| Merv Richards | |
| Birth Name: | Mervyn David Richards |
| Birth Date: | 16 November 1930 |
| Birth Place: | Oamaru, New Zealand |
| Relatives: | Deborah Hurst (daughter) |
| Country: | New Zealand |
| Sport: | Track and field |
| Event: | Pole vault |
| Show-Medals: | yes |
Mervyn David Richards (16 November 1930 – 1 July 2018) was a New Zealand pole vaulter, who represented his country at three British Empire and Commonwealth Games, winning a bronze medal in 1958. He went on to become a successful coach in both pole vault and gymnastics.
Born in Oamaru on 16 November 1930, Richards was the youngest child of David Llewellyn Richards and Hephzibah Richards (née Mears).[1] After leaving Oamaru, the family lived briefly in Waitati, before moving to Dunedin where Richards was educated at King Edward Technical College.[1] When he was 16 years old, he began training as an optical technician, and worked in that occupation until he retired.[1]
In 1958, Richards married Margaret Winifred Garrod—who won the national women's javelin title in 1957 and 1958—at Mosgiel Anglican church.[1] The couple went on to have three children, including Deborah Hurst who won a bronze medal in gymnastics at the 1978 Commonwealth Games.[1]
Richards won the New Zealand national pole vault title 11 years in succession, from 1952 to 1962.[2] He also represented New Zealand in the pole vault at three consecutive British Empire and Commonwealth Games from 1950 to 1958.[3] At the 1950 Empire Games in Auckland, he finished eighth with a height of 12feet.[4] Four years later, at the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Vancouver, he cleared 13feet to finish in fifth place.[4] Finally, at the 1958 games in Cardiff, he won the bronze medal after a countback, with a vault of 13feet.[1] [4]
Richards was a successful pole vault coach in Dunedin, training a number of national champions, including 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games representative Kevin Gibbons.[1] He also provided technical advice to Melina Hamilton while she was a student at the University of Otago in the late 1990s.[1]
Richards became a gymnastics coach at the Athlon club in Dunedin, and trained Rowena Davis and his daughter Deborah, who were a part of the New Zealand women's team that won the bronze medal in the all-around competition at the 1978 Commonwealth Games.[1] He was subsequently appointed head coach of the New Zealand gymnastics team for the 1980 Summer Olympics, but the team did not complete because of the boycott that year.[1]
Richards became an enthusiastic lapidarist, and won the New Zealand Lapidary Cup in 1986 and 2011.[1] He died on 1 July 2018.[1]