Richard Alvah Barber (July 24, 1910 – May 22, 1983) was an American

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

er. Barber won the long jump at the 1932

United States Olympic Trials The United States Olympic Trials are competitions held in certain sports to select the United States' participants in those sports at the Olympic Games. These events include: * United States Olympic Trials (curling) * United States Olympic Trials (d ...

and qualified for the

1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held duri ...

, where he played fifth. He was

IC4A IC4A Championships (Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America) is an annual men's competition held at different colleges every year. Association was established in 1875, the competition (started in 1876) served as the top level col ...

long jump champion in 1931 and 1932.

Career

Barber became a successful long jumper at

Long Beach Polytechnic High School Long Beach Polytechnic High School, founded in 1895 as Long Beach High School, is a four-year public high school located at 1600 Atlantic Avenue in Long Beach, California, United States. The school serves portions of Long Beach, including Bixby ...

, winning the 1928 California state high school championship with a meeting record jump of 23 ft in (7.14 m). After graduating from high school he entered the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

, where he was coached by

Dean Cromwell Dean Bartlett Cromwell (September 20, 1879 – August 3, 1962), nicknamed "Maker of Champions", was an American athletic coach in multiple sports, principally at the University of Southern California (USC). He was the head coach of the USC trac ...

. In 1929, his

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

year, he placed fourth at the national championships with a jump of 23 ft in (7.15 m) and won the national junior title. He was one of the favorites at the 1930

championships, but failed to qualify for the final. At the other major collegiate meet of the year, the

NCAA championships The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

, Barber placed third behind Ed Gordon and

Ed Hamm Edward Barton Hamm (April 13, 1906 – June 25, 1982) was an American athlete, who won the gold medal in the long jump at the 1928 Summer Olympics held in Amsterdam, Netherlands, becoming the first Arkansan to win a gold medal. The ''Atlanta Jour ...

with a jump of 24 ft in (7.37 m).

USC Trojans The USC Trojans are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC), located in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ' ...

were team champions in both meets. Barber won the 1931 IC4A long jump title with a leap of 25 ft in (7.71 m), which was a new meeting record; USC successfully defended its team title in a close battle against

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

. At the NCAA meet Barber only jumped 24 ft in (7.55 m) and placed third behind Gordon and Lamoine Boyle, but he was still named the top collegiate All-American. Barber injured his leg in a minor meet in March 1932 and missed the early part of the 1932 season, but returned in top form and jumped 25 ft 4 in (7.72 m) in

Fresno Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...

on May 14. USC did not compete in the 1932 NCAA meet, but both the Trojans as a team and Barber individually successfully defended their IC4A titles. At the 1932 Olympic Trials, Barber only placed seventh in the qualification, and normally only the top five qualified for the final. However, at the last moment the

United States Olympic Committee The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee and the National Paralympic Committee for the United States. It was founded in 1895 as the United States Olympic Committee, and is headquartered in Col ...

decided to allow eight finalists instead of five; Barber thus qualified for the final, and jumped his personal best, 25 ft in (7.73 m), to win the trials ahead of Gordon and Lambert Redd. Although the Trials doubled as the AAU (national) championships, Barber is not considered the 1932 AAU champion as the rule change only applied to the Trials and he would not have been a finalist under AAU rules; instead, Gordon became the national champion. As Trials champion, Barber was one of the favorites for the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, but in the Olympic final he only reached 24 ft 3 in (7.39 m) and placed fifth. In addition to long jumping, Barber played for the Trojans football team starting in late 1931, and was a member of the

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

and 1932 national championship teams.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barber, Dick 1910 births 1983 deaths People from Sibley, Iowa USC Trojans men's track and field athletes American male long jumpers Athletes (track and field) at the 1932 Summer Olympics Olympic track and field athletes of the United States