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60th Anniversary of Hansen’s Golden Moment to be Celebrated on Saturday
10/9/2024 3:24:00 PM | Men's Track & Field
Pole Vault Gold Medalist in 1964
Rice Athletics will celebrate the 60th anniversary of Fred Hansen's gold medal performance at the Games of the XVIII Olympiad in Tokyo by recognizing the legendary Owl during Saturday's home football game with UTSA.
Hansen will be joined on the field at the game by members of the Rice men's and women's track and field teams who will celebrate his achievement at a dinner before the game.
Hansen had been an NCAA champion and three-time, All-American in the pole vault at Rice and became one of the dominant performers in the sport after his graduation in 1963. He set the world record twice in the summer of 1964 and was the favorite to extend America's undefeated streak in the event in Olympic competition as the games in Tokyo approached in October.
His path towards extending that streak and becoming Rice's first Olympic gold medalist would become one of the most rigorous in Olympic history, as the final stretched from 1 p.m. on the afternoon of October 17 until nearly 10 p.m. as officials raised the bar in increments of 5 cm at a time. Hansen passed multiple times as the height slowly increased and needed only four vaults before the bar was set at the eventual winning height.
Wolfgang Reinhardt of West Germany had cleared 5.05 meters while Hansen had passed. Both missed their first two attempts at 5.10 meters, but Hansen cleared the bar on his final attempt while Rienhardt could not, ending the longest pole vault final in Olympic history at nearly nine hours.
After he retired from competition, Hansen became a successful dentist in Houston. He was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame only three years after his victory in Tokyo and was the youngest of the 15 inaugural inductees into the Rice Athletics Hall of Fame in 1970. He entered the Texas Track and Field Coaches Hall of Fame in 2016.
Hansen will be joined on the field at the game by members of the Rice men's and women's track and field teams who will celebrate his achievement at a dinner before the game.
Hansen had been an NCAA champion and three-time, All-American in the pole vault at Rice and became one of the dominant performers in the sport after his graduation in 1963. He set the world record twice in the summer of 1964 and was the favorite to extend America's undefeated streak in the event in Olympic competition as the games in Tokyo approached in October.
His path towards extending that streak and becoming Rice's first Olympic gold medalist would become one of the most rigorous in Olympic history, as the final stretched from 1 p.m. on the afternoon of October 17 until nearly 10 p.m. as officials raised the bar in increments of 5 cm at a time. Hansen passed multiple times as the height slowly increased and needed only four vaults before the bar was set at the eventual winning height.
Wolfgang Reinhardt of West Germany had cleared 5.05 meters while Hansen had passed. Both missed their first two attempts at 5.10 meters, but Hansen cleared the bar on his final attempt while Rienhardt could not, ending the longest pole vault final in Olympic history at nearly nine hours.
After he retired from competition, Hansen became a successful dentist in Houston. He was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame only three years after his victory in Tokyo and was the youngest of the 15 inaugural inductees into the Rice Athletics Hall of Fame in 1970. He entered the Texas Track and Field Coaches Hall of Fame in 2016.
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