R. Earl Johnson at the 1924 Olympic Cross Country Race

Adapted from the forthcoming book “Our Earl” and published to commemorate the 100th anniversary of R. Earl Johnson’s historic run

“The finish of the 10,000 meters cross country team race today with exhausted runners sprawling [all] over the stadium and left gasping in the road was the most dramatic thing I ever saw.””

— Lawson Robertson | US Olympic Track & Field Coach, 1912-1936

Man of Steel

Sweat beads blanketed R. Earl Johnson’s forehead as he assumed his position next to his American teammates on the starting line of the Paris 1924 Olympic Cross Country race. A total of thirty-seven other courageous Olympic runners from various nations joined Johnson on the line. Even at rest, the heat was almost unbearable. Some reports placed the temperature at 120-130 degrees Fahrenheit in the full sun as the gun was about to go off at 2 p.m. Each day during the past week in the French capital had grown progressively warmer. Without any clouds or shade in sight, many harriers resorted to tying bandanas around their heads or wearing visors to offer some cover from the unrelenting sun. Len Richardson of South Africa, who was the most seasoned Olympic cross country runner to toe the line, was so bothered by the sun that he draped his country’s flag over his head while he awaited the firing of the starting gun. Earl Johnson smartly wrapped a strand of white cloth around the palm of his right hand so that he had something to use to wipe the sweat off his brow during the grind of the race.

As if the overwhelming heat and blinding sunlight weren't enough, several of the cross country athletes felt an added heaviness in their lungs as they breathed in the polluted air that billowed out of the smokestacks of a nearby factory along the Seine River. For Earl, the scent of the toxic fumes emitted by the factory was a familiar smell–one that made him think of home. Instead of training at an Ivy League school or elite athletic club like many of his fellow American Olympians, Johnson spent countless hours during his lunch break inhaling polluted air while rounding a unique oval cinder track that he managed as a welfare worker and recreation director at one of the nation's largest steel mills in Pittsburgh, PA. The Edgar Thomson Steel uniform that Johnson typically donned during competitions served as a stark working-class contrast to those Penn, Yale, and New York Athletic Club singlets worn by some of his American teammates.

R. Earl Johnson running for Edgar Thomson Steel

As Johnson took three deep breaths and stared at the marked path ahead of him, he recognized that the scorching heat and dense air weren’t the only things bothering him. Not since running his first race nine years ago, at the late age of 24, did he feel so restless before a race. In 1915, at the insistence of another student he tutored in math at Morgan College, he entered his first race– a 5-mile Afro-American Modified Marathon in Baltimore. The night prior to that first race, he had a restless night filled with nightmares of “races and defeats”. Plagued by stage fright, he showed up to that race without proper running attire and wearing makeshift cut-off football pants. After the gun fired, his nervousness dissipated and he settled into a pace that kept him in front of all of his challengers throughout the race. Five thousand spectators gathered alongside the course and crowded near the finish line to cheer him to victory. That day, he proudly posed in his Morgan varsity sweater holding a sizable winner’s cup. That initial taste of success was all he needed to jump into the “running game” with full force. Johnson proceeded to go undefeated in all of the races he competed in while an HBCU student and started an impressive streak of 22 consecutive triumphs.

Earl Johnson Wins His First Race in 1915

Now, a stalwart 33-year-old veteran, Johnson was not accustomed to having butterflies in his stomach before a race, but some of those nervous feelings returned as he faced the prospect of ending his illustrious career on this dreaded cross country course. Johnson's accomplishments over the last four years put him at the highest echelon of American distance runners. Since the 1920 Olympics, no other American had bested Johnson in any of the nine national championship races in which he had competed. From 1921-1924, he racked up three 5-mile championships, three 10-mile championships, and three Cross Country championships. Johnson was relentlessly dedicated to his craft, applied an intelligent approach to his training, and was willing to sacrifice whatever it took to reach the pinnacle of success. He maintained high standards for himself and he worked harder than anyone to bring his goals to fruition.

Despite Johnson's impressive string of victories and championships, by 1924, he was growing weary of the constant grind of training, racing, and demands outside of his running career. He had already announced in January his intentions to retire after these Olympic games. A prolonged illness early in the year forced him to abandon his plans to run the Boston Marathon and foiled his ambitious goal to qualify for the Olympics in three events.

