The track and field men’s 800m run has produced some of the most dramatic finishes in Olympic history……as this video provides evidence to that fact in both the 1932 Los Angeles Games and the 1936 Berlin Games. Prior to the 1932 Olympics…..Great Britain had won the men’s 800m run at the prior three Games….and GBR Tommy Hampson, Britian’s best runner, was not expected to beat the two Canadian 800m runners Phil Edwards and Alex Wilson….but in a near photo finish….Hampson overtakes Wilson in a photo finish …..and Great Britain goes into the 1936 Berlin Olympics with four consecutive Olympics gold medals in the men’s 800m run. At Berlin…. ITA Mario Lansi & CAN Phil Edwards were heavy favorites to win…..but USA John Woodruff noses him out at the finish line to end the streak at four consecutive wins for the first time in 24 years….in yet another close finish.
Coming into the 1936 Berlin Olympics….the USA Olympic team consisted of 383 men and women athletes…..of which USA John Woodruff was one of 10 black athletes on the American team…..who the Nazi press referred to as America’s black auxiliary athletes. Of the 10 “auxiliary athletes” on the USA team….Archie Williams, Jesse Owens, John Woodruff, Mack Robinson (brother of baseball HOF Jackie Roosevelt Robinson), Ralph Metcalfe, James LuValle, Cornelius Johnson, & Glen Hardin…..all won medals at the Nazi Olympics….and on this lil ole Chiweenie’s ledger….8 out of 10 ain’t bad for such “auxiliary types”.
