1920 Summer Olympics / Athletics

Athletics at the 1920 Olympic Games
information
venue	Olympic Stadium Champs de Beerschot
Competition venue	Antwerp
Athletes	509
date	August 15 to August 23, 1920
decisions	29
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Olympic Games 1920 (athletics medal table)
space	team				Total
1	United States	9	12	8th	29
2	Finland	9	4th	3	17th
3	Great Britain	4th	4th	4th	12
4th	Italy	2	-	2	4th
5	Sweden	1	3	10	14th
6th	France	1	2	1	4th
7th	South African Union	1	1	1	3
8th	Canada	1	-	-	1
	Norway	1	-	-	1
10	Australia	-	1	-	1
	Denmark	-	1	-	1
	Estonia	-	1	-	1

At the VII Olympic Games in Antwerp in 1920 , 29 athletics competitions took place. With 509 participants, the number of athletes in athletics was significantly lower than in the previous Olympic Games. But it was a miracle that such a major event could take place less than two years after the First World War - and that in a country that was particularly affected by these war events.

Stadion

The running competitions were held on the 400-meter circuit of the 'Champs de Beerschot', which was built in a hurry. Antwerp had only been given responsibility for hosting the Games in 1919, so there wasn't much time left. The quality of the train was not particularly good. In addition, it rained a lot, so the prerequisites for good performance were not exactly favorable. There was not a single Olympic record on the flat running routes . It was different in the hurdles , where world records were even set on both routes .

Attendees

There were fewer athletes taking part - there were 509 - because five nations were not allowed to take part after the war. These were Germany , Austria , Bulgaria , Hungary and Turkey . Even Soviet Russia did not send any athletes to these games.
In athletics, only men were still eligible. The first competitions for women only came into the program at the Olympic Games in 1928 .

Competitions

As in all previous Olympic Games, there were also changes in the competition offer in Antwerp . However, the program took on more and more of the forms we know today.

• The following five disciplines have been deleted: the two standing jump competitions, high and long jump, and the three two-armed thrusting / throwing competitions for the shot put , discus throw and javelin throw .
• The following four disciplines were new or returned to the program: the long hurdle course over 400 meters , the 3000 meter obstacle course , the second walking sport competition, the 3000 meter walking, and the throwing discipline, the weight throwing , which, however, only had one resurrection.

Sporting successes

So shortly after the end of the First World War , the level of athletic performance could not be as high as it would otherwise be expected at such a major event. The most successful nation was once again the United States with nine gold medals and a total of 29 medals . But little Finland had become very strong and also won nine golds. Great Britain had four Olympic champions, from Italy there were two.
The most successful participant here in Antwerp was the Finn Paavo Nurmi . He won gold three times - 10,000 meters , 8000 meters individual cross-country competition, 8000 meters cross-country team classification - and once silver - 5000 meters .
Three athletes each achieved two Olympic victories:

• Charles Paddock , USA - Gold: 100 meters and 4 by 100 meters ; in addition: silver 200 meters
• Albert Hill , United Kingdom - Gold: 800 and 1500 meters ; in addition: Silver 3000-meter team run
• Ugo Frigerio , Italy - Gold: 3000 meter and 10,000 meter walking .

Results

100 m

→ Main article : 1920 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 100 m (men)

space	athlete	country	Time (s)
1	Charles Paddock	United States	10.8
2	Morris Kirksey	United States	10.8
3	Harry Edward	GBR	10.9
4th	Jackson Scholz	United States	10.9
5	Emile Ali-Khan	FRA	11.1
6th	Loren Murchison	United States	k. A.

Final: August 16

In Antwerp , the famous Charles Paddock jump was seen for the first time at the Olympic Games. Morris Kirksey always seemed inhibited in all of his numerous races against Paddock because he was so impressed by his opponent's target jump technique. Loren Murchison had already lost the race due to a misunderstanding before the start. A referee warned him to put his hands behind the starting line, which Murchison interpreted as a call for everyone to stand. In the middle of his movement, the starting shot was fired, so that Murchison could only run after, hopelessly beaten.
In many sources the time of 11.2 s is given for Murchison, which, however, is hardly consistent in view of the starting problems. Correspondingly, Ekkehard's literature on Megede below is the basis for Murchison's end times, which is not given there. Other times are sometimes given for other runners as well, although they differ by no more than a tenth of a second.

