Merv Richards

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. After leaving Oamaru, the family lived briefly in Waitati, before moving to Dunedin where Richards was educated at King Edward Technical College. He also represented New Zealand in the pole vault at three consecutive British Empire and Commonwealth Games from 1950 to 1958. At the 1950 Empire Games in Auckland, he finished eighth with a height of . Four years later, at the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Vancouver, he cleared to finish in fifth place.

Coach 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. He also provided technical advice to Melina Hamilton while she was a student at the University of Otago in the late 1990s.

Gymnastics coach 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. 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.

Later life and death Richards became an enthusiastic lapidarist, and won the New Zealand Lapidary Cup in 1986 and 2011. He died on 1 July 2018.