Day 3: M LJ, M 800m, w 100m, W DT

The finals on the third day of the Games began with the long jump. Georgian fellow Ed Hamm had already set a world record of 7.90 (25-11) in the American trials. On Amsterdam's poor track, the sand flew 7.73 (25-4¼) from the take-off board. That was enough.

Speed also paid off in Amsterdam's long jump competition. Hamm, whom a Finnish reporter described as a "small and sturdy boy," had previously in his track and field career run a 100 yards in 10.6 and 220 in 21.0 seconds (likely on a straight track).

The Future World Record Holder Takes the Silver 

Haiti's Silvio Cator marred the raked sandpit with jumps that landed between 7.50 (24-7) and 7.60 (25-0) in the preliminary round. His best jump carried 7.58 (24-10½). He was handed a silver medal for it sometime after the Games ended (there were no actual medal ceremonies back then). Later that autumn, Cator avenged his defeat by moving the world record to 7.93 (26-¼). It has stood as the record for the poor Caribbean island since then.

A finnish sports journalist described Cator's style: "When he took off, he first split the air in a completely straight posture, after which he tilted himself with quick arm and leg movements."

Former world record holder DeHart Hubbard suffered an injury and ended up in a shared 11th place. The first African-American Olympic champion in the history of track and field attacked the take-off board at full speed despite the pain. One jump landed powerfully, potentially threatening Hamm's victory. However, the incorruptible judges waved the red flag. He had to get a valid mark on his third attempt. A cautious jump carried only 7.11 (23-4), so his game was over.

In the two-lap race, American Lloyd Hahn, who had already run 1:51.4 in the national trials (a time the international federation did not, however, accept as a world record), set the pace. Defending Olympic champion Douglas Lowe, who had been casually competing in the interim years, followed in his slipstream and made no tactical errors. 120 metres before the finish, the Briton moved to the second lane and shifted into high gear. His kick was as smooth as Sebastian Coe's in a tactical race.

Keep the Inside Track 

"I got exactly the position that I wanted – namely, on the nside of the track and was able to keep it throughout while the follows behind me kept jostling for position," Lowe commented. "I had made up my mind to let someone else to make pace for 700 metres and to keep near enough to him to win in a final spurt."

Lowe, along with Mal Whitfield, Sir Peter Snell, and David Rudisha, remains the only one to have won two consecutive Olympic golds in the two-lap race.

Erik Byléhn, who sprinted to silver, may have surprised the rest of the world but not the Finns. The Swede's name had been jotted down in notes in Finland a year earlier, when he had beaten Harry Larva (who at that time still used the surname Lagerström) in the Finnkampen 800 victory battle.

Séra Martin from France, who had set a world record a couple of weeks before the Amsterdam Games, faded to sixth in the final stretch. Statistical results, especially those made in paced  "races," hardly matter when it comes to actually deciding medal positions in major competitions. For example, Olympic champion Lowe focused his career only on major competitions and left artificial record attempts to others.

Otto Pelzer, who set world records in both the 880 and 1500 in 1926, never succeeded in major competitions. The German individualist was unceremoniously eliminated in the 800m semifinals.

Many journalists sent to Amsterdam considered the 800 meters the most brilliant competition of the day three. Lowe's performance also impressed sports leader Tahko Pihkala, who commented:

I have never seen such a hard competition won so easily.

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In the 100m, 16-year-old Elizabeth "Betty" Robinson from Chicago sprinted to victory. Canada's Myrtle Cook, who had set a world record a few weeks earlier, and Germany's Leni Schmidt were disqualified due to false starts. According to sports journalist Martti Jukola's description, after the verdict, they "threw themselves on the grass and wept bitterly." After getting back on their feet, Myrtle Cook even shook her fist at the starter, which was a pleasantly anarchic act in a time when female athletes were portrayed in the press as meek and gentle.

The ladies might not be entirely to blame for the red card waving, as Tahko Pihkala testified that the starters for the sprint races in Amsterdam were "utterly incompetent."

The First One

Betty Robinson is generally considered the first female Olympic champion in track and field. The women's discus throw began in Amsterdam at 2:00 pm and the 100 at 3:30 pm. It is highly probable that the discus throwing, led by Halina Konopacka, was still underway at the moment the world's fastest woman was being sought. Even in the men's category, the discus competition lasted three hours.

Finnish journalists were not interested in the women's competitions. "The audience did get excited about their efforts," wrote Helsingin Sanomat's pseudonymous columnist Uppercut, the writer Yrjö Halme, almost stifling a yawn, "but we Finns ordered sandwiches, beers, or peppermint pastilles and remained calm."

More favourably inclined towards women's athletics was the younger generation journalist "Maileri," or Tauno Tattari (b. 1907), from a Finnish sports journal. He followed the women's events so attentively from the press stands in Amsterdam that he was able to specify in his report which of the female competitors had a freckled face. Maileri's stance on women's athletics was practical: in principle, he supported expelling women from track and field events at the Olympic Games, but since women's events had been officially added to the programme, Finland too must join the game and send female representatives to the next major athletics competitions, the Los Angeles Olympics – provided that their performance level was sufficient.

The tall (1.80m, 5-11) Halina Konopacka threw the discus to a world record of 39.62 (129-12) and took gold for Poland. Her throwing style was superior: the throw started low and at a furious pace.

When World War II began, Konopacka was involved in preventing the gold from being taken out of Poland. She participated in an operation to move Poland's gold reserves to safety abroad before they could fall into the hands of the invading Germans. For this, she was posthumously awarded Poland's highest civilian order of merit.

The entry of women into track and field generated various discussions in the 1920s. Sigfrid Edström, who was at the helm of the international federation, had a remark to make. He reprimanded Konopacka for wearing excessively short athletic shorts in the Olympic arena.

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