Grandpa, HALL OF FAME, really
Athletics (Track & Field) World Records
2.11m. Lester Steers (USA) 17 Jun 41 Los Angeles
2.105m. Lester Steers (USA) 24 May 41 Los Angeles
2.10m. Lester Steers (USA) 26 Apr 41 Seattle
that's my grandpa. Lester Leroy Steers. held the world record for the high jump. thru all the yrs listed above.
A. Long. Time. Ago.
i'm very proud to be his granddaughter!
http://www.usatf.org/HallOfFame/TF/showBio.asp?HOFIDs=160
Les Steers
Inducted: 1974, athlete
Lester "Les" Steers could have been the world's first 7-foot high jumper if World War II had not curtailed his jumping. While at the University of Oregon, Steers set two world records in 1941, first clearing 6' 10 3/4", then raising the standard to 6' 11". The latter mark would remain the record for a dozen years. A straddle jumper, Steers was an outstanding talent at Palo Alto (Calif.) High School. He later became the 1941 national collegiate champion and won or tied for three National AAU titles. In 1941, he also jumped over 7' in an unsanctioned exhibition meet. No one would achieve this height officially until 1956.
he passed away a couple of yrs ago.
i miss him!
posted by kt at 10:28 PM
6 Comments:
lovely! what a beautiful way to remember one you loved... :)))
have a really lovely New Years!!!
Very cool about your grandpa.. I'm sure he is up there looking down and has a ear to ear grin. When your longer runs get tough you can use the mental image of him watching over you, pushing you thru the tough spots and smiling upon you!
instead of God and your grandpop watching Sunday football, munching on popcorn... they are watching you!
As an alumnus of Palo Alto High School and a huge fan of both track & field and genealogy, I think it's SUPER cool that Les Steers was your grandfather!
This next tidbit is a little heavy on the track & field statistics geekery, but I thought it might further illuminate the significance of what your grandfather achieved. You also may already know this stuff... but in case not:
Your grandfather held the high jump world record for 12 years, 0 months and 10 days. World War II or not, during those 12 years there were still two Olympic Games and at least two Track & Field World Championships, not to mention hundreds of smaller meets. That's how far ahead of the rest of the field he was.
But here's the kicker: Les Steers's 12-year reign as high jump world record holder remained the longest that anyone held that record for more than half a century! It wasn't until August 7, 2005 that Javier Sotomayor's tenure as high jump world record holder surpassed your grandfather's. That's...
- 52 years, 1 month, 11 days after your grandfather's record-holding tenure was established, and
- 4 months, 25 days before you wrote this blog post.
Is that cool or what? :-))
p.s. incidentally, Sotomayor's same high jump world record still stands, which puts his record-holding tenure at 15 years, 7 months, 18 days as of my writing this. Seems like a worthy successor to your grandfather. :-)
Hello. My name is Dylan Weddle. I know this is random. But I am also related to your grandpa steers. Les steers was my grandma neva's cousin. She has been Neva Weddle for more then 60 years now but her maiden name is Steers. Anyway. I don't know what u would call les steers or you in relation to me. But all I know is my grandma has a huge box of all of his news paper clippings that she gave to me. And I am so interested and proud to be in blood relation to one of the greatest athletes to ever step foot on a track. It's untreated me more than a lot of people because I also am a serious track athlete at the college level. So I hope that u contact me someday and read this. Again my name is Dylan Weddle. And I live in redding Calif. So try and find me on face book or something. I would be so happy to meet u. Thanks
I never knew Lester but his brother, Sam was a very close friend of our family in Humboldt County. Sam and his siblings were born in Rohernville, CA. I think Sam was the only one of his family to return to Humboldt after they moved to Palo Alto. He remained there until his death in 2001. His daughter, Sally lives in the Bay Area last I heard. His wife, Betty passed away sometime in the 90's.
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