Former Tiger Olympian Dick Ault Passes Away
7/16/2007 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
July 16, 2007
Obituary
Columbia Missourian story
Columbia Tribune story
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Olympian and Mizzou Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame member Dick Ault passed away in Jefferson City Monday morning. Ault, 81, was a member of the United States' 1948 Olympic Team, taking fourth place in the 400-meter hurdle event in London during his junior year at the University of Missouri. Originally from St. Louis, Ault also made a significant impact on Westminster College, and is in the school's athletic hall of fame having coached track and field and cross country for 29 years.
Ault had been fighting a battle with diabetes, a disease that caused the amputation of his right leg in January of this year.
A 1991 inductee of the Mizzou Athletics Hall of Fame, Ault once held the World Record in 440-yard hurdles, having run 52.2 seconds in Oslo, Norway, in 1949. He won Big Six Conference outdoor titles in the 220-yard hurdles in 1946 and '47, and Big Seven Conference outdoor crowns in the same event in 1948 and '49. In addition, Ault was the league's quarter-mile champion in 1947 and '49 and added a Mile Relay crown in 1947, grabbing three conference titles in the same meet.
Ault was the runner up at the 1948 U.S. Olympic Trials and in the 1949 U.S. National Championships in the 400-meter hurdles. Ault also won several titles at the Drake Relays and Kansas Relays in open events and on relay teams. Ault was also fourth in the 400-meter hurdles at the NCAA Championships in 1948.
At Westminster College, Ault coached and taught physical education for 29 years before retiring in 1997. In addition to coaching All-Americans in cross country and track, he also coached swimming and golf, guiding the Blue Jays golfers to the NAIA national tournament in 1990 and 1991, and the 1996 golf team to a St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title. Ironically, he was coached at the University of Missouri by the late Tom Botts who was a Westminster grad and coach.
Ault is also a member of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame and the Missouri Track & Field and Cross County Coaches Association (MTCCCA) Hall of Fame.
A long-time cross country and track and field starter, Ault was also a Missouri State High Schools Activities Association (MSHSAA) football official and officiated the first Show-Me Bowl game in the old Busch Stadium. As a result of his dedication to high school athletics, he was also inducted into the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Hall of Fame.
A memorial service will be held August 18th at 1 p.m., at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury, the site of the Winston Churchill Memorial on the Westminister College campus in Fulton.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that all contributions be given to the St. Alban's Episcopal Church of Fulton or the Dick Ault Scholarship at Westminster College.
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