200 m

→ Main article : 1920 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 200 m (men)

space	athlete	country	Time (s)
1	Allen Woodring	United States	22.0
2	Charles Paddock	United States	22.0
3	Harry Edward	GBR	22.2
4th	Loren Murchison	United States	22.2
5	George Davidson	NZL	22.4
6th	Jack Oosterlaak	RSA	22.4

Final: August 20th

Charles Paddock also started his target jump over 200 meters . This time he was unsuccessful, however, because Allen Woodring was too strong and became Olympic champion before Paddock. Harry Edward, who had the fastest time in the intermediate runs with 22.0 s, won bronze.

400 m

→ Main article : 1920 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 400 m (men)

space	athlete	country	Time (s)
1	Bevil Rudd	RSA	49.6
2	Guy Butler	GBR	49.9
3	Nils Engdahl	SWE	50.0
4th	Frank Shea	United States	50.2
5	John Ainsworth-Davis	GBR	50.4
6th	Henry Dafel	RSA	50.4

Final: August 20th

The times run in the final were pretty weak given Ted Meredith's world record of 47.4 s. However, the condition of the track and the fact that the preliminary rounds took place on the same day as the final must be taken into account.
There was nothing left of the superiority of the Americans in the last games - there was only one runner in the final who did not come from the USA. The South African Bevil Rudd was victorious in a cleverly arranged race.

800 m

→ Main article : 1920 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 800 m (men)

space	athlete	country	Time (min)
1	Albert Hill	GBR	1: 53.4
2	Earl Eby	United States	1: 53.7
3	Bevil Rudd	RSA	1: 53.7
4th	Edgar Mountain	GBR	1: 53.8
5	Donald Scott	United States	1: 54.8
6th	Albert Sprott	United States	1: 56.4
7th	Adriaan Paulen	NED	1: 56.4
8th	Paul Esparbès	FRA	1: 58.0

Final: August 17th

At the start of the home straight, the future 400-meter winner Bevil Rudd led. Albert Hill and Earl Eby now sprinted past Rudd. Hill defended his lead over Eby and won his first of two gold medals at those games.

1500 m

→ Main article : 1920 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 1500 m (men)

space	athlete	country	Time (min)
1	Albert Hill	GBR	4: 01.8
2	Philip Noel-Baker	GBR	4: 02.4
3	Lawrence Shields	United States	4: 03.1
4th	Václav Vohralík	TCH	4: 04.6
5	Sven Lundgren	SWE	4: 06.3
6th	André Audinet	FRA	4: 06.4
7th	Arturo Porro	ITA	4: 06.6
8th	Joie Ray	United States	4: 10.0

Final: August 19th

The American Joie Ray was the favorite for the 1500 meters because of his success at the American championships over 1 mile and the excellent times he achieved there . But a few days before the final he was injured and had no chance, although he tried everything and in the meantime took the lead. In the end, Albert Hill got his second gold medal ahead of fellow countryman Philip Noel-Baker and Lawrence Shields. Philip Noel-Baker later went into politics, held several ministerial posts and campaigned for disarmament and peace throughout his life. In 1959 he received the Nobel Peace Prize for this .

5000 m

→ Main article : 1920 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 5000 m (men)

space	athlete	country	Time (min)
1	Joseph Guillemot	FRA	14: 55.6
2	Paavo Nurmi	FIN	15: 00.0
3	Eric Backman	SWE	15: 13.0
4th	Teodor Koskenniemi	FIN	15: 17.0
5	Joe Blewitt	GBR	15: 19.0
6th	William Seagrove	GBR	15: 21.0
7th	Carlo Speroni	ITA	k. A.
8th	Alfred Nichols	GBR	k. A.

Final: August 17th

In this race, the legendary Finn Paavo Nurmi won his first Olympic medal. Joseph Guillemot and Nurmi were able to break away from the rest of the field soon after the start. In the finish curve, Guillemot increased the pace and gave the Finn no chance with a brilliant final sprint. The Frenchman had, despite a gas poisoning, which he did in World War I , to such an outstanding suffered long distance runner developed.

