Greg Woepse (born March 4, 1957) is a retired American

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 events ...

athlete, primarily in the

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

. He is best known for achieving the silver medal at the

1979 Pan American Games The 1979 Pan American Games (Spanish: ''Juegos Panamericanos de 1979''), officially the VIII Pan American Games were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization, and were held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from July 1 to July 15 ...

. Woepse appears on the American top 10 list three times, his highest rating was number 6 in 1979, which was also the year he graduated from

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sys ...

. In his two attempts to make the Olympics he no heighted in 1980 and finished 8th before a near-home crowd in 1984 at the Olympic Trials. Woepse was a pole vaulter at Mater Dei High School in

Santa Ana, California Santa Ana () is the second most populous city and the county seat of Orange County, California. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census, making Santa Ana the List of ...

. His name surfaces now at the school having coached the successful pole vaulting careers of his children Elizabeth, Greg, Jr., and Michael Woepse, who won the 2012 NACAC U23 Championships.

References

1957 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) American male pole vaulters Track and field athletes from California Track and field athletes from San Jose, California Athletes (track and field) at the 1979 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1979 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in athletics (track and field) Mater Dei High School (Santa Ana, California) alumni 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-polevault-athletics-bio-stub