Lee Barnes

Lee Barnes was a pole vaulter who competed at two Olympic Games, winning a gold medal in 1924 and placing fifth in 1928. Barnes won his gold medal shortly after his senior year at Hollywood High School. He later attended Southern Cal. Barnes was AAU Champion in 1927-28, placed second in 1925, and was third in 1926. At the 1928 West Coast Relays in Fresno, California, Barnes cleared a world record 4.30 m (14-1¾). He attempted to make the 1932 US Olympic team, but placed fourth at the AAU Meet, which doubled as the Olympic Trials that year, and did not qualify.

Barnes started working for a stock exchange in Los Angeles after college. During the depression he worked in an oil company warehouse. He served in the US glider corps during World War II. After the war, Barnes settled in Oxnard, California where he co-founded the Barnes-Cuff Welding Supply Company.

Personal Best: PV – 4.30 (1928).