10,000 m

→ Main article : 1920 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 10,000 m (men)

space	athlete	country	Time (min)
1	Paavo Nurmi	FIN	31: 45.8
2	Joseph Guillemot	FRA	31: 47.2
3	James Wilson	GBR	31: 50.8
4th	Augusto Maccario	ITA	32: 02.0
5	James Hatton	GBR	32: 14.0
6th	Jean-Baptiste Manhès	FRA	32: 26.0
7th	Heikki Liimatainen	FIN	32: 28.0
8th	Fred Faller	United States	32: 38.0

Final: August 20th

The day before the final there were three preliminary runs, from which the top five qualified for advancement. However, only nine runners competed in the final. The expected renewed duel between Joseph Guillemot and Paavo Nurmi did not take place in the initial phase. Guillemot pulled out together with the later third James Wilson and Nurmi was at times up to twenty meters behind. But the two leaders slowed down and Nurmi caught up again. Guillemot accelerated 2000 meters from the target, but could not get rid of his two opponents. At the beginning of the last lap, Nurmi started to sprint and Wilson lost touch. Guillemot and Nurmi were now running towards the goal with changing leadership. In the end, the Finn prevailed and reversed the order of the 5000 meter run .

marathon

→ Main article : 1920 Summer Olympics / Athletics - marathon (men)

space	athlete	country	Time (h)
1	Hannes Kolehmainen	FIN	2: 32: 35.8 WBL
2	Jüri Lossmann	EST	2: 32: 48.6
3	Valerio Arri	ITA	2: 36: 32.8
4th	Auguste Broos	BEL	2: 39: 25.8
5	Juho Tuomikoski	FIN	2: 40: 18.8
6th	Sofus Rose	THE	2: 41: 18.0
7th	Joseph Organ	United States	2: 41: 30.0
8th	Rudolf Hansen	THE	2: 41: 39.4

Date: August 22nd
Official route length: 42.75 km

In this race, the first great Finnish long-distance runner, Hannes Kolehmainen, crowned his career. After his three gold medals from Stockholm , the war-related cancellation of the Olympic Games planned for 1916 in Berlin had deprived him of the chance to win more medals.
After eight kilometers, Kolehmainen, Christopher Gitsham - Olympic second in 1912, August Broos and Ettore Blasi formed a top group of four. At the turning point, Gitsham and Kolehmainen were alone in front, with Broos and Blasi following 48 seconds behind. In the further course the outsider Jüri Lossmann approached from behind, whose best times over 5000 meters and 10,000 meters were about four minutes slower than Kolehmainens. Lossmann caught up with Kolehmainen and the two ran a few kilometers together. In the end, the Finn was only able to prevail with a margin of 12.8 seconds.
The time achieved here was a world record - world records are not held in marathons - and at the same time an Olympic record .

110 m hurdles

→ Main article : 1920 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 110 m hurdles (men)

space	athlete	country	Time (s)
1	Earl Thomson	CAN	14.8 WR
2	Harold Barron	United States	15.0
3	Sweep Murray	United States	15.2
4th	Harry Wilson	NZL	15.2
5	Walker Smith	United States	15.3
6th	Carl-Axel Christiernsson	SWE	15.5

Final: August 18th

The Canadian Earl Thomson developed the double-arm style together with his American brother-in-law Robert Simpson and was the clear favorite here. In the Olympic year he had already achieved 14.4 s over 120-yard hurdles , the quality of which was far better than Forrest Smithson's 110 m hurdles - a world record of 15.0 s. Thomson lived up to his role as favorite and improved the world record by two tenths of a second despite the poor track conditions.

400 m hurdles

→ Main article : 1920 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 400 m hurdles (men)

space	athlete	country	Time (s)
1	Frank Loomis	United States	54.0 WR
2	John Norton	United States	54.6
3	August Desch	United States	54.7
4th	Géo André	FRA	54.8
5	Carl-Axel Christiernsson	SWE	55.4
6th	Charles Daggs	United States	57.5

Final: August 16

The existing world record also fell over 400 meter hurdles despite the poor track conditions . Géo André set the fastest starting pace, but couldn't make it through and ended up having to settle for fourth place. Frank Loomis had better divided the race and won the gold medal. He improved the world record by exactly one second. John Norton finished second just ahead of August Desch, both of whom also remained below the old world record. Here there was the only triple track and field success by US athletes at these games.

