Frederick Morgan "Fred" Hansen (born December 29, 1940) is an American former athlete who competed mainly in the pole vault. A 1963 graduate of

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...

, he competed for the United States in the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this ho ...

held in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

in the pole vault where he won the gold medal. He held the world record in the Pole Vault for almost 2 years, first set as on June 13, 1964 and then improved to on July 25, 1964 at the USA vs USSR dual meet at the

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (also known as the L.A. Coliseum) is a multi-purpose stadium in the Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Conceived as a hallmark of civic pride, the Coliseum was commissioned in 1921 as a mem ...

1964 Olympics

Going into the 1964 Olympics, the United States had never lost an Olympic pole vault competition. In the final, the last remaining American was Hansen, who at the time was also the

world record holder In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

. The field included two other previous world record holders and decathlete C. K. Yang. Hansen cleared 5 meters on his first attempt, but so did three German athletes. Hansen then passed the next height, watching as only Wolfgang Reinhardt was able to clear. Re-entering the competition at 5.10, Hansen failed his first two attempts, but so did Reinhardt. Hansen then sailed over his final attempt, while Reinhart could not. Hansen continued the American streak, which would survive through one more Olympics until the 1972 pole vault controversy, when defending champion

Bob Seagren Robert Seagren (born October 17, 1946) is a retired American pole vaulter, the 1968 Olympic champion. A native of Pomona, California, Seagren was one of the world's top pole vaulters in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He won six National AAU ...

had his pole confiscated at the games and had to compete on an unfamiliar, borrowed pole.

Other achievements

Besides pole vault Hansen competed in the long jump. He was also an avid golfer and played at the 1980 U.S. Amateur golf championship. He is currently retired and resides

Gonzales County Gonzales County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas, adjacent to Greater Austin-San Antonio. As of the 2020 census, its population was 19,653. The county is named for its county seat, the city of Gonzales. The county was created in 1836 a ...

, Texas. He formerly practiced dentistry in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, Texas, in the Memorial area of town. He was Inducted into the Texas Track and Field Coaches Hall of Fame, Class of 2016.http://ttfca2.wixsite.com/txtfhalloffame/inductees
. wixsite.com He is featured on the cover of the boo

by David Butler. ThePoleVault A Violent Ballet

References

External links

Fred Hansen at Sporting Heroes
* 1940 births Living people American male pole vaulters American Presbyterians Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics World record setters in athletics (track and field) Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field Rice Owls men's track and field athletes Rice University alumni People from Cuero, Texas Track and field athletes from Texas {{US-athletics-Olympic-medalist-stub