Who was the first athlete to appear on the front of a box of Wheaties cereal?

McGruff

Bob Richards was the first athlete to appear on the front of the Wheaties box. He won two Olympic gold medals in the pole vault, the first in 1952. Richards, an ordained minister, was known as the Vaulting Vicar. Besides his second gold in 1956, he won a bronze in 1948. He also was a three-time U.S. champion in the decathlon and probably would have been the top U.S. Olympic contender in 1956 if not for an injury at the Olympic trials. He appeared on Wheaties boxes from 1958-69 and set up the Wheaties Sports Foundation, which encouraged participation in Olympic sports. A spoonful of other Breakfast of Champions trivia: The first athlete to appear on the box, on the back, was Lou Gehrig in 1934. http://www.wheaties.com/history/wheaties_fun_facts.aspx Mar 12 01, 2:14 PM