Robert “Bob” Adams…

Bob Adams was born in 1924 and raised in Alsask, Saskatchewan. His family consisted of four brothers and five sisters. Bob played baseball and hockey growing up. His first track and field competition happened in Grade 8. He practiced the pole vault using an aluminum pole and jumping over a fishing rod he balanced between fir trees. He practised shot put with shot made of melted scraps of lead. Clarence Garvie, a native of Saskatoon who was a teacher in Alsask, was Bob’s first track coach.

As Bob matured, he moved into the decathlon. He broke Canada’s decathlon record and competed in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics at the age of 27. Adams went on to coach the Canadian track and field team at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. And he was a pole vault official in the 1976 Montreal Olympics.

“Track and field seemed to be the sport that was basic to my temperament. You didn’t have to wait for the rest of the guys to get there so you could form teams.”

Bob Adam’s Biography …

FAMILY

Bob as a young boy, in Alsask

Adams Family (Alsask, Sask.)

Grandfather Adams was an orphan, who came to Canada at age 19

Bob Adams & Marge Pascoe

Wedding Picture – 1952

Marge, Bob, Murray and Janice ~1958

Bob, Janice, Murray and Marge

Bob & Marge Family – Children – Grandchildrem – Great Grandchildren

ATHLETE

Bob was Inspired by Jesse Owens at the 1936 Olympics, He decides to pursue track & field

In the Kindersley School Unit Bob was the Aggregate Boys Champion. He won four first place medals – 1942

1942-49 University of Saskatchewan (B.A. 1946, B.Ed 1949)

Bob Adams – U. of S.

1946 Competed in first interuniversity track and field meet; University of Alberta, University of Manitoba, University of Saskatchewan; coached by Joe Griffiths

First in discus, first in high jump; second in hammer; second in javelin, second in long jump

1949 Canadian record discus 147 feet, 7 1/4 inches

1952 Canadian record decathlon 6,772 points

Parade in Saskatoon to honour the 1952 Olympians. Bob was 19th in Decathlon.

Bob did not do hurdles for 20 years in Saskatchewan. But then he took it up for the Decathlon. Placed 2nd in his heat in 1952 Decathalon

1952 Olympics, Helsinki, Finland decathlon 19th, 6,049 points (best events discus, third; pole vault, sixth; high jump, eighth)

Canadian Record Holder & Provincial Record Holder in the discus – 151 feet July 6, 1954.

Provincial HJ Record – 1.86 metres Jul 17, 1954

1954 British Empire Games (Commonwealth) Games, Vancouver high jump 14th; pole vault 4th, 13 feet; team captain

Bob Adams and Prince Philip

1955 Torn knee cartilage; goes into coaching

1949-53 Bob played basketball for the Saskatoon Navy senior team

NAVY

Camp Borden 1944

Member of Canadian Infantry: 1944 – 45

Competed in Army Services Track Meet

COACH – TEACHER

Coaching History

Saskatoon T & F Club – Founding Member – Head Coach 1956 to 1968
1958 Commonwealth Games, Cardif ,Wales
1964 Olympic Games – Tokyo, Japan
1968 Southern Games – Trinidad

1958 Commonwealth Games Team

1958 British Empire Games: Stu Cameron, Bob Adams, Eleanor Haslam

1958 British Empire Games, Cardiff, Wales
1964 Olympics, Tokyo head coach
1968 Southern Games, Trinidad

U. of S. 1942 – 1949
B.A. 1946 – Major Sciences
B.Ed – 1949

Bob teaching at Nutana

Added throwing events for females in Saskatchewan high schools
Nutana Collegiate basketball, cross-country, track and field
Provincial boys basketball champions 1947, 1951, 1953
Aden Bowman Collegiate basketball, cross-country, track and field
Provincial boys basketball champions 1964
Saskatoon Track and Field Club
1948 (founding member) through 1968

High School Teacher

Nutana 1947 – 1957
Aden Bowman 1958 – 1967

Vice Principal 1967

Saskatoon Public School Board

SSSAD sports consultants: Left to Right

Back row: Gil Wist, Basil Hughton, Bob Adams, Blaine Knoll, Jeff Colquhoun, Lee Reimer, Brad Smith
Front row: Kelly Bowers, office assistant Lynn Allardyce, Brian Thorstad
Physical Education and High School Coordinator 1967 – June 1983

Saskatoon track and field athletes coached by Adams include:

Stu Cameron – sprinter
Wilf Foss – high jump
Eleanor Haslam – sprinter
Diane Jones – long jump, pentathlon
Joanne Jones – pentathlon
Dale West – sprinter
Eugene Wedel – high jump

