# 1938 European Athletics Championships

The 2nd European Athletics Championships was a continental athletics competition for European athletes which was held in two places in 1938. The men's event took place in Paris, France between 3–5 September while the women's events were in Vienna, Germany (which had annexed Austria earlier that year) on 17 and 18 September. A total of 32 events were contested at the two competitions, containing 23 events for men and 9 for women. This was the first time that events for women were held and the only occasion on which the competition was held in two separate locations.
Germany topped the medals table with twelve gold medals and 32 in total. Finland won the second greatest number of gold medals (five) and eleven medals in total. The next most successful nations were Great Britain (four golds and eight overall) and Sweden (three golds and a total of thirteen medals). France won a medal of each colour in Paris, with Prudent Joye the sole Frenchman to win a gold for the hosts of the men's championships.
In the men's competition at Stade Olympique de Colombes in Paris, Donald Finlay of Great Britain broke the European record to win the 110 metres hurdles. Tinus Osendarp of the Netherlands won a sprint double, breaking two championship records. World record holder Sydney Wooderson took victory in the 1500 metres while Olympic gold medallists Matti Järvinen (javelin), Karl Hein (hammer) and Harold Whitlock (50 km walk) won their specialities. Finnish runners Taisto Mäki, Ilmari Salminen and Väinö Muinonen won all three of the long distance running events at the championships, upholding the country's reputation as the Flying Finns. Contemporaneous reports on the men's event were given in the Glasgow Herald.
Stanisława Walasiewicz of Poland excelled in the women's events at the Praterstadion in Vienna, winning both the 100 and 200 metres, as well as silver medals in the long jump and 4 x 100 metres relay. Italian athlete Claudia Testoni set a world record of 11.6 seconds over the 80 metres hurdles. Outside these highlights, the German women dominated the competition by winning 15 of the 27 women's medals on offer. Among them were Käthe Krauß (who won two silvers in the sprints), 1936 Berlin Olympics champion Gisela Mauermayer (who won the discus and a silver in the shot put) and Lisa Gelius, who completed a usual double of silver in the hurdles and gold in the javelin throw. Among the minor medallists was Fanny Blankers-Koen, who won the first international medals of her highly successful career. Dora Ratjen was the initial winner of the women's high jump, but this was rescinded after it was discovered that he was in fact a man. A contemporaneous report on the women's event was given in the Glasgow Herald.

## Medal summary

Complete results were published.

### Men

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres details | Tinus Osendarp (NED) | 10.5 CR | Orazio Mariani (ITA) | 10.6 | Lennart Strandberg (SWE) | 10.6 |
| 200 metres details | Tinus Osendarp (NED) | 21.2 CR | Jakob Scheuring (GER) | 21.6 | Alan Pennington (GBR) | 21.6 |
| 400 metres details | Godfrey Brown (GBR) | 47.4 CR | Karl Baumgarten (NED) | 48.2 | Erich Linnhoff (GER) | 48.8 |
| 800 metres details | Rudolf Harbig (GER) | 1:50.6 CR | Jacques Levèque (FRA) | 1:51.6 | Mario Lanzi (ITA) | 1:52.0 |
| 1500 metres details | Sydney Wooderson (GBR) | 3:53.6 CR | Joseph Mostert (BEL) | 3:54.5 | Luigi Beccali (ITA) | 3:55.2 |
| 5000 metres details | Taisto Mäki (FIN) | 14:26.8 CR | Henry Jonsson (SWE) | 14:27.4 | Kauko Pekuri (FIN) | 14:29.2 |
| 10,000 metres details | Ilmari Salminen (FIN) | 30:52.0 CR | Giuseppe Beviacqua (ITA) | 30:53.2 | Max Syring (GER) | 30:57.8 |
| 110 metres hurdles details | Don Finlay (GBR) | 14.3 CR, AR | Håkan Lidman (SWE) | 14.5 | Reinden Brasser (NED) | 14.8 |
| 400 metres hurdles details | Prudent Joye (FRA) | 53.1 CR | József Kovács (HUN) | 53.3 | Kell Areskoug (SWE) | 53.6 |
| 3000 metres steeplechase details | Lars Larsson (SWE) | 9:16.2 | Ludwig Kaindl (GER) | 9:19.2 | Alf Lindblad (FIN) | 9:21.4 |
| 4 × 100 metres relay details | Germany (GER) Manfred Kersch Gerd Hornberger Karl Neckermann Jakob Scheuring | 40.9 CR | Sweden (SWE) Gösta Klemming Åke Stenqvist Lennart Lindgren Lennart Strandberg | 41.1 | Great Britain (GBR) Maurice Scarr Godfrey Brown Arthur Sweeney Ernest Page | 41.2 |
| 4 × 400 metres relay details | Germany (GER) Hermann Blazejezak Manfred Bues Erich Linnhoff Rudolf Harbig | 3:13.7 CR | Great Britain (GBR) Jack Barnes Alfred Baldwin Alan Pennington Godfrey Brown | 3:14.9 | Sweden (SWE) Lars Nilsson Carl Hendrik Gustafsson Börje Thomasson Bertil von Wachenfeldt | 3:17.3 |
| Marathon details | Väinö Muinonen (FIN) | 2:37:28.8 CR | Squire Yarrow (GBR) | 2:39:03.0 | Henry Palmé (SWE) | 2:42:13.6 |
| 50 kilometres walk details | Harold Whitlock (GBR) | 4:41:51 CR | Herbert Dill (GER) | 4:43:54 | Edgar Bruun (NOR) | 4:44:35 |
| High jump details | Kurt Lundqvist (SWE) | 1.97 m | Kalevi Kotkas (FIN) | 1.94 m | Lauri Kalima (FIN) | 1.94 m |
| Pole vault details | Karl Sutter (GER) | 4.05 m CR | Bo Ljungberg (SWE) | 4.00 m | Pierre Ramadier (FRA) | 4.00 m |
| Long jump details | Wilhelm Leichum (GER) | 7.65 m CR | Arturo Maffei (ITA) | 7.61 m | Luz Long (GER) | 7.56 m |
| Triple jump details | Onni Rajasaari (FIN) | 15.32 m CR | Jouko Norén (FIN) | 14.95 m | Karl Kotratschek (GER) | 14.73 m |
| Shot put details | Aleksander Kreek (EST) | 15.83 m CR | Gerhard Stöck (GER) | 15.59 m | Hans Woellke (GER) | 15.52 m |
| Discus throw details | Willy Schröder (GER) | 49.70 m | Giorgio Oberweger (ITA) | 49.48 m | Gunnar Bergh (SWE) | 48.72 m |
| Hammer throw details | Karl Hein (GER) | 58.77 m CR | Erwin Blask (GER) | 57.34 m | Oscar Malmbrant (SWE) | 51.23 m |
| Javelin throw details | Matti Järvinen (FIN) | 76.87 m CR | Yrjö Nikkanen (FIN) | 75.00 m | József Várszegi (HUN) | 72.78 m |
| Decathlon details | Olle Bexell (SWE) | 6870 pts CR | Witold Gerutto (POL) | 6661 pts | Josef Neumann (SUI) | 6444 pts |
| WR world record | AR area record | CR championship record | GR games record | NR national record | OR Olympic record | PB personal best | SB season best | WL world leading (in a given season) |||||| |

