Dan Ripley (born October 7, 1953) is a retired American track and field athlete, known primarily for his success in the pole vault.
Two days later, Tadeusz Ślusarski jumped 5.56 m (18 ft 2+3⁄4 in) to take Ripley's record en route to winning the Olympic gold medal outdoors later that year.
It took Ripley a year to get the record back the final time, jumping 5.63 m (18 ft 5+1⁄2 in) in the US vs USSR dual meet in Ft. Worth Texas.
Ripley began pole vaulting at age 9, when his father, a civil engineer dug out a pit in his back yard.
During the summer of 1974 he and his then wife would spend evenings studying the techniques from the book Mechanics of the Pole Vault by 1939 NCAA Champion from Columbia University, Dr. Richard V. Ganslen.
[5] The first four places in those trials, including Ripley, Smith, Tully and Hintnaus all grew up and went to high school only a few miles off of a short strip of the 405 Freeway in Southern California.
Ripley's personal best was set while winning the national championship in Knoxville in 1982 at 5.72 m (18 ft 9 in), beating Pacific Coast Club teammate Billy Olson.
"[8] Ripley was voted by the experts at Track and Field News to be ranked among the best in the USA and the world at the pole vault during his career.