# Athletics at the 1936 Summer Olympics

At the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, 29 athletics events were contested, 23 for men and 6 for women. The program of events was unchanged from the previous Games. There was a total of 776 participants from 43 countries competing.

## Medal summary

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | United States (USA) | 14 | 7 | 4 | 25 |
| 2 | Germany (GER) | 5 | 4 | 7 | 16 |
| 3 | Finland (FIN) | 3 | 5 | 2 | 10 |
| 4 | Great Britain (GBR) | 2 | 5 | 0 | 7 |
| 5 | Japan (JPN) | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| 6 | Italy (ITA) | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| 7 | Hungary (HUN) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | New Zealand (NZL) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | Poland (POL) | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 10 | Canada (CAN) | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 11 | Switzerland (SUI) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 | Netherlands (NED) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 12 | Sweden (SWE) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 14 | Australia (AUS) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 14 | Latvia (LAT) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 14 | Philippines (PHI) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (16 entries) | Totals (16 entries) | 29 | 29 | 29 | 87 |

### Men

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres details | Jesse Owens United States | 10.3 | Ralph Metcalfe United States | 10.4 | Tinus Osendarp Netherlands | 10.5 |
| 200 metres details | Jesse Owens United States | 20.7 | Mack Robinson United States | 21.1 | Tinus Osendarp Netherlands | 21.3 |
| 400 metres details | Archie Williams United States | 46.5 | Godfrey Brown Great Britain | 46.7 | Jimmy LuValle United States | 46.8 |
| 800 metres details | John Woodruff United States | 1:52.9 | Mario Lanzi Italy | 1:53.3 | Phil Edwards Canada | 1:53.6 |
| 1500 metres details | Jack Lovelock New Zealand | 3:47.8 | Glenn Cunningham United States | 3:48.4 | Luigi Beccali Italy | 3:49.2 |
| 5000 metres details | Gunnar Höckert Finland | 14:22.2 | Lauri Lehtinen Finland | 14:25.8 | Henry Jonsson Sweden | 14:29.0 |
| 10,000 metres details | Ilmari Salminen Finland | 30:15.4 | Arvo Askola Finland | 30:15.6 | Volmari Iso-Hollo Finland | 30:20.2 |
| 110 metres hurdles details | Forrest Towns United States | 14.2 | Don Finlay Great Britain | 14.4 | Fritz Pollard United States | 14.4 |
| 400 metres hurdles details | Glenn Hardin United States | 52.4 | John Loaring Canada | 52.7 | Miguel White Philippines | 52.8 |
| 3000 metres steeplechase details | Volmari Iso-Hollo Finland | 9:03.8 | Kaarlo Tuominen Finland | 9:06.8 | Alfred Dompert Germany | 9:07.2 |
| 4 × 100 metres relay details | United States (USA) Jesse Owens Ralph Metcalfe Foy Draper Frank Wykoff | 39.8 | Italy (ITA) Orazio Mariani Gianni Caldana Elio Ragni Tullio Gonnelli | 41.1 | Germany (GER) Wilhelm Leichum Erich Borchmeyer Erwin Gillmeister Gerd Hornberger | 41.2 |
| 4 × 400 metres relay details | Great Britain (GBR) Freddie Wolff Godfrey Rampling Bill Roberts Godfrey Brown | 3:09.0 | United States (USA) Harold Cagle Robert Young Edward O’Brien Al Fitch | 3:11.0 | Germany (GER) Helmut Hamann Friedrich Von Stülpnagel Harry Voigt Rudolf Harbig | 3:11.8 |
| Marathon details | Son Kitei Japan | 2:29:19.2 | Ernest Harper Great Britain | 2:31:23.2 | Nan Shoryu Japan | 2:31:42.0 |
| 50 kilometres walk details | Harold Whitlock Great Britain | 4:30:41.4 | Arthur Tell Schwab Switzerland | 4:32:09.2 | Adalberts Bubenko Latvia | 4:32:42.2 |
| High jump details | Cornelius Johnson United States | 2.03 m | Dave Albritton United States | 2.00 m | Delos Thurber United States | 2.00 m |
| Pole vault details | Earle Meadows United States | 4.35 m | Shuhei Nishida Japan | 4.25 m | Sueo Ōe Japan | 4.25 m |
| Long jump details | Jesse Owens United States | 8.06 m | Luz Long Germany | 7.87 m | Naoto Tajima Japan | 7.74 m |
| Triple jump details | Naoto Tajima Japan | 16.00 m | Masao Harada Japan | 15.66 m | Jack Metcalfe Australia | 15.50 m |
| Shot put details | Hans Woellke Germany | 16.20 m | Sulo Bärlund Finland | 16.12 m | Gerhard Stöck Germany | 15.66 m |
| Discus throw details | Ken Carpenter United States | 50.48 m | Gordon Dunn United States | 49.36 m | Giorgio Oberweger Italy | 49.23 m |
| Hammer throw details | Karl Hein Germany | 56.49 m | Erwin Blask Germany | 55.04 m | Fred Warngård Sweden | 54.83 m |
| Javelin throw details | Gerhard Stöck Germany | 71.84 m | Yrjö Nikkanen Finland | 70.77 m | Kalervo Toivonen Finland | 70.72 m |
| Decathlon details | Glenn Morris United States | 7900 | Bob Clark United States | 7601 | Jack Parker United States | 7275 |

