Soldier Field, Chicago, IL, August 27, 1930
After the inaugural British Empire Games in Canada, the athletes decided to prolong their stay with a North American tour. In Chicago, a combined Empire squad collided with the United States. The meet consisted of various relays and field events where the top three individual efforts were lumped together to decide the winner. A mob of 43,000 watched from the bleachers – the largest audience to ever witness track and field in the States up to that point.
The standout performance was arguably delivered by Walter Marty, a U.S. junior champion who had celebrated his 20th birthday a mere ten days prior. He cleared the high jump bar at 1.962 (6-5¼) – a personal best and the eighth-highest hop in the world that season. Anton Burg, the reigning senior champion, was forced to tip his cap to the youngster.
Ralph Metcalfe, a future Olympic perennial, continued his crawl toward the top of the food chain. In a "filler" event– the 100-yard dash – he nipped Californian speedster Hector Dyer.
The rules were applied with some creative liberty. In the 4x440-yard relay, the Brits fumbled the baton but galloped across the line as "winners" regardless. The jury pondered the matter and decided against disqualification. This fit of generosity was likely fueled by the fact that the baton-dropping didn't actually matter; the U.S. took the meet 9–5 in event wins.
August 27, 1930: a live commentary transmitted via the NBC network at 10:30 PM ET