Henry Leeke, son of former English champion amateur athlete and hammer-throwing pioneer Henry Leeke, was born on 15 November 1879.

Henry Sr. was one of the leading exponents of competitive hammer throwing, winning the AAC Championship three times in 1868, 1870, and 1872. He was also the winner for Cambridge against Oxford in 1868.

Henry picked up his father’s talent for track and field events. He was educated at Leamington College before studying at Corpus Christi, Cambridge. 
Henry was a Cambridge Blue between 1901-1903, competing in shot and hammer for his university. He won both events against Oxford in 1903.

He was a fine all-around thrower. 1906 saw Henry win the AAA hammer championship, placing second in the shotput event three times in 1903, 1906, and 1910.
Henry was becoming one of the first British athletes to take up the discus, setting the British record in 1908, carrying on a family tradition of developing throwing events in British track and field athletics. 

Henry won the freestyle javelin at the 1908 Olympic Trials, throwing 135-8.5 yards.

At the finals in London, Henry competed in six throwing events but failed to reach any of the finals.
Outside of sports, Henry was married with a child. He had wed his wife Catherine in 1898. Together, they had a son and a daughter, and lived in Hill, Warwickshire.

Shortly after the outbreak of the First World War, Henry enlisted with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, where he was commissioned as a Lieutenant on 22 September 1914. He was placed in command of the machine-gun section of D Company, 9th Battalion.

Henry fell ill with a fever and died, aged 35, on 29 May 1935. He is buried in Aldershot Military Cemetery.