Big Red

[Double R Bar]

To celebrate the fourth of July, our birthday athlete today (Saturday) is not only an Olympic gold medalist, but also an AAU champion and an Olympic Trials champion. This athlete won the Olympic Trials beating a world record holder in the process. Our birthday athlete competed in two Summer Olympic Games.
This athlete appeared in a Hollywood movie and had the best performance of their career four years after winning the Olympic gold medal.
Hint: There was some controversy during this athlete's event at the Olympic Games.

Since this may not be the easiest athlete to discover, you may ask any questions that I can answer with a "Yes" or a "No".
For example, you could ask, "Is this athlete a woman?" and I would say no.

[Dutra]

Re: Big Red

To celebrate the fourth of July, our birthday athlete today (Saturday) is not only an Olympic gold medalist, but also an AAU champion and an Olympic Trials champion. This athlete won the Olympic Trials beating a world record holder in the process. Our birthday athlete competed in two Summer Olympic Games.
This athlete appeared in a Hollywood movie and had the best performance of their career four years after winning the Olympic gold medal.
Hint: There was some controversy during this athlete's event at the Olympic Games.

Since this may not be the easiest athlete to discover, you may ask any questions that I can answer with a "Yes" or a "No".
For example, you could ask, "Is this athlete a woman?" and I would say no.

Without reading the question....


....Secretariat?

[Double R Bar]

No.

[imaginative]

Was he a member of the Quill and Dagger society?

[Double R Bar]

Not that I know of.

[wineturtle]

Was he a member of the Quill and Dagger society?

wiki believes yes.

[bambam]

Folks, wineturtle sent me a pm about this thread. A note to people about sending me pms. I really, really appreciate them but for some reason I can no longer answer them. The answer comes back to me and it makes me look rude and/or ungrateful. I appreciate anytime you send me info about our Olympic site. If you need to reach me it is better to e-mail at [email protected]

Thanks for the pms anyway. Garry has never heard of this and neither have their IT folks so not fixed at this time.

[Double R Bar]

I looked it up and yes, he was a member of the Quill and Dagger Society. I never knew that.

[dj]

Nobody's really tried answering, so it's time to jump in:

John Anderson, Cornell (big red). DT OG champ in '32 when the rightful winner's best mark was missed by the judges.

[Double R Bar]

Very good, dj. Yesterday was 102 years since John Anderson was born (he died at the age of 41). Yes, John Anderson did win the Olympic gold medal in the 1932 discus throw. The Frenchman who finished in fourth place (Jules Noel) had a fourth round toss past Anderson's leading marker, however none of the discus officials actually saw the throw and Noel was given an extra throw. Noel couldn't manage anything better than fourth place.
The 1932 Los Angeles Olympics certainly had more than their share of bad officiating (men's 200 and steeplechase), but this discus might have been the worst.
Happy birthday July 4 to John Anderson.

[lonewolf]

The Frenchman who finished in fourth place (Jules Noel) had a fourth round toss past Anderson's leading marker, however none of the discus officials actually saw the throw and Noel was given an extra throw. Noel couldn't manage anything better than fourth place. .

I had never heard this story.
Fourth round implies they were in finals. Marker implies throws were marked for measurement after completion of competition instead of after each throw.
It strains credulity that:
1. If the competitor was called up multiple Olympic officials did not see a competitor step into the ring to throw and/or
2. A competitior threw without being called up and making certain officials were watching.

[imaginative]

Do you suspect an analog to the Moscow triple jump?

[dj]

Do you suspect an analog to the Moscow triple jump?

No. The most reliable accounts indicate that the officials who were marking were distracted by the one of the last few attempts in the pole vault. There's nothing to indicate that the people in the ring were distracted.

Noel was the second thrower in round 4, and the first thrower's mark had been measured.

All throws apparently were measured as they were made. The reference to the marker for Anderson was that this was a marker to indicate the distance of the leader's best mark thus far.

[Double R Bar]

That's the story I always remember. The pole vault was going on at the same time and was almost finished (great competition between Bill Miller and Shuhei Nishida). The discus officials were watching the pole vaulters and missed the fourth throw by Jules Noel of France.
I also remember stories that some of the French athletes, including Jules Noel, drank wine during the competition (even though the 18th U.S. Amendment was the law of the land). I'm not sure how true this story is, but I have read it more than once and have heard stories from U.S. athletes who saw it.

[lonewolf]

Whatever the circumstances, not a glorious moment in Olympic officiating.