Guinn Smith

Guinn Smith was the last man to win the Olympic pole vault title using a bamboo pole. He won the 1940 IC4A and tied for the NCAA title in 1941. Smith started out as a high jumper in college but switched to the pole vault when he realized how strong the high jump squad was at U Cal Berkeley. After graduating from Berkeley in 1942 he was out of the sport for three years, during which time he won the Distinguished Flying Cross as a captain in the Army Air Corps.

On his return to competition in 1947, Smith took the AAU indoor title and at the 1948 Final Trials he placed second with a career best of 14-8⅛ (4.47). At the Olympics he was trailing for much of the competition, but despite a painful knee injury, he was the only man to clear 14-1¼ (4.30), which he did on his last attempt. He was the last pole vault gold medalist to win the title on a bamboo pole.

After the Olympics Smith was recalled to the US Air Force and flew during the Korean War. He first worked at his alma mater in Berkeley and then became an assistant dean at the Harvard Business School, but then worked as an investment counselor in Boston. Smith and his wife returned to San Francisco where he worked here as administrator of the San Francisco branch of the Palo Alto Medical Clinic.

Personal Bests: HJ – 6-5 (1.95) (1941); PV – 14-8⅛ (4.47) (1948); LJ – 22-9¼ (6.94) (1944).