Johnson won outright or shared each US title between 1932 and 1936,
and then tied Dave Albritton in the US Trials with a world record of
2.076. In Berlin, Johnson kept his tracksuit trousers on until the bar
reached 2.00, at which time only four other jumpers remained. With
Yada failing at 2.00, there were now two western rollers – Johnson and
Thurber – one scissors jumper, the big (1.94/100kg) discus throwing
Kotkas, and Albritton, whose style was that of a “roller” until his lead
leg reached the bar, when he rotated laying out along the bar in a strad-
dle. This was a style initiated by Jim Stewart, fourth in the 1928
decathlon.
At 2.00 Johnson and Thurber, both of whom had been faultless to
that point, cleared first and second time respectively, while Albritton
and Kotkas cleared at their final attempts. Only Johnson made 2.03,
and Albritton then won a jump-off for second place from Thurber,
while Johnson failed at a world record height of 2.08. Johnson, who
had spent a lifetime being snubbed by caucasians in his home country,
then had insult added to injury when Adolf Hitler left the stadium rather
than congratulate a black man, after greeting the previous winners that
day. Hitler was requested by Olympic officials to greet all or none of
the winners in future – he chose none.
United States
Finland
Japan
Germany
Estonia
Australia
Netherlands
Sweden
South Africa
Canada
Philippines
Denmark
Switzerland
Hungary
Poland
Brazil
Great Britain
Norway
Iceland
Austria
Czechoslovakia
Yugoslavia
Greece
Rep. China