Tomás Valdemar "Tom" Hintnaus (born February 15, 1958) is a retired

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian-born

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, model, and actor. Although he is an American citizen, he represented his native country, Brazil, in the Olympic Games following the American boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics. He is the son of

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, ...

immigrants, Lubomir and Marianne Hintnaus, who escaped from their home country to

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

, but were unable to emigrate directly to the United States. As an intermediate stop, they moved first to Brazil, where Tom was born. They moved to the United States in 1960 when he was two.

Competition

Hintnaus attended the now closed Aviation High School in

Redondo Beach, California Redondo Beach (Spanish for ''round'') is a coastal city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located in the South Bay region of the Greater Los Angeles area. It is one of three adjacent beach cities along the southern portion of Sa ...

. He won the

CIF California State Meet The CIF California State Meet is the annual championship track and field meet for the California Interscholastic Federation. The meet was started in 1915 for boys and 1974 for girls. Every athlete in every high school in California has a direc ...

in 1976. As an American citizen, he won the pole vault with a jump of 5.60 m (18 ft in) at the 1980

United States Olympic Trials The United States Olympic Trials are competitions held in certain sports to select the United States' participants in those sports at the Olympic Games. These events include: * United States Olympic Trials (curling) * United States Olympic Trials (d ...

, but missed the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

due to the American boycott. He rejected an opportunity to represent his native country, Brazil, at the 1980 Olympics; instead, he represented the United States at the

Liberty Bell Classic The Liberty Bell Classic was a track and field athletics event organized by the Athletics Congress as part of the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott and held at Franklin Field at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia on July 16 and 17, 1980 ...

( Olympic Boycott Games), where he won. Hintnaus was one of 461 recipients of a

Congressional Gold Medal The Congressional Gold Medal is an award bestowed by the United States Congress. It is Congress's highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions by individuals or institutions. The congressional pract ...

created especially for the spurned athletes. Hintnaus changed his mind later and joined the Brazilian team in 1983. For Brazil, he finished fifth at the 1983 World Championships, won the bronze medal at the

1983 Pan American Games The 1983 Pan American Games were held in Caracas, Venezuela from August 14 to August 29, 1983. The games were the first major international competition to include relatively accurate steroid testing.Taylor, William N., ''Anabolic Steroids and the ...

, and no-heighted in the final at the 1984 Olympic Games, held less than 12 miles (20 km) from the neighborhood where he grew up. His personal best was 5.76 metres, achieved in August 1985 in

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

. This is a former South American record. It was broken by countryfellow

Fábio Gomes da Silva Fabio is a given name descended from Latin ''Fabius'' and very popular in Italy and Latin America (due to Italian migration). Its English equivalent is Fabian (name), Fabian. The name is written without an accent in Italian and Spanish, but is usu ...

in 2007.

Advertising

Hintnaus is also known as the first model in the underwear advertising campaign of designer

Calvin Klein Calvin Richard Klein (born November 19, 1942) is an American fashion designer who launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc., in 1968. In addition to clothing, he also has given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and ...

. The photograph by Bruce Weber of Hintnaus in white briefs, leaning against a thickly white-washed chimney on

Santorini Santorini ( el, Σαντορίνη, ), officially Thira (Greek: Θήρα ) and classical Greek Thera (English pronunciation ), is an island in the southern Aegean Sea, about 200 km (120 mi) southeast from the Greek mainland. It is the ...

Island in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, became the iconic image of "male as sex object" in the 1980s. ''

American Photographer American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

'' magazine named the photo as one of "10 Pictures That Changed America."

Acting

Hintnaus appeared in the Hawaii Five-0 Season 4 episode, "Ha'uoli La Ho'omaika'i" as assassin Dante Barkov. He also appeared in the 1981 slasher film '' Graduation Day'' as Pete McFarlin.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hintnaus, Tomas Valdemar 1958 births Living people Brazilian male pole vaulters Athletes (track and field) at the 1983 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Brazil American people of Czech descent Brazilian emigrants to the United States Brazilian people of Czech descent Sportspeople from Redondo Beach, California Brazilian male models Track and field athletes from California American male pole vaulters Pan American Games bronze medalists for Brazil Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Congressional Gold Medal recipients Medalists at the 1983 Pan American Games

Competition

Advertising

Acting

See also

References

External links