Synopsis
Using film shot during the Olympic Games of 1936 by 600 photographers, this documentary presents some of the highlights of the competition, including men's diving, soccer, cycling races, the horse riding competition, 110 meters hurdle, men and women's relay races, the decathlon and the marathon race. Before the games begin, 5,000 athletes from fifty-one nations assemble at training camp. Among the American competitors are Glen Morris, Jesse Owens and Frankie Wycoff. D. O. Finlay of Great Britain wins the second semi-final men's 110 meter hurdles. Although Forrest Towns of the United States set a world record of 14.1 seconds in an earlier semi-final, it takes him 14.2 seconds to run the final hurdles, but this time is still fast enough to earn the gold medal. The film then shows scenes from the women's 400 meter relay. Germany takes an early lead, but is disqualified for dropping the baton. Helen Stephens then steers the United States team to victory. Great Britain comes in second, and Canada wins third place. In the finals of the men's 400 meter relay, Jesse Owens leads off for the United States. The team wins in 39.8 seconds, a new world's record. Italy takes second place, and Germany comes in third. At the start of the men's quarter mile relay, Great Britain leads the field until Canada pulls ahead. Then, Great Britain surges forward followed closely by the United States. Great Britain is ahead as the race goes into its last lap and stays ahead to win. The United States takes second place; Germany takes third place; and Canada comes in fourth. Footage of the diving and swimming competitions is presented. The United States wins the men's and women's springboard diving events and also sweeps the platform diving competition. Among the competitors in the men's 200 meter breast stroke finals are Peter Fick of the United States; American Jack Medica, who won the 400 meter free style match; Adolph Kiefer, the winner of the 100 meter back stroke contest; Erwin Sietas of Germany; and Tetsuo Hamuro of Japan, who wins with a record time of 2 minutes 41.5 seconds. Italy beats Austria in the soccer finals two to one. More track and field events are then shown. In the broad jump finals, Jesse Owens competes against German Luz Long. Owens wins with a jump of 26 feet, 5 5/16 inches, setting a new world record and winning his fourth gold medal. Fifty-eight runners take part in the twenty-six mile marathon race. A runner from Argentina takes the early lead and is still ahead after the first five miles, followed by a Portuguese runner, Kitei Son of Japan and Ernest Harper of Great Britain. After thirteen miles, Son and Harper are tied for second. The Portuguese runner moves into fourth place, followed by runners from Sweden and South Africa. At the twenty-one mile mark, Son takes the lead, followed by Harper, and the Argentine runner collapses. Son wins the race with a time of 2 hours, 29 minutes, 19.2 seconds. Harper finishes in second place, Shoryu Nan of Japan in third and Erkki Tamila of Finland in fourth place. The three-day riding contest tests the endurance, speed and skill of each man and his horse. Army officers from twenty nations take part in the contest. During the steeplechase, the horsemen must make thirty-five jumps and cover fourteen miles. One horse is killed during the grueling competition, and at the finish, less than half of the fifty starters complete the course. Germany wins the gold medal, the United States takes the silver and Denmark earns the bronze. Watched by 100,000 spectators, twenty-nine countries compete in the 100 kilometer bicycle road race. Only half of the 100 entries finish. France wins the team competition, and Robert Charpentier of France wins the individual competition over Guy Lapebie, also of France, and Ernest Nievergelt of Switzerland. The contenders in the decathlon must compete in ten events over two days. The events are the 100 meter dash, running broad jump, shot put, high jump, 400 meter dash, 110 meter hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, the javelin throw and the 1,500 meter run. American Glen Morris breaks his own record to win the event with a total score of 7,900 points--a new world record.
