Stamford Bridge, London, July 2–3, 1926
Germany had been condemned as the initiator of the First World War, so it had to watch the 1920 and 1924 Olympic Games from the sidelines. In 1925, the atmosphere in Europe softened after the mutual borders of France, Germany, and Belgium were sanctioned in Locarno, Switzerland. In 1926, Germans participated in the British Open Championships, specifically at the initiative of the British.
Otto Peltzer from Stettin travelled to Stamford Bridge in London at the beginning of July to compete against Olympic champion Douglas Lowe in the 880 yards. The Briton set a brutal pace (440 yards in 54.6), but Peltzer struggled to stay in his slipstream after the bell. On the final straight, the two men pulled away side by side until the German surged ahead of the Briton. Stopwatches recorded a world record time of 1:51.6 (equivalent to 1:51.0 for 800 metres). The record, held by Ted Meredith for the past 12 years, was lowered by 0.6 seconds. Lowe also moved up to second in the all-time standings with his time of 1:52.1. Not far behind was the Welshman Cecil Griffiths, who finished third with the fourth fastest time of the season, 1:53.1.
Lowe, who studied law at Cambridge University, was a healthy-minded runner in the sense that he was only interested in major championship victories. The Stamford Bridge race was the only record attempt he participated in during his career.
The homosexual Jewish Peltzer was also no ordinary man, having casually earned a doctorate. During Hitler's rise to power, he tactically registered as a member of the Nazi party, which did not prevent his deportation to a concentration camp. Peltzer survived thanks to his iron physical condition. After the war, he occasionally faced difficulties due to suspicions of communist sympathies. He continued coaching until the end: a man who went his own way, he collapsed and died in a park in 1970 with a stopwatch around his neck, watching his protégé.
Future Olympic champion Lord Burghley (David Burghley) stormed to victory in the 440 yards hurdles in a British record time of 55.0, which tied the world's leading time with former Olympic champion Morgan Taylor. Thomas Livingstone-Learnmouth, who died young in Sudan, sprinted to second place with the sixth fastest time in the world, 55.0.
In the 100 yards, the Germans proved that their strong statistical results were no fluke. The visitors occupied five of the six final spots. Richard Corts from Stuttgart snatched victory, defeating future Olympic silver medalist and musical pianist Jack London. Helmut Körnig toiled to bronze.
Peltzer also participated in his secondary event, the 440 yards, but had to acknowledge the superiority of John Rinkel, fourth in the Amsterdam Olympics. Future sports administrator Adriaan Paulen claimed bronze for the Netherlands.
A strong group crouched in the starting blocks for the 120 yards hurdles. Briton Fred Gaby sped to victory, beating tough opponents: George Weightman-Smith, who had run a world record in the heats of the Amsterdam Olympics, Lord Burghley, the Olympic champion in the long hurdles, and Heinrich Trossbach, who had clocked a somewhat dubious world's best time of 14.5 in the high hurdles in 1925.
Norwegians also competed at Stamford Bridge. Discus thrower Ketil Askildt spun his way to second place, taking a relatively significant scalp from Hans Hoffmeister. Ireland's Paddy Bermingham won with a throw of nearly 44 meters. Later that summer, Bermingham hurled the Irish national record with 44.14 (144-10).Olav Sunde, a bronze medallist from Amsterdam, took the javelin title, defeating Hungary's Béla Szepes, who won silver at the Amsterdam Olympics.
Medalists (GBR Athletics)
Idrottsbladet, July 6, 1926 (in Swedish)
Helsingin Sanomat, July 10, 1926 (in Finnish)
Idrottsbladet, July 14, 1926 (in Swedish)
Otto Peltzer Profile (Racing Past, May 12, 2014)