Berlin

The fiercest athletics battle of 1926 took place in Berlin on September 11th. Crouching on the starting line of the European mile alongside world record holder Paavo Nurmi were the host country's Otto Peltzer, who had set a world record in the 880 yards a couple of months earlier, and Sweden's in-form Edvin Wide.

Nurmi Leads, Others Follow

Nurmi set a punishing pace (400m in 61.0, 800m in 2:02.2, 1200m in 3:05.6). Wide and Peltzer followed in his slipstream. The Swede surged into the lead on the final lap, and Nurmi attacked in pursuit. Peltzer, whom sports writer Martti Jukola describes as a "living skeleton" in his history of track and field, unleashed his sprint on the final bend and with long strides passed first Nurmi and then, on the homestretch, also Wide.

The German individualist and Doctor of Economics shattered Nurmi's world record into fragments with a time of 3:51.0. Wide sprinted to a Swedish record of 3:51.8. Watches officially showed a time of 3:52.8 for Nurmi. It was no wonder that the Finnish Idrottsbladet (Sports Magazine) described the race as "the race of all time."

Italian expert Roberto Quercetani, however, has analyzed a photograph taken at the finish and concluded that Nurmi's time was incorrect. Based on the photo, Nurmi's correct time would have been around 3:52.4, meaning he would have run 0.2 seconds faster than his previous record.

On the other hand, two official timekeepers recorded 3:51.0 for Peltzer, and a third recorded 3:51.6. Many unofficial timekeepers also clocked the German at 3:51.6, a result supported by the fact that there was a two-meter gap between Peltzer and Wide at the finish.

Under current rules, Wide would have had his name entered in the world record books, as Dr. Peltzer had two false starts.

Peltzer recalled the race in a press conference. He noticed on the last lap that Nurmi was starting to fade and realized that he was beatable. Before the race, the German's goal had only been to edge out Wide and take second place.

Poisonous Words

Nurmi, in turn, displayed Ingebrigtsen-like behavior by announcing after his return home that the weakest man of the top three had won the Berlin 1500. The following summer, the man from Turku added more fuel to the fire by claiming that Peltzer was taking unspecified performance-enhancing drugs. Some poisonous feelings simmered between the men, although later they went for runs together.

The day after Peltzer's world record run, an attempt was made on the two-mile world record in Berlin. The race was historic in that Wide defeated Nurmi for the second time in a row. The relentless Swede surged the final 200 meters with the fury. Nurmi was exhausted. Wide set a new record at 9:01.4. The "black-clad phantom" from Turku stopped the clock at 9:05.0, which was also faster than the previous world record held by Albert Shrubb.

Ritola Astonished

News of Nurmi's, Wide's, and Peltzer's fierce clashes reached New York. There, Ville Ritola wondered how the guys could endure such a grueling competition schedule. The worker from the Big Apple believed that the body needed to recover from hard training. True to his word, the "wolf of Peräseinäjoki" took 1926 easy. He reportedly did not compete at all during the summer.