Sesquicentennial Stadium, Philadelphia, PA, July 5–7, 1926
Laurel to Baltimore, MD, May 15, 1926
Travers Island, New York, NY, September 25, 1926
Glenn Park, Yonkers, NY, November 2, 1926
Van Cortlandt Park, New York, NY, November 21, 1926
The main events of the 1926 United States Championships were held in Philadelphia at Sesquicentennial Stadium in early July. Later, the venue became known as JFK Stadium and hosted performers such as The Beatles, Rolling Stones, and Led Zeppelin. After serving its time, the stadium faced the wrecking ball.
The sprints were somewhat diminished because Charley Paddock, who was keen to compete again but capricious, was once again absent. However, the Pasadena fellow might not necessarily have won the 100-yard dash held in the rain, which was narrowly won by Charley Borah, the nephew of Senator William Borah. According to some, Borah had already beaten Paddock in Los Angeles in May, although Paddock was listed as the winner in the official results. Olympic long jump champion and world record holder DeHart Hubbard, who was in the lead at the halfway mark, sped to third place.
In the 220 (straight track), Borah had to watch the spikes of Tom Sharkey, one of the first to be dropped from the Amsterdam Olympic team, from behind. The form of 200-meter Olympic champion Jackson Scholz was perhaps not optimal, as he had to acknowledge Borah as superior in both the 100 and 220 yards.
Kenneth Kennedy of the Illinois Athletic Club powered his way to his only American championship in the 440 yards. The stopwatches stopped at a world-leading time of 48.6 (equivalent to 48.3 for the metric distance). Kennedy chased an Olympic spot two years later, but his journey ended in the second preliminary heats of the tough US trials.
Alva Martin, who had won the two laps [880 yards] at the NCAA championships a month earlier, also won the US championship in Philadelphia now that he had gained momentum. A kick in the last 50 yards before the finish line secured the win for the fellow who clocked in at 1:53.4. Walter Caine of Indiana University finished about five meters behind.
Having spent about two months in America, Finland's Ove Andersen set the pace for six miles until the halfway point , where the Native American Philip Osif took off. Around the six-kilometer mark, the American Verne Booth overtook the Finn, who had to settle for bronze. Later in the autumn, Ville Ritola, in turn, soundly defeated Osif in the cross-country.
Leighton Dye snatched victory in the 42-inch obstacles on a waterlogged track. The race lost some luster because George Guthrie, who had crushed Dye at the NCAA championships, dropped in the heats.
Olympic champion Morgan Taylor hauled through the 440-yard hurdles in a time of 55.0 (equivalent to 54.7 for the metric distance). This was far from his Paris winning time of 52.6, but it was still the world-leading time for 1926. The standard in the one-lap hurdles dropped alarmingly during the off-year. Sweden's Sten Pettersson, who had traveled to America, failed completely in both the 120-yard and 440-yard hurdles.
Olympic champion DeHart Hubbard leaped a fine result of 7.68 (25-2½), which was a couple of inches short of the world-leading mark of 7.72 (25-4) he had achieved in Cincinnati in early June. In a high-standard competition, high school English teacher Paul Jones jumped the fifth-longest mark in the world for the season (7.38, 24-2½) and secured silver for the Illinois AC.
World record holder Bud Houser routinely took the discus victory and slung the fifth-best mark of the season, 46.80 (153-6). In the shot put, Herbert Schwarze, 1.95m, 120kg, edged out the season's newcomer John Kuck, who perhaps somewhat surprisingly beat Houser.
Kuck went on to win his second event, the javelin throw. In poor conditions, the winning throw was a modest 60.73 (199-3). Finland's Jonni Myyrä finished fourth with his throw.
Olympic high jump and decathlon champion Harold Osborn put up a score of 7152.825 points, which ranked fifth in the world list for the season.
Clarence DeMar won the United States marathon championship, which was contested for the second time. The first was taken by Chuck Mellor in 1925, when the Boston Marathon was given championship status.
Finland's Albin Stenroos was supposed to participate in the race held in Baltimore. However, he was not allowed to run wearing Finland's national colors, so the Paris Olympic champion withdrew.
Ville Ritola returned to the track in September after taking a six-month break. Ritola spent his break in Vermont in the fresh mountain air. According to the Finnish-language newspaper 'New Yorkin Uutiset', the runner looked in good shape upon his return: "No excess flesh was visible anywhere."
In his comeback race, Ritola took the US championship in the two-mile steeplechase. It was the second title in the event for the "Wolf of Peräseinäjoki". The race was held in September on Travers Island, New York. Ritola observed the situation for the first mile and then started to push hard on the second. The previous year's winner, Russell Payne, eventually finished about fifty meters behind. The winning time of 10:34.2 corresponded to approximately 9:51 for 3000 meters, ranking fifth on the season's world list in the event dominated by Finns in 1926. Finland's Ove Andersen picked up the bronze medal. The man from Kymi already had a bronze medal hanging around his neck from the American championships in July.
Over the following weeks, Ritola trained intensely in Van Cortlandt Park, New York. On the competition calendar in November was the US championship race for 10 miles. The victory did not come easily. The New York carpenter suffered a stitch around the six-mile mark and had to stop. Runners rushed past him on both sides. Gradually, running started to feel good again, and he began to catch the runners ahead. Ove Andersen was caught a couple of miles before the finish, as was the leader, the Panamanian Gonzales Moreno. Eventually, Ritola managed to leave Moreno nine seconds behind. Andersen held onto his third place. About six thousand spectators witnessed Ritola's fourth 10-mile victory in the American championships.
The Wolf of Peräseinäjoki ended his season by winning the US cross-country championship for the fourth time at the end of November. Philip Osif, who had defeated Ove Andersen in the summer's six-mile championship race, was beaten by over a minute. Andersen finished fourth. The race was held on Ritola's home turf, the already familiar Van Cortlandt Park in New York.
Idrottsbladet July 14, 1926 (in Swedish)
Helsingin Sanomat October 19, 1926 (in Finnish)
Helsingin Sanomat November 19, 1926 (in Finnish)
Helsingin Sanomat December 9, 1926 (in Finnish)