3000 m obstacle

→ Main article : 1920 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 3000 m obstacle (men)

space	athlete	country	Time (min)
1	Percy Hodge	GBR	10: 00.4 OR
2	Patrick Flynn	United States	10: 21.0
3	Ernesto Ambrosini	ITA	10: 32.0
4th	Gustaf Mattsson	SWE	10: 32.1
5	Michael Devaney	United States	10: 34.3
6th	Albert Hulsebosch	United States	10: 37.7
7th	Lars Hedwall	SWE	10: 42.2
8th	Ray Watson	United States	10: 50.3

Final: August 20th

This race was not held on the circular track of the stadium in Antwerp , but took place on a grass track. With the Briton Percy Hodge there was a superior winner who became Olympic champion with almost twenty seconds advantage. He just missed the ten-minute mark, but set a new Olympic record .

4 × 100 m relay

→ Main article : 1920 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 4 × 100 m (men)

space	country	Athletes	Time (s)
1	United States	Charles Paddock Jackson Scholz Loren Murchison Morris Kirksey	42.2 WR
2	France	René Lorain René Tirard René Mourlon Émile Ali-Khan	42.5
3	Sweden	Agne Holmström William Petersson Sven Malm Nils Sandström	42.8
4th	Great Britain	William Hill Harold Abrahams Denis Black Victor d'Arcy	43.0
5	Denmark	Henri Thorsen Fritiof Andersen August Sørensen Marinus Sørensen	43.3
6th	Luxembourg	Jean Colbach Paul Hammer Jean Proess Alex Servais	43.6

Final: August 22nd

After three heats the day before, six seasons made up for the final. Even the poor track conditions could not prevent the US relay from setting a new world record with their victory . The competition was at a very high level, France was only three tenths of a second behind the USA in second place and the sixth-placed Luxembourgers were only 1.4 seconds behind the winners.

4 × 400 m relay

→ Main article : 1920 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 4 × 400 m (men)

space	country	Athletes	Time (min)
1	Great Britain	Cecil Griffiths Robert Lindsay John Ainsworth-Davis Guy Butler	3: 22.2
2	South Africa	Henry Dafel Clarence Oldfield Jack Oosterlaak Bevil Rudd	3: 23.4
3	France	Géo André Gaston Féry Maurice Delvart André Devaux	3: 23.9
4th	United States	George Schiller George Bretnall Ted Meredith Frank Shea	3: 24.0
5	Sweden	Sven Krokström Sven Malm Eric Sundblad Nils Engdahl	3: 24.7
6th	Belgium	Jules Migeot Omer Corteyn Omer Smet François Morren	3: 25.5

Final: August 23

What the organizers thought here is not known. Although only six relays entered the competition, two preliminary heats were scheduled and carried out the day before the final, from which all participating teams qualified for the final. In the 400-meter individual run it became clear that the US runners had lost their superiority. So they ended up with no medals in fourth place. The British relay won the gold medal ahead of South Africa and France.
In contrast to the 4 x 100 meter relay , the quality of this longer relay was not high. Eight years earlier, the victorious US runners were almost six seconds faster.

3000 m team

→ Main article : 1920 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 3000 m team (men)

space	country	Athletes	Place number
1	United States	Horace Brown (1st) Arlie Schardt (3rd) Ivan Dresser (6th)	10
2	Great Britain	Joe Blewitt (5th) Albert Hill (7th) William Seagrove (8th)	20th
3	Sweden	Eric Backman (2nd) Sven Lundgren (10th) Edvin Wide (12th)	24
4th	France	Armand Burtin (4th) Gaston Heuet (11th) Edmond Brossard (15th)	30th
5	Italy	Ernesto Ambrosini (9th) Augusto Maccario (13th) Carlo Speroni (14th)	36

Final: August 22nd

Six teams started this competition. Here, too, it remains a mystery how the preliminary runs came about and what they were scheduled for. Four teams competed in the first run, the last of which was eliminated. The second preliminary run was held with two teams, both of which qualified for the finals ...
The ranking was based solely on the placements, so it was a matter of a number of places. Finland decided not to participate and, surprisingly, the USA runners won this race.

