Sam Bellah
Sam Bellah, The First World Record Holding Pole Vaulter From Hanford
from Peter M. McGinnis, Ph.D. of the Physical Education Department of SUNY College
at Cortland, NY.
"According to America's Best -- a compilation of U.S. and Olympic International Track and Field Stars -- 1896-1987 (edited by Hal Bateman, published by TAC/USA (now USATF) in Indianapolis - no copyright date apparent), Bellah was born on June 24, 1887 and died in April 1963. He was 5'9" tall and weighed 155 pounds. His best in the pole vault was 12' 9 1/2" (3.90 m) in 1912. He also had a best in long jump of 22' 5 1/4" and threw the javelin 150' 10". In the 1908 Olympic Games he tied for sixth in the pole vault with a vault of 11'6". He also competed in the long jump and triple jump in those Olympic Games.
"In the 1912 Olympic Games he placed 7th in the pole vault at 12' 3 1/2". He won the AAU Pole Vault in 1915 and he tied for first in 191l." A 1941 article in the Hanford Sentinel read:"In 1912, the name of Hanford's first track champion flashed across the nation's sports pages. Prior to the Olympic Games held that year in Stockholm Sweden, Sam Bellah, representing Stanford University and formerly of Hanford High School, catapulted over 13 feet to set a new world's indoor pole vault record. Today that mark wouldn't gain first place in most high school meets, and would certainly be regarded with scorn in any major college meet, but in 1912, considering the prevailing conditions, and the comparatively limited amount of coaching available in the event, well, my friends, that was a h_ll of a jump!"
Prof. McGinnis said that, "Indoor world records were even harder to keep track of. The IAAF didn't list or ratify indoor world records until sometime in the 1980s or early 1990s (the first IAAF World Indoor Championship was held in 1987 in Indianapolis). Anyway, Ganslen's book lists the world indoor record in 1912 as only 3.555M (11'8") by William Happeny, a Canadian. He set this mark in 1910. This looks low to me judging by the quality of the outdoor marks at the time. Even so, if the article in the Hanford newspaper is accurate, and Sam Bellah vaulted 13' indoors in 1912, then he probably did set a world indoor record!"
Sam Bellah graduated from Hanford High School with the class of 1906
Courtesy of Martha Bentley