Olympic organizers on Monday wisely added Parowan and nine other Utah cities to the Olympic torch relay route. The residents of Parowan, the home of Alma Richards, would be justified in saying, "it's about time."
Richards' feat in the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden, not only warranted the addition of the tiny southern Utah town, it mandated it.
As Deseret News columnist Lee Benson opined in his March 7 column:
"What, no torch relay route through Parowan?
"No torch relay route through the home town of Utah's first Olympic gold medalist, namely Alma Wilford Richards?
"Indignation is too soft a word for what Parowan must be feeling.
"If it weren't for Alma Richards' triumph in the high jump in the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden, Utah would have gone O for the 20th century in gold medals."
Well put. It would be like eliminating Salt Lake City from the parade route were the Utah Jazz to win an NBA championship.
Richards not only put Parowan on the map, he brought recognition to the entire state of Utah when he beat not only Jim
Thorpe, hailed in his day as the "world's greatest athlete," but heavily favored George Horine, the world record holder, also from the United States.
As chronicled by Olympic historian David Wallechinsky, Richards was unheralded when he competed in the Games. And even though he won the U.S. Olympic Trials, he initially was left off the U.S. team because he was so unknown. Finally, he was added as a "supplemental" entry.
But when the bar was raised to 6-feet 4-inches, only Richards and Hans Liesche of Germany were left, Horine being eliminated at the previous height.
As Wallechinsky then explains in "The Complete Book of the Summer Olympics (Sydney 2000 edition)":
"Alma Richards, scheduled to jump first, walked away from the high jump area to be by himself. He closed his eyes and bowed his head, and made a deal with God.
" 'I told the Lord,' he later wrote, 'that if He would help me win the high jump in the Olympic Games at Stockholm, I would do my best to be a good boy and set a good example.'
"Without further hesitation, Richards, who had never before come close to jumping 6 feet 4 inches, dashed toward the bar and sailed over with almost two inches to spare.
"Alma Richards, transformed from a country bumpkin into a hero in the eyes of his teammates, went on to be a good boy for the rest of his life."
Parowan, enjoy your time in the limelight. You deserve it.