Cross country running

→ Main article : 1920 Summer Olympics / Athletics - Cross Country (men)

The cross-country run, known in the English-speaking countries and today also in our country as cross-country run, was held here as an Olympic competition for the second and penultimate time. There was an individual and a team classification. The track length was approx. 8 km. After the Olympic Games in 1924 , the competition was deleted from the Olympic program.

Individual evaluation

space	athlete	country	Time (min)
1	Paavo Nurmi	FIN	27: 15.0
2	Eric Backman	SWE	27: 17.6
3	Heikki Liimatainen	FIN	27: 37.4
4th	James Wilson	GBR	27: 45.2
5	Frank Hegarty	GBR	27: 57.0
6th	Teodor Koskenniemi	FIN	27: 57.2
7th	Julien Van Campenhout	BEL	28: 00.0
8th	Gaston Hay	FRA	28: 10.0

Date: August 23

For Paavo Nurmi, an unknown runner before these games, this race was a triumph. Since there was a team competition and he had strong Finnish colleagues, he was able to win two gold medals in one run. Nurmi and the Swede Eric Backman separated early. Joseph Guillemot, Nurmi's fiercest competitor over 5000 and 10,000 meters , had to give up the race about three kilometers from the finish due to a sprain. The Finn defeated his Swedish opponent in the final sprint.

Team ranking

space	country	Athletes	Points
1	Finland	Paavo Nurmi (1st) Heikki Liimatainen (3rd) Teodor Koskenniemi (6th)	10
2	Great Britain	James Wilson (4th) Frank Hegarty (5th) Alfred Nichols (12th)	21st
3	Sweden	Eric Backman (2nd) Gustaf Mattsson (10th) Hilding Ekman (11th)	23
4th	United States	Patrick Flynn (9th) Fred Faller (13th / 15th) Max Böhland (14th / 16th)	36
5	France	Gaston Heuet (8th) Gustave Lauvaux (15th / 17th) Joseph Servella (17th / 21st )	40
6th	Belgium	Julien Van Campenhout (7th) Henri Smets (20/33) Aimé Proot (21/36)	48
7th	Denmark	Albert Andersen (16./20.) Henrik Sørensen (19./27.) Jón Jónsen (20./28.)	55

Date: August 23

As in the 3000-meter team race, the ranking was based solely on the placements, so it was also a matter of a place-number ranking.

3000 m walking

→ Main article : 1920 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 3000 m walking (men)

space	athlete	country	Time (min)
1	Ugo Frigerio	ITA	13: 14.2 OR
2	George Parker	OUT	13: 19.6
3	Richard Remer	United States	13: 22.2
4th	Cecil McMaster	RSA	13: 23.6
5	Thomas Maroney	United States	13: 25.0
6th	Charles Dowson	GBR	13: 28.0
7th	William Hehir	GBR	13: 29.8
8th	Winfred Rolker	United States	13: 30.4

Final: August 21

After his Olympic victory in the 10,000 meter walk , Ugo Frigerio also won the gold medal over the shorter distance. The competition took place on the track in the Olympic Stadium. Walking was only held once as an Olympic competition over this length of the route.

10,000 m walking

→ Main article : 1920 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 10,000 m walking (men)

space	athlete	country	Time (min)
1	Ugo Frigerio	ITA	48: 06.2
2	Joseph Pearman	United States	49: 40.2
3	Charles Gunn	GBR	49: 43.9
4th	Cecil McMaster	RSA	50: 04.0
5	William Hehir	GBR	50: 11.8
6th	Thomas Maroney	United States	50: 24.4
7th	Jean Seghers	BEL	50: 32.4
8th	Antoine Doyen	BEL	56: 30.0

Final: August 18th

Ugo Frigerio was the outstanding walker of his time and won this competition by a huge margin. The later silver medalist Joseph Pearman was able to keep up until halfway through the course and had even partially led. But for the second five kilometers, Pearman Frigerio's pace hadn't increased. Both walking competitions at these games were held on the cinder track in the Olympic Stadium.

