- Guinn Smith
Owen Guinn Smith (
May 2 ,1920 –January 20 ,2004 ) was an American athlete, the 1948 Olympic champion in thepole vault .Born in
McKinney, Texas , Smith moved toCalifornia when he was a kid. He was originally ahigh jump er, butUC Berkeley , the university he wanted to attend, already had a strong high jumping team, so he took up pole vaulting. He won the NCAA championships in 1941, the year before he graduated as a history major. During the remainder ofWorld War II , Guinn Smith served as an air force pilot in Asia.Smith, the 1947 national pole vault champion, was sent to the 1948 Olympics in
London . During a rainy competition, Smith took the gold in his last attempt for 4.30 m (14 ft 1 1/4 in).He died at age 83 in San Francisco of
emphysema .
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.