- Bud Held
Franklin "Bud" Held (born
October 25 1927 inLos Angeles, California ) is an American athlete who competed primarily in thejavelin .College career
Bud Held started as a
pole vault er in high school, but switched to the javelin while a student atStanford University , where he won theNCAA javelin championship in 1948, 1949, and 1950.cite web|url=http://www.usatf.org/HallOfFame/TF/showBio.asp?HOFIDs=72|title=Franklin (Bud) Held|accessdate=2007-08-10|publisher=USATF.com] Held set six American records in the javelin, and in 1953 became the first American to hold the world javelin record with an effort of ft in to m|263|10|precision=2; in so doing, Held became the first athlete ever to throw the 800 gram javelin over 80 meters. He set a second world record of ft in to m|268|2|precision=2 in 1955, and his career best throw was ft in to m|270|0|precision=2 in 1956.International competition
Held was a member of the United States' 1952 Olympic team where he placed ninth after a shoulder injury, and missed making the 1956 Olympic by an inch. He won a gold medal in the
1955 Pan American Games in 1955 with a throw of m to ft|69.77.cite web|url=http://www.gbrathletics.com/ic/pag.htm|title=Pan American Games|title=GBRAthletics.com|accessdate=2007-08-10]Master's competition
Held continues to compete in masters competitions. In 1970, Held set a United States national masters javelin record of ft in to m|229|3|precision=2. As of 2007, Held continues to compete in masters track and field events, where in the U.S., he is ranked #1 in the
pole vault and #6 in thediscus for men aged 75–79.cite web|url=http://www.mastersrankings.com/indresults.php?idno=1021639322192784319665&pseason=Outdoor&cyear=2006|title=USA Masters Track and Field Rankings: Bud Held|accessdate=2007-08-10|publisher=USATF.com]Outside of competition
After his retirement from standard competition, Held became a successful sporting equipment businessman. He also invented a hollow javelin that was used into the 1960s, but his design was outlawed due to safety concerns.cite web|url=http://www.scienceiq.com/ShowFact.cfm?ID=193|title=Get the point?|publisher=ScienceIQ.com|accessdate=2007-08-10] He was inducted into the
USA Track & Field Hall of Fame in 1987, and is a member of the Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame.cite web| title =The Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame| work =Stanford Athletics website|url =http://gostanford.cstv.com/trads/stan-trads-hof.html| accessdate =2007-08-10]References
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