high jump

→ Main article : 1920 Summer Olympics / Athletics - high jump (men)

space	athlete	country	Height (m)
1	Richmond Landon	United States	1.935 OR
2	Harold Muller	United States	1,900
3	Bo Ekelund	SWE	1,900
4th	Walter Whalen	United States	1,850
5	John Murphy	United States	1,850
6th	Howard Baker	GBR	1,850
7th	Einar Thulin	SWE	1,800
	Pierre Lewden	FRA	1,800

Final: August 17th

The conditions for this competition were catastrophic. Continuous rain had turned the approach area into a quagmire. The organizers tried to remedy the situation with peat heaps, which, however, brought little improvement.
When it came to the Olympic victory, Richmond Landon managed the supposed height of 1.94 m alone, which he succeeded in his second attempt. When measuring, it turned out that it was only 1.935 m. This was irrelevant for the outcome, Landon won gold and had set a new Olympic record with his 1.935 m despite the miserable conditions . However, this was eight and a half centimeters lower than the existing world record .
Since there were still no rules for multiple attempts or failed attempts, a jump-off was carried out for the silver or bronze medal, which Harold Muller won. Bronze went to Bo Ekelund. There was also a jump-off for fourth place - the result can be seen in the table on the left.

Pole vault

→ Main article : 1920 Summer Olympics / Athletics - pole vault (men)

space	athlete	country	Height (m)
1	Frank Foss	United States	4.09 WR
2	Henry Petersen	THE	3.70
3	Edwin Myers	United States	3.60
4th	Edward Knourek	United States	3.60
5	Ernfrid Rydberg	SWE	3.60
6th	Laurits Jørgensen	THE	3.60
7th	Eldon Jenne	United States	3.60
8th	Georg Högström	SWE	3.50

Final: August 20th

When the jump height of 3.80 m was set, only Frank Foss and 19-year-old Henry Petersen were in the competition, both of whom had jumped 3.70 m. Edwin Myers had disappointed a bit, because he had managed 3.99 m at the US championships together with Frank Foss. In the playoff for the bronze medal, which took place among four jumpers, Meyers was able to secure at least third place. At the front, however, Foss was only concerned with the question of whether he would manage to set a world record in addition to the 3.80 m safe Olympic victory. So he had the bar set at 4.10 m - 8 centimeters above the existing world record - and managed the height straight away. When measuring, it was shown that it was actually 4.09 m. This amount was included in the statistics.

Long jump

→ Main article : 1920 Summer Olympics / Athletics - long jump (men)

space	athlete	country	Width (m)
1	William Petersson	SWE	7.150
2	Carl Johnson	United States	7,095
3	Erik Abrahamsson	SWE	7,080
4th	Dink Templeton	United States	6,950
5	Erling Aastad	NOR	6.885
6th	Rolf Franksson	SWE	6.730
7th	Sol butler	United States	6,600
8th	Einar Ræder	NOR	6,585

Final: August 18th

Sol Butler had won the US Olympic elimination and achieved an excellent 7.52 m, so that he went to Antwerp as the favorite . But in qualifying he injured himself on his first jump and he was only seventh. In the case of an unreasonable boggy run-up, as with the high jump , the performance remained below value. William Petersson ensured a Swedish victory with 7.15 m. He later changed his name to William Björnemann.

Triple jump

→ Main article : 1920 Summer Olympics / Athletics - triple jump (men)

space	athlete	country	Width (m)
1	Vilho Tuulos	FIN	14.505
2	Folke Jansson	SWE	14,480
3	Erik Almlöf	SWE	14.270
4th	Ivar Sahlin	SWE	14.175
5	Sherman Landers	United States	14,170
6th	Dan Ahearn	United States	14.080
7th	Ossian Nylund	FIN	13.740
8th	Howard Baker	GBR	13.675

Final: August 21

As with the long jump , the athletes all remained well below their potential with their performances, which v. a. was due to the poor general conditions. World record holder Dan Ahearn just managed to qualify for the final battle, but did not get past sixth place. Ville Tuulos achieved his victory distance in the preliminary battle two days before the final. The distances achieved there were counted as a performance as usual, and since no one could jump any further, the Finn became Olympic champion with 14.505 m.

