David Roberts (athlete)

David Roberts (David Luther " Dave" Roberts, born July 23, 1951 in Stillwater, Oklahoma ) is a retired American pole vaulter who was successful in the first half of the 1970s. He set two world records and won an Olympic bronze medal.

He stepped into the public spotlight in 1971, when he left in January and Johnson before the Canadians Bruce Simpson won the silver medal at the Pan American Games in the Colombian Cali.

For the Rice University, he was starting from 1971 to 1973 three times in a row NCAA champion. 1972 and 1974 he was U.S. champion.

On March 28, 1975, he presented in Gainesville with 5.65 m and on June 22, 1976 in Eugene with a world record to 5.70 m. At the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, he leaps, like the Pole Tadeusz Ślusarski and the Finn Antti Kalliomäki the Olympic record height of 5.50 m. The number of failed attempts decided on the distribution of medals, and so Ślusarski received gold, silver and Kalliomäki Roberts bronze.

David Roberts was inducted into the USA Pole Vault Hall of Fame in 2006.