OFFICIAL

Official:

1976 Olympics, Montreal
1978 Commonwealth Games, Edmonton
1994 Commonwealth Games, Victoria, B.C.
2001 International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) world championships, Edmonton

Vertical Jumps

1976 Olympic Games
Commonwealth Games:
1989 Edmonton
1994 Victoria

Pan-Am Games Winnipeg – 1999
IAAF World Track and Field Championships Edmonton – 2001

Level 4 – Official in Throws
Officiated from the late 1960’s to 2018
Officials Clinic Conductor

OTHER

Other:

Saskatoon Track and Field Club Bob Adams Trophy male athlete of the year
Saskatoon Secondary Schools Athletic Directorate (SSSAD) cross-country championships Bob Adams Trophy
Saskatoon Secondary Schools Athletic Directorate (SSSAD) track and field championships Bob Adams Trophy team champion
Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association (SHSAA) Bob Adams Trophy 3A boys provincial basketball champions
Saskatoon high school annual indoor meet, Bob Adams Relays
1955 Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association (SHSAA) president
1958 Saskatchewan branch, Amateur Athletic Union (A.A.U.) of Canada, president
1967-83 Saskatoon Secondary Schools Athletic Directorate (SSSAD) first sports co-ordinator, consultant
1971 Canada Winter Games, Saskatoon president technical advisory board
Saskatchewan Track and Field Association, chair, president.
Bob was also selected Saskatoon Kinsmen Sportsman of the Year for 1972.
Bob has been inducted into the Saskatoon Sports Hall of Fame, the University of Saskatchewan Wall of Fame, the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame, and the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame.
In 2005, Bob Adams received the Bobby Robinson Award of Merit from the Canadian Commonwealth Games Association.

Established 1983
First Annual Awards Night 1984
Scholarship Fund Established 1995
Equipment Grant Program 2010
Larry Hesterman University Scholarship 2013

60 Years Married

The 2012 Summer Olympic Games have been, and continue to be, very much on our minds. The Storch’s have just returned after attending the games in London and the Murphy’s have left (are leaving) for the Para-Olympic games soon to begin. Their daughter and one of this community’s daughters, Jana Murphy, will compete in the swimming events so we will all be watching and cheering her on. We are also proud that Bob Adams is part of this community. Bob competed in the 1952 Olympics in the decathlon, and went to the Olympics two more times, as coach and again as an official. You may also have seen Pastor Lyle’s column in the Times Colonist yesterday about the ‘Olympic Spirit”. Oh, yes! We have the spirit here!

Little did you know though that there is an Olympic Committee that has been hard at work here in the congregation. Dick Pound, a former Olympian and a long-time member of the IOC, has been in contact with the congregation because he is on a mission to have 2 other events introduced as demonstration sports at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. Of course, Mr. Pound is also clear that these events must be drug free! So to get some energy developing around these 2 events, he wanted them to be introduced to the world here today with a presentation of medals. Now, TSN and CBC were sending their crews here to cover this but I haven’t seen them come in yet. But a party is waiting so we are just going to move ahead with this presentation. Have your cameras, cell phones, whatever, ready to record this and we can send it to the media.

Marge & Bob, can you come forward and stand on our “podium”, please. Now, these are the 2 people chosen by the IOC to receive these medals because of their EXCEPTIONAL abilities and dedication to these 2 events. Unfortunately, only one can receive gold and the other, silver, due to the deficit possibility of the London games.

As I say your name, please step forward to receive your medal.

Receiving the silver medal in the event of Lawnmowing is Bob Adams. Bob is well known for his commitment to this sport and is even known to do this on extremely hot days – & for people younger than himself. He is amazing in his style and the complexity of his moves. He has set world records in the total number of lawns he is responsible for, the number of lawns cut in one day, and the final presentation of the lawn itself. Congratulations, Bob!

The gold medal in the event of Floristry is Marjorie Adams. What a great mentor she has been in leading the pack of many florists who have tried to match her abilities. I personally have seen her take a massive bunch of flowers (some that appeared more like weeds to me) and with sharp tools, precision moves, focus, great speed and attention to detail, taken that bunch of weeds and turned them into a floral display that is breathtaking in beauty and size. Congratulations, Marge!!

Now, since you are both Canadians, we will not sing the national anthem or raise a flag but together in the event called marriage you have now achieved the Diamond level of 60 years so our anthem will be Happy Anniversary. Congratulations to you both!!

Lutheran Church of the Cross
August 19th, 2012