Additionally, Johnson felt the constant pressure of trying to balance work with training. To the dismay of his father, who passed away just two years before, he continued to put his career ambitions aside to prolong his running career. In this era of amateurism, athletes could not receive compensation for promotional appearances, product sponsorship, or professional coaching. He considered himself fortunate to retain a solid job (secured with the help of the local AAU president) at the steel mill and had the mill's support to travel to national track meets. However, taking extra time off from his full-time job to compete forced him to take on multiple jobs while simultaneously trying to juggle a demanding training and racing schedule. He doubled as a waiter, a volunteer high school track coach and even opened a barbershop that operated well into the night. A year prior, he had to take a break from the indoor track season when he could not afford to pass on an opportunity to manage a settlement house for 125 immigrants from the south. He was required to take two months off from work to train for and compete in the Olympics and undoubtedly this created a financial hardship for him. Though, like steel being molded and forged in a refiner's fire, opposition and sacrifice seemed to make Johnson only stronger. As a genuine "Man of Steel", Johnson took on the persona of the city he hailed from--strong, tough, and gritty.

Black Ambassador

“We felt that we had a responsibility not only for the black people of America, as their unofficial representatives, but also toward the kids that might come along and want to compete in track and field and other sports later on. We thought that the way we conducted ourselves there would have an influence. We were very conscious and aware of that responsibility, of what we considered our responsibility” -DeHart Hubbard | About 1924 Black Olympic Athletes

Johnson faced plenty of fire and opposition both on and off the track and race course. During this era, false stereotypes abounded that people of color did not have enough endurance to succeed and win at distance events. After World War I, a renowned trainer from Pittsburgh, Hunter Johnston, had a vision of establishing an elite team of black track and field athletes that could rival any team in the country. With that goal in mind, Hunter recruited black athletes from across the country to be mentored under his tutelage. Johnston had already recruited strong sprinters and field event specialists, but he needed a solid distance runner to earn points for the team. Naturally, Earl Johnson floated to the top of his list and Johnston was able to convince Earl to make a trip to Pittsburgh for a trial run as part of his Scholastics team. Johnston recounted the following about Earl’s first race after arriving in Pittsburgh in 1920:

“Some of the track officials joshed me a bit about my ‘find’ (Johnson), saying they never had heard of a Negro runner who was good at a long distance. I told them to give me another year’s work with Johnson and I would show them a man of color who could stand the gaff and beat his fields.”

The veteran trainer's prediction turned out to be a major understatement. After Earl finished second at his first race in Pittsburgh, Johnson never lost another race in his newly adopted hometown–winning numerous Allegheny Mountain AAU titles and setting records at every distance for races of five miles or above. With each victory on the track, on the road, or over hill and dale, he obliterated false narratives that people of color could not excel at distance races.

Competitions afforded Johnson an opportunity to contend on an equal footing with anyone. On the track and the race course, Earl was in his element. Off the track, he had to contend with racial prejudice and bigotry. Envious runners who could not even dream of being close enough to see the back of his heels at any point in the race alleged that he cut corners on the course. Bigots pilfered his running shoes and uniform in an attempt to prevent him from competing. Race officials gave other competitors unfair head starts in handicap races. Although qualified, capable, and well-suited to run on the 1920 American Olympic cross country team, Johnson was unfairly omitted from the team of six American runners that finished a disappointing fourth place in the team race. Johnson responded to all of the injustices he faced with grace, exemplary sportsmanship, and most impressively by crushing his competition on the track.

Although he was rarely highlighted by the mainstream press, his infectious smile, amiable personality, and incredible record in competition made him a genuine black hero during the Golden Era of Sports. He was the undisputed greatest amateur Black American distance runner of all time by the time he toed the line for this 1924 Olympic cross country race. When he visited black communities in Baltimore for running exhibitions, he was mobbed by admiring black youth and was hailed as “Our Earl” by black newspapers. In 1920, when the Morgan Community settlement house, which supported Earl’s athletic ambitions, lacked the funds to send Earl to the Olympic tryouts and to the Olympic games, his friends and supporters in the black community put on bake sales, concerts and dances to raise funds for his travel expenses. Their contributions made it possible for him to travel to Antwerp.