### Women

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres details | Stanisława Walasiewicz (POL) | 11.9 | Käthe Krauß (GER) | 12.0 | Fanny Blankers-Koen (NED) | 12.0 |
| 200 metres details | Stanisława Walasiewicz (POL) | 23.8 | Käthe Krauß (GER) | 24.4 | Fanny Blankers-Koen (NED) | 24.9 |
| 80 metres hurdles details | Claudia Testoni (ITA) | 11.6 WR | Lisa Gelius (GER) | 11.7 | Catharina Ter Braake (NED) | 11.8 |
| 4 × 100 metres relay details | Germany (GER) Josefine Kohl Käthe Krauß Emmy Albus Ida Kühnel | 46.8 | Poland (POL) Jadwiga Gawronska Barbara Ksiazkiewicz Otylia Kaluzowa Stanisława Walasiewicz | 48.2 | Italy (ITA) Maria Alfero Maria Apollonio Rosetta Cattaneo Italia Lucchini | 49.4 |
| High jump details | Ibolya Csák (HUN) | 1.64 m | Nelly van Balen-Blanken (NED) | 1.64 m | Feodora zu Solms (GER) | 1.64 m |
| Long jump details | Irmgard Praetz (GER) | 5.88 m | Stanisława Walasiewicz (POL) | 5.81 m | Gisela Voß (GER) | 5.47 m |
| Shot put details | Hermine Schröder (GER) | 13.29 m | Gisela Mauermayer (GER) | 13.27 m | Wanda Flakowicz (POL) | 12.55 m |
| Discus throw details | Gisela Mauermayer (GER) | 44.80 m | Hilde Sommer (GER) | 40.95 m | Paula Mollenhauer (GER) | 39.81 m |
| Javelin throw details | Lisa Gelius (GER) | 45.58 m | Susanne Pastoors (GER) | 44.14 m | Luise Krüger (GER) | 42.49 m |
| WR world record | AR area record | CR championship record | GR games record | NR national record | OR Olympic record | PB personal best | SB season best | WL world leading (in a given season) |||||| |

## Medal table

* Host nation (Host nations (Germany & France))
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Germany (GER)* | 12 | 11 | 9 | 32 |
| 2 | Finland (FIN) | 5 | 3 | 3 | 11 |
| 3 | Great Britain and Northern Ireland | 4 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| 4 | Sweden (SWE) | 3 | 4 | 6 | 13 |
| 5 | Poland (POL) | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| 6 | Netherlands (NED) | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| 7 | Italy (ITA) | 1 | 4 | 3 | 8 |
| 8 | France (FRA)* | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 8 | Hungary (HUN) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 10 | Estonia (EST) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | Belgium (BEL) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 | Norway (NOR) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 12 | Switzerland (SUI) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (13 entries) | Totals (13 entries) | 32 | 32 | 32 | 96 |

## Participation

According to an unofficial count, 350 athletes from 23 countries participated in the event, two athletes less than the official number of 352 as published.
* Albania (2)
* Belgium (13)
* Czechoslovakia (3)
* Denmark (3)
* Estonia (7)
* Finland (21)
* France (43)
* Germany (50)
* Great Britain (35)
* Greece (5)
* Hungary (25)
* Italy (37)
* Latvia (3)
* Liechtenstein (2)
* Luxembourg (5)
* Netherlands (14)
* Norway (10)
* Poland (15)
* Portugal (1)
* Romania (2)
* Sweden (35)
* Switzerland (17)
* Yugoslavia (2)