Cologne, Germany, August 7, 1928
Organizers of European invitational meets gave athletes competing in Amsterdam little respite, whispering offers in their ears even during the Olympic Games. Unsurprisingly, many Amsterdam medallists soon headed for the Cologne 'Post-Olympics.'
The Swedes had mixed fortunes in Cologne: good, bad, and very bad. Sten-Pelle Pettersson, who had bitterly finished fourth in the eventful 400m hurdles in Amsterdam, blazed to a national record and the season's fourth-fastest time in the world with 52.4 seconds. André Adelheim finished second with a French record of 53.2. Olympic silver medalist Frank Cuhel took a tumble about five meters before the finish line.
Things went worse for the Swedes in the two-lap race. Surprise silver medalist Erik Byléhn wasn't feeling the pace. He dropped out. America's Lloyd Hahn, who had faltered in the final stretch of the Amsterdam 800, was on the other hand in fine form and sprinted to victory. Germany's own Herbert Böcher sprinted to second place with a time of 1:52.8, which remained his personal best.
American and German sprinters faced off head-to-head in Cologne. Charley Borah, who had performed poorly in Amsterdam, redeemed himself in the 100 metres by beating Arthur Jonath.
Olympic silver medalist Jules Ladoumègue stormed to victory in the 1500 with the season's sixth-best time of 3:52.8. The relatively unknown German Hans-Helmuth Krause caused a surprise by finishing second with a personal best of 3:56.4.
Olympic champion Bob King won the high jump, clearing 1.96 (6-5 1/8). The result was the sixth-best in the world that season. The Stanford University student cemented his position as the king of high jump in the Amsterdam Olympic year, as he claimed five of the season's seven best results. American jumping success continued in Cologne, as another US Olympic champion, Ed Hamm, won the long jump.
Emil Hirschfeld launched the shot put to 15.64 (51-3¾) and took a sweet victory over John Kuck, who had snatched Olympic gold from under the Germans' noses in Amsterdam. Kuck, in Cologne, barely managed to get the shot put over 15 metres.
World record holder Eino Penttilä lost to Sweden's Gunnar Lindström, who had been eliminated from the Amsterdam javelin final a few days earlier. Penttilä also crushed Amsterdam silver medalist Béla Szepes, avenging the defeat he had suffered to him at the Olympics.
Helsingin Sanomat, August 9, 1928 (in Finnish)
Uusi Suomi, August 9, 1928 (in Finnish)