Shot put

→ Main article : 1920 Summer Olympics / Athletics - Shot Put (Men)

space	athlete	country	Width (m)
1	Ville Pörhölä	FIN	14.810
2	Elmer Niklander	FIN	14,155
3	Harry Liversedge	United States	14.150
4th	Pat McDonald	United States	14.080
5	Einar Nilsson	SWE	13,870
6th	Harald Tammer	EST	13.605
7th	George Bihlman	United States	13,575
8th	Howard Cann	United States	13,520

Final: August 18th

The Olympic champion of 1912 Patrick McDonald was handicapped beyond his performance zenit and also by a hand injury. He finished fourth. The Olympic victory went to a Finn for the first time. Ville Pörhölä won with 14.81 m in front of his compatriot Elmer Niklander, who surprised as a real discussion specialist in the shot put .

Discus throw

→ Main article : 1920 Summer Olympics / Athletics - Discus throw (men)

space	athlete	country	Width (m)
1	Elmer Niklander	FIN	44.685
2	Armas Taipale	FIN	44.190
3	Gus Pope	United States	42.130
4th	Oscar Zallhagen	SWE	41.070
5	William Bartlett	United States	40.875
6th	Allan Eriksson	SWE	39.410
7th	Valther Jensen	THE	38.230
8th	Ville Pörhölä	FIN	38.190

Final: August 22nd

Armas Taipale, the Olympic champion in 1912 , contributed with his silver medal to a Finnish double victory that had already been given in the shot put . The gold medal was won by the Olympic runner-up in the shot put, also the discus thrower from 1912, Elmer Niklander.

Hammer throw

→ Main article : 1920 Summer Olympics / Athletics - hammer throw (men)

space	athlete	country	Width (m)
1	Pat Ryan	United States	52.875
2	Carl Johan Lind	SWE	48.430
3	Basil Bennett	United States	48,250
4th	Malcolm Svensson	SWE	47.290
5	Matt McGrath	United States	46.670
6th	Tom Nicolson	GBR	45,700
7th	Nils Linde	SWE	44.885
8th	James McEachern	United States	44,700

Final: August 19th

Patrick Ryan has been an active hammer thrower for many years . His Irish association had not set it up for the 1908 Olympic Games . However, in 1912 he was after immigrating to the United States to the best hammer throwers in the world, was not one of the games in Stockholm go because he had not yet an American citizen. Now, eight years later, the time had finally come for Ryan. At the age of 37 he was an Olympian for the first time. In 1913 he had set the world record to 57.77 m, a world record that lasted 25 years. In Antwerp he lived up to his role as a favorite and won the gold medal by more than four meters. His predecessor Matthew McGrath was injured in the second round and finished fifth.

Javelin throw

→ Main article : 1920 Summer Olympics / Athletics - Javelin Throw (Men)

space	athlete	country	Width (m)
1	Jonni Myyra	FIN	65.780 OR
2	Urho Peltonen	FIN	63,605
3	Pekka Johansson	FIN	63.095
4th	Juho Saaristo	FIN	62.395
5	Aleksander Klumberg	EST	62,390
6th	Gunnar Lindström	SWE	60,520
7th	Milton Angier	United States	59.275
8th	Erik Blomqvist	SWE	58.180

Final: August 15th

In the javelin throw , the Finns achieved the only triple success of a country in the athletics competitions at these games in addition to the US success over 400 meters . It was actually a quadruple victory, because the 1912 Olympic champion Juho Saaristo also took fourth place. But the Olympic champion was Jonni Myyrä, who narrowly missed his own world record of 66.10 m with 65.78 m .

Weight throwing

→ Main article : 1920 Summer Olympics / Athletics - Weight throw (men)

space	athlete	country	Width (m)
1	Pat McDonald	United States	11.265 OR
2	Pat Ryan	United States	10.965
3	Carl Johan Lind	SWE	10,250
4th	Archie McDiarmid	CAN	10.120
5	Malcolm Svensson	SWE	09.455
6th	Johan Pettersson	FIN	09.375
7th	Edward Roberts	United States	09,360
8th	Elmer Niklander	FIN	08,865

Final: August 21

Three days after the shot put , Patrick McDonald won a gold medal at the Antwerp Games . One of his biggest competitors was Matthew McGrath, who could not compete because of his hammer throw injury . McDonald was the last Olympic champion in this discipline with the Olympic record distance of 11.265 m, because the weight throwing disappeared from the Olympic program after these games.

