Model behavior

Published by Mary Kaye Ritz on October 18, 2007

At 49, Tom Hintnaus still looks pretty good in his tightie-whities.

About 25 years ago, millions of people ogled him wearing just Calvin Klein skivvies in a famous — nay iconic — 1983 GQ magazine spread, not to mention the giant billboard in Times Square.

Hintnaus, who now lives in Hawai'i Kai, plans to keep this kind of body for a long time: "If you stay active, if you stay in shape; age is not a factor," he said firmly, but then he caught himself: "OK, maybe 90."

 Hintnaus, an Olympic pole-vaulter who still competes, has the genes to back it up.

His mother and late father, both from the Czech Republic, were athletes; his father coached Cathy Rigby through her Olympic years, Hintnaus said.

They were pretty savvy, too: They enrolled their son in Friday night gymnastics classes.

"That was genius on my parents' part," said Hintnaus, a father of two, including a high-school-aged daughter who herself is a pole-vaulter.

He didn't party in high school, he said: "I think I had maybe three beers — and it was all in one night. ... If I wanted to be the best athlete I could be, I had to focus, focus, focus."

Focus was a family trait.

His sister, a gymnast, was an alternate to the U.S. Olympic team in 1972. At age 6, he announced to his delighted parents that he wanted to go to the Olympics.

He would realize his Olympic dream, but not the way his parents envisioned.

That story starts at age 8, when his family was in California. He attended a track event at the Los Angeles Coliseum, and caught sight of the pole-vaulters.

"I was mesmerized," said the former Kamehameha pole-vaulting coach. "It was almost like a gymnastics event, on a track."

He chose to attend the University of Oregon, where the Olympic trials were being held. Not only did he make the team, he nearly beat the world record.

"That's almost the equivalent of a college guy beating everyone in the NFL," said Hintnaus, sounding almost as excited today, nearly three decades later.

But unfortunately, the team was to compete in 1980 in Moscow — the year the U.S. boycotted the games because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

He was able to compete in 1984, but under the banner of Brazil, his birthplace.

More than 20 years later, he still moves like an athlete.

Hintnaus, his second wife and youngest daughter moved to Hawai'i about seven years ago, where he stays in shape by running, paddling, lifting weights, hiking, playing volleyball and surfing — he can see his favorite surf spot, Turtles, from his bed