Description
Texas 1937 Pan American Games Olympic Gold Medal. This is an Authentic (tested) 14k gold medal from the Pan-American games that took place in 1937 in Dallas Texas. This was the first year of the games, it received little attention, it's likely the only one in existence as very few people in the world even know these games took place even though athletes that were famous at the time and also competed in the 1936 Olympics in Germany also competed here. It took me a fair amount of time to figure out what this was as I could find no sales results from another. 999/1000 gold buyers would melt this without ever figuring out what it was. Maybe there is another one out there but I could find no evidence of that, regardless it's a very important part of sports and Texas history. I'm assuming TKC is the recipient of the Medal, at the moment I'm not sure who that is. I've had this for quite some time and I know I acquired it in Austin, probably about 4-5 year ago which would have made the recipient 100 when he passed if he competed at 20 assuming I acquired it directly from the recipients estate. 84 years is a long time. I'm putting this out there hoping to gather a little more info on it and the price might seem crazy but I think it or more could be possible at the right auction. 7/8" wide x 1" tall without loop.
Below is a little info I gathered online from various sources in a few hours about the 1937 Games and a few of it's participants.
Early games
The idea of holding a Pan American Games was first raised at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, where Latin American representatives of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) suggested that a competition among all the countries in the Americas should be created.[7] The first event called the Pan American Games took place in Dallas in 1937 as part of the Greater Texas & Pan-American Exposition, but it attracted so little attention it has never counted in the records of the competition.[8][9]
At the first Pan American Sports Congress, held in Buenos Aires in 1940, the participants decided that the first games should be held in Buenos Aires in 1942. The plans had to be postponed because of World War II. A second Pan American Sports Congress held in London during the 1948 Summer Olympics reconfirmed Buenos Aires as the choice of host city for the inaugural games, which were held in 1951. The games began on February 25[10] of that year, and offered 18 sports.[7] Countries that were part of the Commonwealth of Nations such as Canada did not compete at the first Pan American Games.[11] The second games were held in Mexico City, Mexico. Competitions started on March 12 and included 2,583 athletes from 22 countries, competing in 17 sports.[12] The Pan American Games have been held subsequently every four years.[12]
Continental championships have long been a vital component of the four-year calendar for sports whose pinnacle is the Olympic Games. They began in continents with relatively few organised international competitions between neighbouring countries. The 1937 Pan American Games were followed by the Pacific Games, the African Games and the Asian Games.
The Pan American Games
The idea of Pan American Games was conceived in 1932 during
the Los Angeles Olympic Games, but the first officially sanctioned Pan
Am Games did not take place until 1951.1" World politics interfered
from the start. 14 As a prelude to the Games originally planned for 1942,
a festival called the 1937 Pan American Games was held in Dallas,
Texas. At least 21 nations of South, Central and North America were
invited, but only about a half dozen actually attended.
In soccer, 1937 Pan-American Games (unofficial): The United States (represented by the Trenton Highlanders) lost to Winnipeg
(representing Canada) 3-2 to finish in 3rd place of 3 teams.
Dyreson, Mark. (2016). The Original Pan-American Games? The 1937 Dallas Pan-American Olympics. The International Journal of the History of Sport. 33. 1-23. 10.1080/09523367.2016.1152959. In 1937, Dallas, Texas, hosted a sporting festival that drew teams from across the Americas to a ‘Pan American Olympics’. Organized under the umbrella of the Greater Texas and Pan-American Exposition, the games drew hundreds of athletes for track and field contests, soccer football matches, and a boxing tournament. Though historians generally consider the 1951 Buenos Aires Pan-American Games as the genesis of the Western Hemisphere’s biggest sporting carnival, the Dallas games certainly inspired even if they did not directly inaugurate the Pan-American Games movement. Directed by George Preston Marshall, the owner of a professional gridiron football franchise and an ardent leader of segregation in that sport, the Pan-American Olympics paradoxically produced an interracial set of contests that matched black, white, and Latino athletes against one another in the heart of the segregated US South. The Dallas Pan-American festival reveals the enigmatic visions of their architect, illumines the racial and national cleavages of the 1930s, and highlights the persistent dream of an Olympic-style event that would include all of the Americas.
