Robert Beeten 1934-2015

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Bob graduated from high school in Johnston Colorado.  He earned a BS with a double major in physical education and history from Colorado A&M, and an MS in Sports Medicine from BYU. His first job was in the El Paso, TX school district as athletic trainer, teacher and assistant track and field coach.  He later moved to Idaho State University as head athletic trainer and assistant track coach.  He later became the head cross country coach and track coach for ISU, winning numerous Big Sky conference championships in indoor/outdoor trach and cross country.  Bob was also named Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year 10 times between 1965 and 1977.  He produced 17 All- Americans, with 1 athlete making the 1972 Jamaica Olympic Summer team and another making the 1976 Ghana Olympic Summer team.

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In 1967, Bob began his long association with the Unites States Olympic Committee.  He first worked as a staff athletic trainer for the Pam Am Games in Mexico City, Mexico, followed by becoming the head athletic trainer and medical coordinator for the Pan American Games in 1979, the Winter Olympic Games in 1980, and the Summer Olympic Games in 1980 and 1984.  In 1977, he became the first Director of Sports Medicine for the U.S. Olympic Committee at the Squaw Valley California Olympic Training Center.  In 1978, he moved to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he remained until his retirement in 2000.  He implemented the first volunteer medical program, utilizing physicians, athletic trainers, chiropractors, and psychologists to staff all Olympic Training Centers, U.S. Olympic Festivals, World University Games, Pan Am Games, and Olympic Games. In 2003, the Sports Medicine Clinic at the Olympic Training Center was named in his honor, and in 2013, he received a Congressional Gold medal for his work with the 1980 Olympic Summer Games medical staff.

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Throughout his career, Bob was active in the NATA, District 7, and the CATA.  He served as the NATA District 7 Director, helped organize numerous CATA annual meetings, presented at RMATA symposia, and was the keynote speaker at the NATA national convention in 1983.  He received the NATA Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer Award in 1994, was inducted into the Rocky Mountain Athletic Trainers Association Hall of fame in 1995, the NATA Hall of Fame in 2003, and the Colorado Athletic Trainers Association Hall of Fame in 2012. 

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After retiring, Bob returned to coaching track, volunteering at Lewis Palmer High School in Monument, Colorado.