Richard Francis Ault (December 10, 1925 - July 16, 2007) was an American

hurdler Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...

who finished fourth in the Men's 400 metres hurdles at the 1948 Summer Olympics. He set a 440-yard hurdle world record of 52.2 on August 31, 1949 at

Bislett Stadion Bislett Stadium ( no, Bislett stadion) is a sports stadium in Oslo, Norway. Bislett is Norway's most well known sports arena internationally, with 15 speed skating world records and more than 50 track and field world records having been set here ...

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

. He attended Roosevelt High School in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

. Ault participated in

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...

and had a second-place finish in the intermediates at the 1949 AAU. He won the Big 6 220-yard low hurdles in 1946 and 1947 and the Big 7 low hurdles in 1948 and 1949. Ault was the conference champion in the 440-yard dash in 1947 and 1949. He taught at Highland Park High School, where he led the cross-country team to a state championship, and later became a

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorat ...

professor at Westminster College. He also coached track, cross-country, swimming, and golf at Westminster. He was inducted into the

Missouri Sports Hall of Fame The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is located in Springfield, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1994 by Springfield businessman John Q. Hammons, the Hall of Fame is housed in a two-story, 32,000-square-foot building. On display are more than 4, ...

in 1993. He is also a member of the University of Missouri Hall of Fame and the National High School Sports Hall of Fame.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ault, Dick 1925 births 2007 deaths American male hurdlers Missouri Tigers men's track and field athletes Olympic track and field athletes of the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 1948 Summer Olympics Westminster College (Missouri) faculty Schoolteachers from Illinois Track and field athletes from St. Louis 20th-century American educators Westminster Blue Jays track and field coaches