Don Bragg

Medal record
Men's athletics
Competitor for the  United States
Olympic Games
Gold	1960 Rome	Pole vault
Pan American Games
Gold	1959 Chicago	Pole vault

Don Bragg (born 15 May 1935 in Penns Grove, New Jersey) was an American athlete who competed mainly in the pole vault. He competed for the United States in the men's pole vault event at the 1960 Summer Olympics held in Rome, Italy where he won the gold medal.

Bragg grew up in Penns Grove, New Jersey, where he attended Penns Grove High School.^[1]

Bragg was the last of the great pole vaulters to use a aluminum pole. From 1954 until 1960, he was always world ranked and capped a brilliant career in 1960 by setting a world record of 15' 9¼" (4.80 m) at the Olympic Trials and winning an Olympic gold medal with a vault of 15' 5" (4.70 m). He set a world indoor record of 15' 9½" (4.81 m) at Philadelphia in 1959 and, like Hall of Famer Cornelius Warmerdam, vaulted better indoors than outdoors.

At 6' 3" and 197 pounds, Bragg was one of the largest vaulters in history. He had to stay on a 1,200 calories (5,000 kJ) diet to stay at that weight. Any more and the aluminum alloy poles would crumple under the strain.^[2] The aluminum pole had another disadvantage: while taking it aboard a train in Philadelphia, Bragg hit an electrical line and nearly electrocuted himself. ^[3]

While at Villanova University, he won the NCAA pole vault championship in 1955 and was the IC4A champion, both indoors and outdoors, from 1955 to 1957. He also tied for the AAU indoor championship. After graduating in 1957, Bragg again tied for the AAU indoor championship in 1958, then won the event from 1959 through 1961. He was also the AAU outdoor champion in 1959.

Nicknamed "Tarzan" because of his size and strength, Bragg's goal was to play that role in the movies. Few have so actively pursued a role. He toured Europe and Africa for the U.S. State Department as a goodwill ambassador, climbing trees and swinging from vines.^[4] He met Johnny Weissmüller who agreed that Bragg would be perfect as Tarzan. When he won the Gold at the 1960 Olympics he did the infamous Tarzan yell from the podium, shocking the crowd. He was offered the role twice, but was injured and missed both opportunities. His dream was unfulfilled.

He later became athletic director at Stockton State College (N.J.), the owner of a summer camp, and the author of A Chance to Dare: The Don Bragg Story.

His time running a summer camp is chronicled in Kamp Olympik by Don and Theresa Bragg as told to Patricia Doherty.

Records Held

• World Record: Pole Vault - 4.80 m (July 2, 1960)^[5]

Championships

• 1955 NCAA: Pole Vault (1st)
• 1957 AAU Indoors: Pole Vault (1st)
• 1958 AAU Indoors: Pole Vault (1st)
• 1959 AAU Indoors: Pole Vault (1st)
• 1959 AAU Outdoors: Pole Vault (1st)
• 1960 AAU Indoors: Pole Vault (1st)
• 1960 Summer Olympics: Pole Vault - 4.70 m (1st)
• 1961 AAU Indoors: Pole Vault (1st)

Education

• High school: Penns Grove High School (Penns Grove, New Jersey), 1953
• Undergraduate: Villanova (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), 1957

Notes

1. ^ Staff. "The Twig Was Bent", Time (magazine), April 20, 1959. Accessed December 16, 2008.
2. ^ Bragg, "A Chance to Dare: The Don Bragg Story" pg 77
3. ^ Bill Livingston, Above and Beyond Part Four, The Plain Dealer
4. ^ The Twig was Bent, Time Magazine, April 20, 1959
5. ^ "12th IAAF World Championships In Athletics: IAAF Statistics Handbook. Berlin 2009." (pdf). Monte Carlo: IAAF Media & Public Relations Department. 2009. pp. Page 555. http://www.iaaf.org/mm/document/competitions/competition/05/15/63/20090706014834_httppostedfile_p345-688_11303.pdf. Retrieved August 5, 2009. 

References

1. Don Bragg with Patricia Doherty, A Chance to Dare : The Don Bragg Story , Virtual Bookworm, pg 77.

2. Bill Livingston, Above and Beyond Part Four, The Plain Dealer

3. Time Magazine, "The Twig was Bent", April 20, 1959.

Records
Preceded by Robert Gutowski	Men's Pole Vault World Record Holder July 2, 1960 – May 20, 1961	Succeeded by George Davies (athlete)

Persondata
Name	Bragg, Don
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	May 15, 1935
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death