Stamford Bridge, London, August 11, 1928
The United States Olympic team traveled to the Olympic Games in Europe by ocean liner in 1920, 1924, and 1928. Each year, on the return trip, they stopped in London and competed in a track and field match against the British Empire team at Stamford Bridge.
The track events of these matches were conducted as relay races and team runs. The programme included, for example, the 4x100-yard relay and the 4x120-yard shuttle hurdles relay. In relays, the team that broke the tape first won the event 1-0. Field events were decided in a somewhat similar manner: the event victory was determined by the combined results of the team members.
The press considered the concept of the match quite successful. "A wonderful afternoon and almost unbearable tension," wrote a reporter from The Times who followed the match at Stamford Bridge. Even the most intense heat did not dampen the competitive atmosphere.
The USA team ran the 4x440-yard relay in 4:13.4, which was also accepted as the world record for the metric distance. The team included George Baird, who also opened the one-lap relay in Amsterdam, two-time Olympic medalist in the 400-metre hurdles Morgan Taylor, 400-metre Olympic champion Ray Barbuti, and 400-metre world record holder Emerson Spencer.
Two-time Olympic champion Douglas Lowe performed brilliantly in one of the final competitions of his career. He secured victories for the British Empire in the 4x880-yard relay and the medley relay (440+220+220+880 yards) by outpacing the Americans in the anchor leg. In the medley relay, he achieved a respectable split time of 1:51.7, equivalent to 1:51.1 for the metric distance (the world record was 1:50.6).
In the field events, the performance level was not quite as high as in the previous match in 1924. Former pole vault world record holder Lee Barnes redeemed his Amsterdam performance (missing the medals) by winning his event in London with a solid result of 4.19 meters (13-9). Olympic champion Sabin Carr was not present at Stamford Bridge. Representing the Empire, Canadian Victor Pickard, who had narrowly missed medals in Paris 1924 and amsterdam 1928, placed second with a jump of 4.11 meters (13-6), ranking fifth in the world in 1928.
About 41,000 people gathered at Stamford Bridge to watch the match. The officially reported audience number can be viewed critically, as the figures for 1924 were also questionable. Athletes and spectators were tormented by the intense heat. The match had evened out over four years, with the United States winning by a narrower margin of 8-6. The British were ultimately undone by their losses in the field events.
In the opening leg of the medley relay (440+220+220+880 yards), battling for the lead are Phil Edwards of the British Empire (bronze medalist in the 800 meters in Amsterdam) and Frank Cuhel of the USA (silver medalist in the 400-meter hurdles in Amsterdam).
Helsingin Sanomat, August 13, 1928 (in Finnish)
Helsingin Sanomat, August 14, 1928 (in Finnish)