George Dimitri Varoff (March 25, 1914 – January 10, 2002) was an American

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 ...

er.

Early life

Varoff was born in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

immigrants and grew up in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, where he competed for Balboa High School. After high school, he attended the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

to train under track coach

Bill Hayward William Louis "Colonel Bill" Hayward (July 2, 1868 – December 14, 1947) was a track and field coach at the University of Oregon and a track coach for six United States Olympic teams, from 1908 through 1932. Athletic career Hayward was born i ...

World record

On July 4, 1936, Varoff vaulted 14 ft in (4.43 m) at the

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has ...

(AAU)'s national championship meet, setting a new

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

. However, the Olympic Trials were held separately the following week; at the Trials, Varoff only placed fourth and failed to qualify for the United States team for the 1936 Olympics. Varoff won the AAU championship again in 1939; he set his personal best, 14 ft in (4.46 m), at the 1937 AAU meet, but lost on

countback In various sports, a countback is used to break ties. Field events High jump and pole vault World Athletics, the international governing body for athletics, uses the following criteria to break ties (rule 26.8 in the 2020 edition of the World At ...

as three other men also cleared the same height. With the cancellation of the

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *January ...

and

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in Nor ...

Olympics due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he never competed in the Olympics.

World War II

Varoff joined the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

during World War II and achieved the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. His

B-29 The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 Fly ...

was shot down over

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and reported as

missing in action Missing in action (MIA) is a casualty classification assigned to combatants, military chaplains, combat medics, and prisoners of war who are reported missing during wartime or ceasefire. They may have been killed, wounded, captured, ex ...

on December 7, 1944. He returned safely to his base six weeks later. He later reported that he and his crew had been on a bombing mission.

Legacy

Following the war, Varoff returned to

. He was inducted into the

Oregon Sports Hall of Fame The Oregon Sports Hall of Fame honors Oregon athletes, teams, coaches, and others who have made a significant contribution to sports in Oregon. The first class was inducted in 1980, with new inductees added in the fall. Operated by the Oregon Sports ...

in 1982. He died in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

, on January 10, 2002.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Varoff, George 1914 births 1940s missing person cases 2002 deaths Aerial disappearances of military personnel in action American male pole vaulters American people of Ukrainian descent Formerly missing people Missing in action of World War II Oregon Ducks men's track and field athletes Track and field athletes from San Francisco United States Army Air Forces bomber pilots of World War II United States Army Air Forces officers

Early life

World record

World War II

Legacy

See also

References