Frank Foss
USA
Athletics
Overall Ranks
#18 among American Olympians
#14 among Track & Field Athletes
#13 among Male American Olympians
#10 among American Track & Field Athletes
#10 among Male Track & Field Athletes
#8 among Male American Track & Field Athletes
Olympic Results
1920
Pole Vault - Gold
Total
Events - 1
Gold - 1
Frank Kent Foss was born on May 9, 1895 in Chicago, Illinois. He won the I4CA Championship in 1915 and 1916 while attending Cornell University, and then won the AAU championships in both 1919 and 1920. He had vaulted 4.05 meters in 1919, which was higher than the world record, but it was never officially verified to count as a world record.
He went to Antwerp in 1920 to compete in the Summer Olympics, where he was the favorite going in, and he didn't disappoint. 9 vaulters cleared 3.6 meters in the qualifying round to advance to the final, but two of them were unable to repeat that in the final round. Of the 7 who did clear 3.6, only two made it any farther, with Henry Petersen of Denmark joining Foss in making it over 3.7, but Petersen was unable to clear any further heights. Foss continued to raise the bar, both literally and figuratively, and by the end he had cleared 4.09 meters, setting a new world record, and winning the gold medal by 0.39 meters, or 15.4 inches, which is still the largest margin of victory in Olympic history.
After the Olympics, Foss stopped competing, and started working in the meatpacking industry for the rest of his life. He passed away on April 5, 1989 in Hinsdale, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. Even though he only competed in one Olympic event, he set a world record in that event, and had the largest margin of victory ever, making him one of the greatest Olympians of all time.
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