Bud Held
Encyclopedia
Franklin Wesley Held (born October 25, 1927 in Los Angeles, California
) is an American
athlete who competed primarily in the javelin
.
er at Grossmont High School
near San Diego, where he finished in a 3 way tie for 4th place at the 1946 CIF California State Meet
. He switched to the javelin while a student at Stanford University
, where he won the NCAA javelin championship in 1948, 1949, and 1950. Held won the AAU
USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships
six times, 1949, 1951, 1953 thru 55 and 1958. Held set six American records in the javelin, and in 1953 became the first American to hold the world javelin record with an effort of 263 in 10 in (80.42 m); in so doing, Held became the first athlete ever to throw the 800 gram javelin over 80 meters. He set a second world record of 268 in 2 in (81.74 m) in 1955, and his career best throw was 270 in 0 in (82.3 m) in 1956.
team where he placed ninth after a shoulder injury, and missed making the 1956 Olympic
team by an inch. He won a gold medal in the 1955 Pan American Games
in 1955 with a throw of 69.77 metres (228.9 ft).
, Held set the age 80+ World Record
in the pole vault adding to the M75 World Record he already holds. He is also ranked in the discus
. He also coaches his live-in partner Nadine O'Connor
, who holds the women's 65+ pole vault world record, among numerous other track and field records.
, inventing the world's first aluminum tennis
racquet and its related stringing equipment from his San Diego garage, then subsequently the first aluminum racquetball
racquet.
He also invented a hollow javelin that was used into the 1960s, but his design was outlawed due to safety concerns.
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
) is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
athlete who competed primarily in the javelin
Javelin throw
The javelin throw is a track and field athletics throwing event where the object to be thrown is the javelin, a spear approximately 2.5 metres in length. Javelin is an event of both the men's decathlon and the women's heptathlon...
.
College career
Bud Held started as a pole vaultPole vault
Pole vaulting is a track and field event in which a person uses a long, flexible pole as an aid to leap over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the ancient Greeks, as well as the Cretans and Celts...
er at Grossmont High School
Grossmont High School
Grossmont High School is the oldest high school in San Diego's east county, California. Its mascot is the Foothiller, so chosen because, at the time of the school’s construction, east county was much more isolated from the rest of San Diego than it is today and was often referred to as the...
near San Diego, where he finished in a 3 way tie for 4th place at the 1946 CIF California State Meet
CIF California State Meet
The CIF California State Meet is the annual championship track and field meet for the California Interscholastic Federation. The meet was started in 1915 for boys and 1974 for girls. Every athlete in every high school in California has a direct qualification path that can reach the state meet...
. He switched to the javelin while a student at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, where he won the NCAA javelin championship in 1948, 1949, and 1950. Held won the AAU
AAU
-Education:* Aalborg University, in Denmark* Academy of Art University,in San Francisco* Addis Ababa University, in Ethiopia* Allied American University, brand used by Allied Schools in California, United States* Alpen-Adria-University of Klagenfurt, in Austria...
USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships
USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships
The USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships is an annual track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field, which serves as the American national championships for the sport...
six times, 1949, 1951, 1953 thru 55 and 1958. Held set six American records in the javelin, and in 1953 became the first American to hold the world javelin record with an effort of 263 in 10 in (80.42 m); in so doing, Held became the first athlete ever to throw the 800 gram javelin over 80 meters. He set a second world record of 268 in 2 in (81.74 m) in 1955, and his career best throw was 270 in 0 in (82.3 m) in 1956.
International competition
Held was a member of the United States' 1952 Olympic1952 Summer Olympics
The 1952 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Helsinki, Finland in 1952. Helsinki had been earlier given the 1940 Summer Olympics, which were cancelled due to World War II...
team where he placed ninth after a shoulder injury, and missed making the 1956 Olympic
1956 Summer Olympics
The 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in Melbourne, Australia, in 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, which could not be held in Australia due to quarantine regulations...
team by an inch. He won a gold medal in the 1955 Pan American Games
1955 Pan American Games
The 2nd Pan American Games opened on March 12, 1955 in the University Stadium in Mexico City, Mexico, in front of a capacity crowd of 100,000 spectators....
in 1955 with a throw of 69.77 metres (228.9 ft).
Master's competition
Held continues to compete in masters competitions. In 1970, Held set a United States national masters javelin record of 229 in 3 in (69.88 m). On October 4, 2008 at the Club West Masters Track meet in Santa BarbaraSanta Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
, Held set the age 80+ World Record
Masters Athletics World Records
These are the current world records in the various age groups of Masters athletics. Starting at age 35, each age group starts on the athlete's birthday in years that are evenly divisible by 5 and extends until the next such occurrence. For record purposes, older athletes are not included in...
in the pole vault adding to the M75 World Record he already holds. He is also ranked in the discus
Discus
Discus, "disk" in Latin, may refer to:* Discus , a progressive rock band from Indonesia* Discus , a fictional character from the Marvel Comics Universe and enemy of Luke Cage* Discus , a freshwater fish popular with aquarium keepers...
. He also coaches his live-in partner Nadine O'Connor
Nadine O'Connor
Nadine O'Connor is a grandmother, retired mathematics teacher and a world record setting, hall of fame Masters Track and Field athlete. While she specializes in the pole vault, due to her athletic training, she also holds the World Masters Athletics world records in the 100 metres, 200 metres,...
, who holds the women's 65+ pole vault world record, among numerous other track and field records.
Outside of competition
After his retirement from standard competition, Held became a successful sporting equipment businessman. He founded EktelonEktelon
Ektelon, Inc. is an American manufacturer of equipment for racquetball.Currently based in Bordentown, New Jersey, Ektelon was founded by Franklin W. "Bud" Held in 1964 as the first company to manufacture racquetball racquets and stringing machines, not long after the development of the sport of...
, inventing the world's first aluminum tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
racquet and its related stringing equipment from his San Diego garage, then subsequently the first aluminum racquetball
Racquetball
For other sports often called "paddleball", see Paddleball .Racquetball is a racquet sport played with a hollow rubber ball in an indoor or outdoor court...
racquet.
He also invented a hollow javelin that was used into the 1960s, but his design was outlawed due to safety concerns.