World Record: 15.79m Emil Hirschfeld, Germany Breslau, Germany 29 June 1928
Olympic Record: 15.34 Pat McDonald, United States Stockholm, Sweden 10 July 1912
Emil Hirschfeld ended 1928 with 11 of the best 13 marks of the year,
but his best marks occurred after Amsterdam, where he had his only
loss in 19 competitions that year. Herman Brix, winner of the US Trials
with 15.54, well ahead of Rothert and Kuck, was considered the principal
rival to Hirschfeld. Competing in the first qualifying group the
muscular (1.90/100kg) Brix opened with 15.75, while the smaller
(1.87/98kg) German led the other group with 15.72. Only Kuck was
able to reach 15 metres behind them.
The battle between the two principals was rudely interrupted by
Kuck in the fifth round, as he produced a world record - 15.87 - to stun
the other two. Kuck was reputed to have thrown vast distances in practice;
one report mentions 55 feet (16.76). Brix later changed his name
to Bruce Bennett, and won fame and fortune as a film star in the role
of “Tarzan”. Fifth place was determined by a throw-off, won by
Wahlstedt, 13.92, ahead of Uebler’s 13.82. The new champion, the
biggest of the three medallists at 1.90/102kg, was an accomplished all-
round thrower, and topped the world javelin list in 1926 with 65.63.
United States
GeR Germany
Finland
Hungary
Switzerland
France
Estonia
Norway
Czechoslovakia
Greece
Romania
Great Britain
Belgium
Mexico
