William Noe Graber (January 21, 1911 – March 8, 1996) was an American pole vaulter. He broke the pole vault world record in 1932 and competed at the 1932 and 1936 Olympics, placing fourth and fifth, respectively.[1]
Athletic career
Graber studied at the University of Southern California (USC), where he was coached by Dean Cromwell.[2] As a sophomore in 1931 Graber won the pole vault at the IC4A championships[3] and tied for first at the NCAA championships,[4] helping the USC Trojans to team titles in both meets.[2][5] At the IC4A meet in Philadelphia men's pole vault was the last event and Graber's meeting record of 14ft1⁄2in (4.28m) secured the Trojans a narrow victory over Stanford University.[6] Graber was only the fifth athlete in the world to jump 14 feet or more in a competition, and the only one to do so that year.[7] Graber's NCAA jump of 13ft10+5⁄16in (4.22m) was also a meeting record; the Trojans won that team title by a much more comfortable margin, scoring a record 77+1⁄7 points and beating Ohio State by 46 points.[5]
Graber repeated as IC4A champion 1932, although this time he only tied for first.[3] He was unable to defend his NCAA title as the Trojans didn't compete in that meet.[4] The American team for the Olympics in Los Angeles was selected at the Olympic Trials in Palo Alto, with the top three qualifying. Both Graber and Stanford's Bill Miller cleared 14ft1+5⁄8in (4.31m), a fraction of an inch better than Lee Barnes's world record of 14ft1+1⁄2in (4.30m).[8] Graber then cleared 14ft4+3⁄8in (4.37m) to obliterate the record; he said afterwards "it was the first time this year that I have been able to follow one good vault with another."[8] The record established Graber as the leading favorite for the Olympics,[9][10] but he underperformed and only jumped 13ft7+1⁄4in (4.15m), placing fourth behind Miller, Japan's Shuhei Nishida and the other American entrant, George Jefferson.[1][11]
Graber won his third IC4A title in 1933 in a five-way tie for first place.[3][12] He also tied for first place at the NCAA meet, jumping 13ft11+1⁄16in (4.24m)[13] to break his own meeting record.[4] In 1934 he was national champion indoors[14] and tied for the title outdoors.[15] He almost broke his own world record in April 1935 at Santa Barbara, clearing a bar supposedly at 14ft5+5⁄8in (4.41m), but it was subsequently found that the take-off point had been two inches (5cm) higher than the point of measurement and the record could not be ratified.[16]
Entering the Olympic year of 1936, Graber was considered a leading candidate for his second Olympic Games.[17] At the Olympic Trials at Randalls Island in New York City he cleared 14ft3in (4.34m), tying for first place with Bill Sefton and Earle Meadows.[18] Meadows and Sefton both being USC undergraduates, it was the first time in the history of the Trials that one university had claimed the top three.[18]George Varoff, who had been the favorite after breaking the world record the previous week, only cleared 14ft (4.26m) and didn't qualify for the team.[19]
Graber was again a leading Olympic favorite,[20] but again he failed to medal; at the Olympics he only managed 13ft7+1⁄4in (4.15m) and placed 5th.[1]
Note 1: In 1888 both the NAAAA and the AAU held championships
OT: The 1920, 1928, 1932, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 championships incorporated the Olympic Trials, otherwise held as a discrete event.
2020 OT: The 2020 Olympic Trials were delayed and held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
