Drake Stadium, Des Moines, IA, April 23–24, 1926
Nebraska's Roland Locke, having reached the form of his life, sprinted to a winning mark of 9.5 in the 100 yards. However, it was not ratified as a world record due to excessive tailwind.
The good spring form of St. Louis hurdler Leighton Dye continued. He again beat Paris Olympic finalist George Guthrie in the 120-yard hurdles, but the winning time of 14.9 remained 0.3 seconds slower than the two 14.6 times achieved in Los Angeles a few weeks earlier.
Future Olympic shot put champion John Kuck took up the javelin and hurled it to the season's 13th longest mark of 63.27 (207-7). His 65.63 (215-4) hurl later in the summer in Finland was not necessarily a fluke.
Charles Hoff of Norway won the pole vault and swung to a world-leading mark of 4.19 (13-9) with twelve thousand spectators cheering in the stands despite the drizzle and chilly air. Hoff thought he had cleared the world record height of 4.26 (14-0), but upon closer measurement, seven centimeters aka three inches were shaved off the result.
Hoff, who had raised the pole vault world record to 4.25 (13-11½) in 1925, competed during the indoor season in North America and incrementally improved the world's best indoor mark 11 times, up to 4.17 (13-8¼).He succumbed to accepting cash payments exceeding travel expenses, although he had been warned about meet promoters upon arriving in the country. It has been claimed that American rivals reported Hoff out of envy or pique. The motive becomes clear by glancing at the pole vault world rankings for 1925. According to claims, Hoff received $800 for his participation in the Drake Relays, nearly the same amount Paavo Nurmi was allegedly said to have charged for appearing on the starting line the previous year.
Hoff competed in his last race as an amateur on May Day in Seattle, where he won with the season's second-best result of 4.16 (13-7¾). After the Norwegian was banned from competition, he declared himself a professional and joined a vaudeville troupe, giving jumping exhibitions for a monthly salary of about $10,000.
Hoff was ahead of his time in demanding his ban be handled by an impartial body, resembling the modern Court of Arbitration for Sport.
During World War II, Hoff organized Norwegian sports life in collaboration with the German occupiers. After the war, the most prominent collaborators faced execution, but the less influential Hoff received a long prison sentence.
1-4 (Spalding’s NCAA Guide)