Lester Steers (June 16, 1917 – January 23, 2003) was an American
track and field high jumper. In 1941 he broke the world record for the high-jump three times. His last record stood for 12 years.
Track career
Steers attended
Palo Alto High School
Palo Alto Senior High School, commonly referred to locally as "Paly", is a comprehensive public high school in Palo Alto, California. Operated by the Palo Alto Unified School District, the school is one of two schools in the district, the other b ...
, winning the
CIF California State Meet
The CIF California State Meet is the annual championship track and field meet for the California Interscholastic Federation. The meet was started in 1915 for boys and 1974 for girls. Every athlete in every high school in California has a direc ...
three years in a row from 1935-7 and
San Mateo Junior College
College of San Mateo (CSM) is a Public college, public community college in San Mateo, California. It is part of the San Mateo County Community College District. College of San Mateo is located at the northern corridor of Silicon Valley and s ...
before attending the
University of Oregon in 1941, competing for the 'Ducks' in the year of his greatest triumphs.
Steers was a great all-round athlete who competed at the javelin, shot put and high-hurdles for his college athletics team as well as the high jump giving him the aspiration of competing as a decathlete.
It was, however, as a high-jumper that he achieved his greatest success. He was NCAA (United States collegiate) champion (1941))
, 3 times AAU (United States national) champion (1939–41)
, and a gold medalist at the
World University Games in 1939 (where he also won silver in the javelin and bronze in the pentathlon).
As a jumper, Steers used the 'Belly Roll', a variation of the '
Western Roll'.
Later life
Steers remained in Oregon reportedly working as a salesman.
He died in 2003, a resident of
Richland Washington.
World records
Steers achieved the following world records during his athletics career:
* 2.10 m (6' 10 3/4") in
Seattle on 26 April 1941;
* 2.105 m (6' 10 7/8") in
Los Angeles on 24 May 1941;
* 2.11 m (6' 11") in
Los Angeles on 17 June 1941.
Note: only the third was ratified by the sports' governing body, the
IAAF
World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...
.
Steers is also reported to have cleared 7 feet 1/2 inch in an exhibition jump in Eugene on 27 February 1941.
[Progression of IAAF World Records 2011 Edition, Editor Imre Matrahazi, IAAF Athletics, p 152.] The first official clearance of 7 feet was 15 years later by
Charles Dumas.
Accolades and awards
In 1974, Steers was inducted into the
USA Track and Field Hall of Fame.
In 1992, Steers was inducted into the University of Oregon Hall of Fame.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steers, Les
1917 births
2003 deaths
American male high jumpers
Oregon Ducks men's track and field athletes
Sportspeople from Eureka, California
Track and field athletes from California