Pentathlon

→ Main article : 1920 Summer Olympics / Athletics - Pentathlon (men)

space	athlete	country	Place number	10fight value.
1	Eero Lehtonen	FIN	14th	k. A.
2	Everett Bradley	United States	24	k. A.
3	Hugo Lahtinen	FIN	26th	3576,305
4th	Robert LeGendre	United States	26th	3534,365
5	Helge Løvland	NOR	27	3,695,375
6th	Brutus Hamilton	United States	27	3,510,060
7th	Bertil Ohlson	SWE	30th	k. A.
8th	Aleksander Klumberg	EST	after 4 disciplines 8.	k. A.

Date: August 16

The pentathlon consisted of the long jump , javelin , 200-meter run , discus throw and 1500-meter run . It was carried out according to almost the same rules as at its Olympic premiere in 1912 . The 15 best up to that point were admitted to the fourth discipline, and only the seven best to the fifth. The number of points resulted from the individual placements of the athletes in the respective disciplines, so it was a ranking. Only in the event of a tie, the number of points in the decathlon table decided on the placement. That was the case for places three / four and five / six. Curiously, if the decathlon table had been used consistently, as in the decathlon, Helge Løvland would have become Olympic champion.

Decathlon

→ Main article : 1920 Summer Olympics / Athletics - Decathlon (men)

space	athlete	country	P - official value.	P - 85 value.
1	Helge Løvland	NOR	6803,355	5803
2	Brutus Hamilton	United States	6771.085	5714
3	Bertil Ohlson	SWE	6580,030	5640
4th	Gösta Holmér	SWE	6532,150	5576
5	Evert Nilsson	SWE	6433,530	5371
6th	Valdemar Wickholm	FIN	6405,460	5647
7th	Eugene Vidal	United States	6358,570	5489
8th	Axel-Erik Gyllenstolpe	SWE	6331,435	5482

Date: August 20th and 21st

The decathlon was as with the Olympics in 1912 for the same disciplines as today. Now, as is customary today, the competition was held on two days, whereas in 1912 there were still three. In 1920 there was a new scoring system, so the official scores for the decathlons of 1912 and 1920 are not directly comparable.

After his fifth place in the pentathlon , Helge Løvland won the gold medal in the decathlon in front of the sixth pentathlon Brutus Hamilton. The performances were far below the level of the 1912 Olympic champion Jim Thorpe . The Olympic runner-up from 1912 Hugo Wieslander would have been just before Løvland. However, the general conditions in Stockholm were much better than here in Antwerp .
For a better classification of the performance, the converted points according to today's rating system are also given.

literature

• Ekkehard zur Megede , The history of Olympic athletics, Volume 1: 1896–1936, Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 2nd edition 1970

Web links

• IOC's website on athletics at the 1920 Olympic Games at olympic.org, accessed July 30, 2017
• That was the 1920 Games on sportschau.de, accessed on July 30, 2017
• Olympic Games Antwerp 1920 Official report (PDF), accessed July 30, 2017
• 1920 Antwerp Summer Games on sports-reference.com, accessed July 30, 2017
• Antwerp 1920 from olympia-lexikon.de, accessed on July 30, 2017
• The 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp from sporthelden.de, accessed on July 30, 2017
• Knowledge pool. Olympic Games from planet-schule.de, accessed on July 30, 2017
• Olympic flag has been flying since 1920 - just plagiarism? , Allgemeine Zeitung April 21, 2015 at olympia-lexikon.de, accessed on July 30, 2017
• 3000m obstacle course 1928 at sportunterricht.de, accessed on July 30, 2017
• Antwerp 1920 from olympia-lexikon.de, accessed on July 30, 2017

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Philip Noel-Baker , Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 1959 on born.am, accessed July 29, 2017