Hayden Meikle counts down the 150 greatest moments in Otago sport.
He won 11 New Zealand senior titles in a row from 1952 to 1962 and won a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in Cardiff in 1958.
His legacy stretched further because he coached his successor, Kevin Gibbons, to seven New Zealand senior titles between 1963 and 1970.
Kevin Gibbons coached his son Paul, who won his first New Zealand title in 1991. Paul is Otago's top pole vault coach today.
Richards competed in a day when the pole vault equipment was basic and the pit sometimes consisted of sawdust and not the safe spongy equipment of today.
He built a pole vault pit at his home in Mosgiel and encouraged his family to try the event.
Richards' son Malcolm was the most successful and broke a world record for a 10-year-old at the old Caledonian Ground in 1971. He still holds the Otago record for a 15-year-old when he jumped 3.26m in 1976.
Mervyn Richards also coached gymnastics and was named coach of the New Zealand team for the Moscow Olympics in 1980. The team did not go because of the New Zealand government's support of the United States-led boycott.