Earle Meadows
Inducted: 1996, athlete
Born: June 29, 1913 - Corinth, Mississippi
no longer with us: November 11, 1992
Events
Pole Vault - 4.54 m
A world record holder in the days of the bamboo pole, Earle Meadows achieved his greatest fame by winning the pole vault at the 1936 Olympic Games, but 1937 was perhaps his greatest year from a record standpoint. On May 8 at Stanford, Calif., Meadows and University of Southern California teammate Bill Sefton broke the world record when they cleared 4.48m/14 feet 8.50 inches, appropriately tying for first place. Three weeks later, they both bettered that mark with clearances of 4.55m/14-11. Since the standards couldn't be raised any higher, Meadows and his teammate lost their chance to become the first vaulters to clear 15 feet. Their performances while leading USC to three NCAA team titles earned Meadows and Sefton the nickname "Heavenly Twins." In 1935 and 1936, Meadows also shared the NCAA title with Sefton, and he tied Sefton for the 1935 AAU title. Meadows was equally as successful indoors, winning national titles in 1937, 1940 and 1941. In the latter meet, he set a world indoor best of 4.45m/14-7.
Records Held
World Record (indoor): Pole Vault - 4.45 m
World Record: Pole Vault - 4.48 m (May 8, 1937 - )
World Record: Pole Vault - 4.54 m (May 29, 1937 - )
Championships
1936 Olympic Games: Pole Vault - 4.35 m (1st)
1935 USA Outdoor Championships: - 4.23 m (1st)
1936 Olympic Trials: Pole Vault - 4.34 m (1st)
1937 USA Indoor Championships: - 4.34 m (1st)
1940 USA Indoor Championships: - 4.34 m (1st)
1941 USA Indoor Championships: - 4.38 m (1st)
1937 Pan American Games: - 4.12 m (3rd)
1936 Olympic Games, Berlin, Germany
John Loaring Jr’s second competitive experience in the 400m hurdles was on his 21st birthday, August 3rd, in the heats at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games. The following day, Loaring ran in both the semi-final and final of the 400m hurdles. He was the youngest and most inexperienced finalist, but managed to win the silver medal, finishing only 3/10ths of a second behind the favourite and world record holder, Glenn Hardin. On August 6th and 7th, Loaring ran four 400m races: first round, second round, semi-final, and the final, in which he placed sixth.
On August 8th, Loaring anchored the 4x400m Canadian relay team. In the semi-final heat, Loaring received the baton ahead of Germany’s Rudolf Harbig, who later, in 1939, broke World Records in the 400m and 800m runs. Loaring purposely slowed near the end, letting Harbig win in front of his countrymen, and knowing that a Canadian second would qualify for the final. However, in the final, Canada’s third relay runner was fouled by an American runner, and Loaring received the baton seven meters behind Harbig. Loaring nearly caught Harbig, with Germany and Canada receiving the same time, but Loaring behind by less than a metre — Canada placing fourth.
International press reported that officials huddled about the obvious foul, but ultimately decided not to disqualify the USA team, because the Canadian team hadn’t protested. Such was the gentlemanly “roll-with-the-punches” sportsmanship and politics of that earlier time.
The popular German weekly, Fussball, selected Loaring as: “The toughest competitor of 1936…” The noted Olympic authors, Ross and Norris McWhirter, commented: “Loaring’s competitive record at the 1936 Olympics…must just about represent the most severe test to which any Olympic athlete has ever been subjected.” Loaring is still the only athlete to compete in all three Olympic male finals involving the 400m distance in any combination of Olympic Games, and he did so as he turned age 21. Like other young athletes, the onset of World War II deprived him of two Olympic Games during his prime years – one can only surmise what performances he could have delivered as an experienced athlete.
Post-Olympic Performances
Immediately after the Olympic events, Loaring competed in a British Empire vs USA meet in London, England, on August 15th, 1936. In a four-by-two-lap steeplechase relay, Loaring ran the anchor leg in a World Best Time, winning gold for the British Empire Team. He overcame a 12yd lead of USA’s anchorman, who had held the 3,000m steeplechase World Record until one week prior. This was Loaring’s one and only steeplechase experience.
In the 1937 Pan-American Games in Dallas, Texas, Loaring’s favourite 400m hurdles event wasn’t on the program. However, he won a fourth-place medal in the 400m run. Three days later, Loaring competed in an Oxford-Cambridge versus Canada Dual Meet in Hamilton, Ontario. After winning the 220yd hurdles, Loaring upset Britain’s Olympic silver and gold medalist while winning the 440yd run.
John Woodruff African American runner at the 1937 Pan American Games, he faced Elroy Robinson, a white runner who had just set a world record in the 800 meters. Mr. Woodruff won the race by 12 yards with a time of 1:47.8, almost two seconds faster than Robinson’s week-old record.
But officials disallowed Mr. Woodruff’s time, ruling the track was improperly measured and was several feet short.
