Tomás Valdemar Hintnaus

Tomás Valdemar Hintnaus
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing Brazil
Pan American Games
Representing United States
Olympic Boycott Games

Tomás Valdemar "Tom" Hintnaus (born February 15, 1958) is a retired Brazilian-born pole vaulter, model, and actor. Although he is an American citizen, he represented his native country, Brazil, in the Olympic Games following the American boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics.

Early life

He is the son of Czech immigrants, Lubomir and Marianne Hintnaus, who escaped from their home country to West Germany, but were unable to emigrate directly to the United States. As an intermediate stop, they moved first to Brazil, where Tom was born. They moved to the United States in 1960 when he was two.

Competition

Hintnaus attended the now closed Aviation High School in Redondo Beach, California. He won the CIF California State Meet in 1976.^[1] As an American citizen, he won the pole vault with a jump of 5.60 m (18 ft 4+1⁄2 in) at the 1980 United States Olympic Trials, but missed the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow due to the American boycott.^[2] He rejected an opportunity to represent his native country, Brazil, at the 1980 Olympics; instead, he represented the United States at the Liberty Bell Classic (Olympic Boycott Games), where he won.^[3] Hintnaus was one of 461 recipients of a Congressional Gold Medal created especially for the spurned athletes.^[4] Hintnaus changed his mind later and joined the Brazilian team in 1983.^[5]^[6]

For Brazil, he finished fifth at the 1983 World Championships,^[7] won the bronze medal at the 1983 Pan American Games,^[8] and no-heighted in the final at the 1984 Olympic Games,^[9] held less than 12 miles (20 km) from the neighborhood where he grew up.

His personal best was 5.76 metres, achieved in August 1985 in Zürich.^[7] This is a former South American record. It was broken by countryfellow Fábio Gomes da Silva in 2007.^[5]

Advertising

Hintnaus is also known as the first model in the underwear advertising campaign of designer Calvin Klein. The photograph by Bruce Weber of Hintnaus in white briefs, leaning against a thickly white-washed chimney on Santorini Island in Greece, became the iconic image of "male as sex object" in the 1980s.^{[citation needed]} American Photographer magazine named the photo as one of "10 Pictures That Changed America."^[10]

I worked so hard to be the best pole vaulter in the world and I ended up being more well known for putting on a pair of briefs.^[11]

Acting

Hintnaus appeared in the Hawaii Five-0 Season 4 episode, "Ha'uoli La Ho'omaika'i" as assassin Dante Barkov.^[12] He also appeared in the 1981 slasher film Graduation Day as Pete McFarlin.

References

^ "California State Meet Results - 1915 to present". Hank Lawson. Retrieved 25 December 2012.
^ Hymans, Richard (2008). "The History of the United States Olympic Trials – Track & Field" (PDF). USA Track & Field.
^ "Olympic Boycott Games". GBR Athletics. Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
^ Caroccioli, Tom; Caroccioli, Jerry (2008). Boycott: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. Highland Park, IL: New Chapter Press. pp. 243–253. ISBN 978-0942257403.
^ ^a ^b Biscayart, Eduardo (4 January 2008). "Gomes da Silva lands Brazil on the international Pole Vault map". IAAF.org. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
^ "Sports World Specials: Multinational Vault". The New York Times. 1 August 2008. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
^ ^a ^b Tomas Valdemar Hintnaus at World Athletics
^ "Pan American Games". GBR Athletics. Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
^ "Tom Hintnaus". Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
^ "10 Pictures that Changed America". American Photographer. January 1989. pp. 30–36. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
^ "Archives". Los Angeles Times. 7 May 2007.
^ "50undercover.com". www.50undercover.com.

External links

Tom Hintnaus at IMDb

[1] "California State Meet Results - 1915 to present". Hank Lawson. Retrieved 25 December 2012.

[2] Hymans, Richard (2008). "The History of the United States Olympic Trials – Track & Field" (PDF). USA Track & Field.

[3] "Olympic Boycott Games". GBR Athletics. Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 20 April 2012.

[4] Caroccioli, Tom; Caroccioli, Jerry (2008). Boycott: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. Highland Park, IL: New Chapter Press. pp. 243–253. ISBN 978-0942257403.

[silva-5] Biscayart, Eduardo (4 January 2008). "Gomes da Silva lands Brazil on the international Pole Vault map". IAAF.org. Retrieved 5 August 2016.

[nyt-6] "Sports World Specials: Multinational Vault". The New York Times. 1 August 2008. Retrieved 5 August 2016.

