INDIANAPOLIS — Legendary pole vaulter Bob Richards, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and member of the National Track & Field Hall of Fame who was the first athlete to appear on the front of a Wheaties cereal box, died Feb. 26. He was 97. At the time of his death, Richards was the oldest living Olympic track and field gold medalist. The "Vaulting Vicar" as he was known in his competitive days, the Rev. Robert "Bob" Richards was a versatile athlete who made three Olympic teams in two events. He competed in the 1948, 1952 and 1956 Games as a pole vaulter and also was a decathlete in 1956. The second man to pole vault 15 feet, he was the Olympic pole vault gold medalist in 1952 and 1956 after winning the bronze medal in 1948. He also was 13th in the 1956 Olympic decathlon. Winner of the 1951 AAU Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the U.S., Richards also earned gold in the pole vault at the 1951 and 1955 Pan American Games, and added silver in the decathlon in 1955. He ended his career with a personal best of 15-5 in the pole vault, using a steel pole, and he had a best of 7,381 points in the decathlon. While a student at the University of Illinois, Richards tied for the national collegiate pole vault title and followed that with 20 National AAU titles, including 17 in the pole vault. Still the only two-time Olympic gold medal winner in the men's pole vault, Richards was virtually unbeatable indoors, winning the pole vault at the Millrose Games 11 consecutive times. He later became involved in physical fitness and continued to vault in his later years. Richards had two sons who also were outstanding pole vaulters and one, Brandon, held the national high school record. An ordained minister, Richards was elected to the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1983 after being inducted into the National Track & Field Hall of Fame in 1975. Photo credit: U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum.