Giorgos Roubanis
Bronze medal, November 26, 1956, Giorgos Roubanis, Pole vault. Melbourne 1956
Greece wins a medal at the Olympics again after 44 years, thanks to its pole vault champion George Roubanis, who studied in the United States. He traveled to Australia early for training and set a personal best of 4.37. The competition was sensational and watched by 130,000 spectators, but two elements posed a major problem. The unfamiliar air, especially in the heats, and the high turnout of athletes who made it to the finals because of the low qualification hurdle. In other words, 19 athletes from 12 countries participated in the final, and so the competition lasted about 11 hours.
Roubanis started low, only 4.00 to find a rhythm, and later surpassed 4.45 and 4.50, a performance that eventually earned him the bronze medal. It was even a new Hellenic and Balkan record. American Bob Richards, nicknamed the “flying priest” because of his theology studies, took the gold medal with 4.56, although he only made it to the final on his third attempt. He had also taken first place in Helsinki in 1952. The silver medal went to his compatriot Bob Gutowski, who died in a car accident in 1960 at the age of only 25.
The final ranking: Richards (USA) 4.56 Gutowski (USA) 4.53 Roubanis (Greece) 4.50 Mattos (USA) 4.35 Lundberg (Sweden) 4.25 Wazny (Poland) 4.25 Landstroem (Finland) 4.25 Preussger (Germany) 4.25.
They said..
“I wanted to win the gold medal not just for myself, but also for the people who had shown me so much love and support. I truly believed in it, but I think my lack of experience cost me the victory. At the time, I had only been training in pole vaulting for four years. I remember struggling immensely that day—the competition started at 11 a.m. and didn’t end until 10 p.m. I arrived at the field unprepared, without water or any food to sustain me. After going hours without eating, exhaustion set in, and later that night, I couldn’t sleep due to severe cramps. When I received the bronze medal, I was devastated. I couldn’t hold back my tears. But the next day, as dozens of congratulatory telegrams poured in from Greece, I began to realize that I had still accomplished something significant. The moment I returned to Athens, greeted by thousands of passionate sports fans at the airport, I truly understood the impact of my achievement.”
November 26, 1956