[bio-7] Tomas Valdemar Hintnaus at World Athletics

[8] "Pan American Games". GBR Athletics. Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 20 April 2012.

[sref-9] "Tom Hintnaus". Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 20 April 2012.

[10] "10 Pictures that Changed America". American Photographer. January 1989. pp. 30–36. Retrieved 7 May 2013.

[11] "Archives". Los Angeles Times. 7 May 2007.

[12] "50undercover.com". www.50undercover.com.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

v t e US National Championship winners in men's pole vault
1876–1878 New York Athletic Club	1877: George McNichol 1878: Alfred Ing
1879–1888 NAAAA	1879–81: William Van Houten 1882: B.F. Richardson 1883–86: Hugh Baxter 1887: Tom Ray (GBR) & Hugh Baxter 1888^{Note 1}: G.B. Quinn
1888–1979 Amateur Athletic Union	1888^{Note 1}: Lincoln Godshall 1889: Lat Stones (GBR) & D.F. O'Brien 1890: Walter Rodenbaugh 1891–92: Theodore Luce 1893–94: Christian Buchholz 1895: Hermann Thomas 1896: Franklin Allis 1897: Jesse Hurlburt 1898: Raymond Clapp 1899: Irving Baxter 1900: Bascom Johnson 1901: Charles Dvorak 1902: August Anderson 1903: Charles Dvorak 1904: H.L. Gardner 1905: Roy Heater 1906: LeRoy Samse 1907: Ed Cook 1908: William Halpenny (CAN) & Claude Allen 1909: Roy Paulding 1910: Harry Babcock 1911: Ed Cook, Frank Coyle & Sam Bellah 1912: Harry Babcock 1913: Stanley Wagoner 1914: Ken Curtis 1915: Sam Bellah 1916: Sherman Landers 1917: Edward Knourek 1918: Carl Buck 1919–20: Frank Foss 1921–22: Edward Knourek 1923–24: Edwin Myers 1925: Harry Smith 1926: Paul Harrington 1927–28: Lee Barnes 1929–30: Fred Sturdy 1931: Jack Wool 1932: Bill Graber 1933: Keith Brown & Matt Gordy 1934: Keith Brown, Bill Graber & Wirt Thompson 1935: Earle Meadows & Bill Sefton 1936: George Varoff 1937: Bill Sefton 1938: Cornelius Warmerdam 1939: George Varoff 1940–44: Cornelius Warmerdam 1945: Boo Morcom & Robert Phelps 1946: Irving Moore 1947: Boo Morcom 1948: Boo Morcom & Bob Richards 1949–51: Bob Richards 1952: Bob Richards & Don Laz 1953: Don Laz & George Mattos 1954–57: Bob Richards 1958: Ron Morris 1959: Don Bragg 1960: Aubrey Dooley 1961–62: Ron Morris 1963: Brian Sternberg 1964: Fred Hansen 1965: John Pennel 1966: Bob Seagren 1967: Paul Wilson 1968: Dick Railsback 1969–70: Bob Seagren 1971: Jan Johnson 1972: Dave Roberts 1973: Mike Cotton 1974: Dave Roberts 1975: Don Baird (AUS) * Terry Porter 1976: Earl Bell 1977: Mike Tully 1978: Dan Ripley 1979: Mike Tully
1980–1992 The Athletics Congress	1980: Tom Hintnaus 1981: Billy Olson 1982: Dan Ripley & Billy Olson 1983: Jeff Buckingham 1984: Earl Bell 1985: Joe Dial 1986: Mike Tully 1987: Joe Dial 1988–89: Kory Tarpenning 1990: Earl Bell 1991–92: Tim Bright
1993–onwards USA Track & Field	1993–95: Scott Huffman 1996–97: Lawrence Johnson 1998–99: Jeff Hartwig 2000–01: Lawrence Johnson 2002–03: Jeff Hartwig 2004: Tim Mack 2005: Brad Walker 2006: Russ Buller 2007: Brad Walker 2008: Derek Miles 2009: Brad Walker 2010: Mark Hollis 2011: Derek Miles 2012–13: Brad Walker 2014–19: Sam Kendricks 2020 not held 2021^{2020 OT}: Chris Nilsen
Notes	Note 1: In 1888 both the NAAAA and the AAU held championships OT: The 1920, 1928, 1932, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 championships incorporated the Olympic Trials, otherwise held as a discrete event. 2020 OT: The 2020 Olympic Trials were delayed and held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.