### Women

| Games | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres details | Helen Stephens United States | 11.5 | Stanisława Walasiewicz Poland | 11.7 | Käthe Krauß Germany | 11.9 |
| 80 metres hurdles details | Trebisonda Valla Italy | 11.7 | Anni Steuer Germany | 11.7 | Betty Taylor Canada | 11.7 |
| 4 × 100 metres relay details | United States (USA) Harriet Bland Annette Rogers Betty Robinson Helen Stephens | 46.9 | Great Britain (GBR) Eileen Hiscock Violet Olney Audrey Brown Barbara Burke | 47.6 | Canada (CAN) Dorothy Brookshaw Mildred Dolson Hilda Cameron Aileen Meagher | 47.8 |
| High jump details | Ibolya Csák Hungary | 1.60 m | Dorothy Odam Great Britain | 1.60 m | Elfriede Kaun Germany | 1.60 m |
| Discus throw details | Gisela Mauermayer Germany | 47.63 m | Jadwiga Wajs Poland | 46.22 m | Paula Mollenhauer Germany | 39.80 m |
| Javelin throw details | Tilly Fleischer Germany | 45.18 m | Luise Krüger Germany | 43.29 m | Maria Kwaśniewska Poland | 41.80 m |

## Participating Nations

* Afghanistan (2)
* Argentina (8)
* Australia (5)
* Austria (29)
* Belgium (14)
* Brazil (10)
* Bulgaria (2)
* Canada (30)
* Chile (10)
* Republic of China (22)
* Colombia (6)
* Czechoslovakia (30)
* Denmark (10)
* Egypt (5)
* Estonia (7)
* Finland (37)
* France (41)
* Germany (77)
* Great Britain (52)
* Greece (14)
* Hungary (25)
* Iceland (4)
* India (4)
* Italy (32)
* Japan (46)
* Latvia (7)
* Liechtenstein (2)
* Luxembourg (6)
* Malta (2)
* Mexico (3)
* Netherlands (18)
* New Zealand (3)
* Norway (11)
* Peru (9)
* Philippines (6)
* Poland (17)
* Portugal (2)
* Romania (5)
* South Africa (14)
* Spain (3)
* Sweden (38)
* Switzerland (22)
* United States (77)
* Yugoslavia (22)

## Records broken

20 new Olympic records and 6 new world records were set in the athletics events.

### Men's Olympic and world records

| Event | Date | Round | Name | Nationality | Result | OR | WR |
| 200 metres | 5 August | Final | Jesse Owens | United States | 20.7 | OR | |
| 1500 meters | 6 August | Final | Jack Lovelock | New Zealand | 3:47.8 | OR | WR |
| 5000 metres | 7 August | Final | Gunnar Höckert | Finland | 14:22.2 | OR | |
| 110 metres hurdles | 6 August | Semi-final | Forrest Towns | United States | 14.1 | OR | WR |
| 3000 metres steeplechase | 8 August | Final | Volmari Iso-Hollo | Finland | 9:03.8 | OR | |
| 4 × 100 metres relay | 9 August | Final | Jesse Owens Ralph Metcalfe Foy Draper Frank Wykoff | United States | 39.8 | OR | WR |
| Marathon | 9 August | Final | Son Kitei | Japan | 2:29:19.2 | OR | |
| 50 kilometres walk | 5 August | Final | Harold Whitlock | Great Britain | 4:30:41.4 | OR | |
| Long jump | 4 August | Final | Jesse Owens | United States | 8.06 m | OR | |
| Triple jump | 6 August | Final | Naoto Tajima | Japan | 16.00 m | OR | WR |
| High jump | 2 August | Final | Cornelius Johnson | United States | 2.03 m | OR | |
| Pole vault | 5 August | Final | Earle Meadows | United States | 4.35 m | OR | |
| Shot put | 2 August | Final | Hans Woellke | Germany | 16.20 m | OR | |
| Discus throw | 5 August | Final | Ken Carpenter | United States | 50.48 m | OR | |
| Hammer throw | 3 August | Final | Karl Hein | Germany | 56.49 m | OR | |
| Decathlon | 8 August | Final | Glenn Morris | United States | 7900 | OR | WR |

### Women's Olympic and world records

| Event | Date | Round | Name | Nationality | Result | OR | WR |
| 80 metres hurdles | 5 August | Semi-final | Trebisonda Valla | Italy | 11.6 | OR | |
| 4 × 100 metres relay | 8 August | Heats | Emmy Albus Käthe Krauß Marie Dollinger Ilse Dörffeldt | Germany | 46.4 | OR | WR |
| Discus throw | 4 August | Final | Gisela Mauermayer | Germany | 47.63 m | OR | |
| Javelin throw | 2 August | Final | Tilly Fleischer | Germany | 45.18 m | OR | |