DICK AULT (Jan 1944)

Richard “Dick” Ault  was an Olympic athlete and coach.  He was a member of the United States Olympic Track and Field Team.  He competed in the 1948 Summer Olympic games in London, England, finishing 4th in the 400 meter hurdles.  The following year, he tied the world record of 52.2 seconds in the 440 yard hurdles in Oslo, Norway. A track standout at the University of Missouri, he won six outdoor conference titles in the 220 yard hurdles in 1946 and 1947 and seven conference titles in 1948 and 1949.

Following his track career, he served as the head track, cross country coach and later as the the athletic director at Westminster College for 29 years before retiring in 1997.  He was an inductee into the Cross Country Coaches Hall of Fame in 1976, the University of Missouri Hall of Fame in 1991, the Missouri State Sports Hall of Fame in 1993 and the National Sports Hall of Fame in Washington, D.C. in 1999.

He graduated from Mizzou at Columbia and began a teaching and coaching career at Roosevelt.  He was there four years and coached championship teams.  He earned a  Master’s Degree at Washington University.  At Roosevelt, he was a member of the track and football teams, president of his senior class and served on Student Council.  He died at the age of 81 in July of 2007.

He and his wife, Barbara, had four children and four grandchildren.  Dick served in the Army Air Force and became a navigator after graduating from high school in 1944.

DOB: Dec 10, 1925 St. Louis, MO DOD: Jul 16, 2007 Jefferson City, MO Age 81