Bill Graber
William Noe "Bill" Graber (January 21, 1911 – March 8, 1996) was an American pole vaulter. He broke the pole vault world record in 1932 and competed in the Olympic Games in both 1932 and 1936.
Graber studied at the University of Southern California (USC), where he was coached by Dean Cromwell. As a sophomore in 1931 Graber won the pole vault at the IC4A championships and tied for first at the NCAA championships, helping the USC Trojans to team titles in both meets. At the IC4A meet in Philadelphia men's pole vault was the last event and Graber's meeting record of 14 ft 1⁄2 in (4.28 m) secured the Trojans a narrow victory over Stanford University. 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. Graber's NCAA jump of 13 ft 10 5⁄16 in (4.22 m) 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.
Graber repeated as IC4A champion 1932, although this time he only tied for first. He was unable to defend his NCAA title as the Trojans didn't compete in that meet. 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 14 ft 1 5⁄8 in (4.31 m), a fraction of an inch better than Lee Barnes's world record of 14 ft 1 1⁄2 in (4.30 m). Graber then cleared 14 ft 4 3⁄8 in (4.37 m) 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." The record established Graber as the leading favorite for the Olympics, but he underperformed and only jumped 13 ft 7 1⁄4 in (4.15 m), placing fourth behind Miller, Japan's Shuhei Nishida and the other American entrant, George Jefferson.
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