Berlin Games (25 page)

Sonja Henie, the outstanding 23-year-old Norwegian figure skater whose star came close to outshining Hitler's at the Winter Olympics.

 

Cecilia Colledge, the 15-year-old British girl who almost removed Henie's crown in a thrilling contest.

 

With three gold medals and one silver, the Olympic achievements of Norwegian speed skater Ivar Ballangrud are comparable to those of Jesse Owens.

 

Birger Ruud of Norway, one of the most impressive Alpine sportsmen of the last century.

 

Ernst Baier and Maxie Herber, German gold medal winners in the pairs figure skating. The music for their performance was specially composed to ensure synchronicity between skating and music.

 

The
Hindenburg
flying over the Brandenburg Gate in the centre of Berlin on the morning of the opening ceremony.

 

The swastika and the Olympic rings made easy companions on the crowded Berlin streets. Such displays were not purely the result of genuine enthusiasm–the Nazis ordered homeowners to fly the flags.

 

The patron of the Games of Berlin at the opening ceremony. To his right stands Count Baillet-Latour.

 

‘Imagine you're sprinting over a ground of burning fire': Jesse Owens at the start of the 200 metres final.

 

Jesse Owens and the German Carl ‘Luz' Long. Owens would embellish the significance of their duel in the long jump in later years.

 

A tracksuited Cornelius Johnson competing in the high jump. Johnson won the event, and had more grounds to feel snubbed by Hitler than Jesse Owens ever had.

 

‘Pistol-shooting is a gentlemanly game': The dapper Charles Leonard competing in the rapid fire pistol shooting in the pentathlon.

 

Son Ki-Jung and Ernest Harper of Great Britain at the halfway point of the marathon. Son resented having to run under the Japanese flag which flew over his Korean homeland. Note Son's split-toed running shoes.