Stephen Norwood Smith (November 24, 1951 – September 23, 2020) was an American Olympicpole vaulter.[3] He was the first person to clear the 18 foot barrier indoors.[1] He was the number one ranked pole vaulter in the world in 1973.
Smith was United States indoor pole vault champion in 1972–73.[4] He was also the first vaulter to break the 18-foot barrier indoors in 1973.[1]
Smith qualified for the1972 Munich Olympics but failed to make the final.[1]In theOlympic trials, Smith finished second in a top-quality competition –Bob Seagren, the winner, broke the world record.[5] At the Olympics, Smith was one of the athletes affected by a ban by the world governing body theIAAF on the lighter poles they had been using all season. An initial ban in July had been reversed on August 27, but on the eve of the competition, August 30, the IAAF reimposed their ban claiming the poles were new equipment and therefore invalid. Smith finished 18th in qualifying and was so upset he threw his pole away in disgust at the end of the competition.[6]
Following his Olympic disaster, Smith rededicated himself to pole vaulting. His reward came on January 20, 1973 when he broke the world record indoors with 17 ft 11 in (5.46 m) (beating a record previously held byKjell Isaksson at 17 ft 10.5 in (5.45 m).[7] Six days later he raised the record to 18 ft 0.25 in (5.49 m).[8][9] Smith was to raise the record again over the next two seasons on theITA tour culminating with 5.61 m (18 ft 5 in) on May 28, 1975 inNew York City.[10][11]
He had a long-standing sporting rivalry with his fellow American pole vaulterBob Seagren that famously developed into a personal and very public animosity.[12]
This rivalry was used as a promotional item for the new professional track and field tour of theInternational Track Association (ITA) that Smith and Seagren both joined – Seagren from the start of the ITA in 1973, Smith for the 1974 season.[13] After the ITA folded in 1976, Smith applied to regain his amateur status having it restored eventually in 1979. He pursued legal action to enable him to take part in the Olympic Trials for the1980 Moscow Olympics from which he was initially banned. Smith finished fourth at the trials making him the alternate if one of top three finishers could not compete. However, this status was made meaningless with theUnited States boycott of the Moscow Olympics.[5]
Smith retired from athletics in 1983 after suffering an ankle injury in a car accident.[14]
Smith, a natural showman, was always popular with the crowds, for his muscular physique, love of surfing and his eye-catching dress sense – he famously competed in cranberry-colored, psychedelic ski pants.[8]
His first college was theUniversity of Southern California. He started the year his nemesis, Bob Seagren, graduated. After one year he left forLong Beach State. At Long Beach State he was refused permission to work with his coach, Dick Tomlinson, who was not on the college staff, so he ended up training with the Pacific Coast Club instead.[8][16]
Smith was voted by the experts atTrack and Field News to be ranked among the best in the USA and the world at the pole vault during his career. He was ranked during his early career and again when he returned to amateur competition. He would also have ranked during his professional career in the intervening years if the rankings had allowed this.[18][19]
