August Desch
August Desch ( August George “Gus” Desch ; born December 12, 1898 in Newark , New Jersey , † November 14, 1964 in Evanston , Illinois ) was an American hurdler whose specialty was the 400-meter distance .
In 1920 he qualified as third of the national championships, which also functioned as eliminations, for the Olympic Games in Antwerp . There he was victorious in the preliminary and semi-finals over 400 m hurdles with 57.6 and 55.4 s respectively. In the final he came third with a further increase to 54.7 s and won bronze behind his compatriots Frank Loomis (gold in the world record time of 54.0 s) and John Norton (silver in 54.6 s). However, only the winner was stopped; all other times were only estimated. Desch was about five meters behind Loomis.
In 1921 he won two championships:
- National championship over 440 y in 53.4 seconds - this time would have been the American record and world record over the 2 m shorter 400 m hurdle distance, but was not recognized because Desch had knocked over a hurdle. This was not allowed under the rules of the time.
- University Championship (NCAA) over 220 y hurdles in 24.8 seconds.
August Desch was 1.70 m tall, weighed 61 kg and started for the University of Notre Dame . After finishing his athletic career, he worked as a football coach.
Web links
- August Desch in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Desch, August |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Desch, August George (full name); Desch, Gus |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American hurdler |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 12, 1898 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Newark , New Jersey |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 14, 1964 |
| Place of death | Evanston , Illinois |