "Raising the Bar: The Alma Richards Story - Official Website". raisingthebarmovie.com/. December 8, 2025. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Raising the Bar: The Alma Richards Story". IMDB.com. December 8, 2025. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Ginos, Becky (April 1, 2025). "T.C. Christensen's 'Raising the bar: The Alma Richards story' set to open April 24". Davis Journal. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
External links
- Alma Richards at World Athletics
- Photograph of Alma Richards in a triumphal parade after his return from the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, UA P 2 Series 2 Item 1100 box 7 folder 70–89 at L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Brigham Young University
- Alma Richards at Find a Grave
- Alma Richards
- Alma Richards at Olympedia
- Alma Wilfred Richards at Olympics.com
- Alma Richards at Olympic.org (archived)
- Olympics 1912 High jumpers (16-second-video) on YouTube
- Alma Richards: Mormon Athlete at mormonwiki.com/