Captain America

"…There was never a more popular runner. Officials, athletes, and spectators have always respected Johnson. He always has a cheerful word for all and his conduct was always above reproach. He was a great champion." -DeHart Hubbard

Johnson not only embraced his role as ambassador for people of color, but he also sought every opportunity to proudly represent his country. Before he sported the American crest on his racing singlet with pride, he registered for the draft and was enlisted in the US Army during WWI. While in the Army in 1918, Johnson ran for Camp Upton in local and national races and even won his first national 5-mile (Junior) championship while enlisted. Long after his running career wrapped up, and even before the US had declared war on Japan, Johnson voluntarily registered for the WWII draft as an elderly fifty-one-year-old in 1942.

Although many ignorant Americans had not fully embraced people of color competing under the banner of the Stars and Stripes, some journalists celebrated his inclusion in 1920. Referring to Johnson and Patasoni (a Native American) at the 1920 Olympics, a columnist from the Pittsburgh Post wrote:

“And the sight of these two Americans, of darker skins and different races from those who usually reserve the word "American" to themselves, running for Uncle Sam, will be one that should be the cause of rejoicing for the broad-minded and rebuke for those of narrow vision."

Johnson was a natural leader and the quintessential captain of the American distance group. He became the favorite of Tom Keane, Head Cross Country and Track Coach at Syracuse University, who was appointed to oversee the training of the American distance team. Johnson earned Keane’s full trust and confidence and proved himself by training his own way and outworking the other Olympic prospects. Johnson recalled:

“I remember when I was training at Syracuse under Tom Keane for those 1924 Olympics. I was an experienced runner then and I knew what I was doing. While the younger fellows were flashing in workouts I almost invariably was the last man in. But I was up at dawn and out for a run by myself. In the afternoons I did sprinting. Finally, we had a shakedown run and I was the first man home and broke the course record."

After Keane saw Johnson defeat all the other prospects for the team in that time trial, Johnson was put in charge of training the other runners. Aboard the steamer America that carried the US athletes from Hoboken, NJ to France, Johnson led training runs on a small rubber track that was constructed on the promenade deck. Every day during the nine-day voyage to France, he was seen leading the team in 15 to 20 laps around the track on the deck twice a day at 11:00 and 3:00. Further, when the distance runners arrived on land about two weeks before the opening of the Games, Johnson was out front again leading runs from their training headquarters about 10 miles outside of Paris at the Rocquencourt estate.

The “Weak” American Team

"There is one thing certain. [The] United States is sending a powerful team, yet as in other years, we have not advanced any as regards the strength of the distance runners at 5,000 and 10,000 meters, so little is to be expected from the men to be finally decided upon…" -Boston Globe

1924 US Olympic Cross Country Team | Studenroth, Fager, Booth, Johnson, Gray, Henigan (L-R)

Despite his success on the American distance running scene, Johnson was not recognized or widely respected on an international stage. Le Journal, the prominent French newspaper that extensively covered the Paris Olympics mentioned eight runners who were likely candidates for a medal in the cross country race. Three Finns, two Brits, two French, and two Swedes were highlighted as contenders. Johnson was not mentioned. A Finnish journalist called Johnson "not even suitable as a first-round pacesetter” for the Flying Finns. Outside expectations for Johnson were low, but he always held himself to a higher standard. Johnson felt that he was up for the challenge and looked forward to another opportunity to prove the doubters wrong. Before his final race at the Olympics, a black newspaper proudly called Johnson the “dark horse” candidate. Johnson relished that role and looked forward to proving the doubters wrong one more time.

As a whole, the American team was considered an afterthought and a huge longshot for a medal. Le Journal picked Finland to win the gold, Sweden to take the silver, and France to capture the bronze medal in their pre-race predictions. Besides Johnson, no other American cross country runner had competed internationally before these Olympics. Verne Booth, a towering collegiate cross country champion from Johns Hopkins University was seen by some pundits as the best hope for America despite Johnson’s long track record of US championships. In addition to Johnson, two other American runners hailed from Pennsylvania: John Gray and Arthur Studenroth–both from Philadelphia. “Smiling” Jimmy Henigan was a perennial crowd favorite from the Boston area who entered just about every distance race he could, but often came up just short of a big win. The final member of the team was Finnish-born August Fager from New York. With Booth being intentionally held out of the US Olympic Cross Country Qualifier by Coach Keane to focus on making the team on the track, Johnson finished first followed by Henigan, Gray, Studenroth, and Fager. The secret weapon for the American team was Johnson, who not only was an under-the-radar contender for an individual medal, but was also an astute trainer who had prepared his teammates for the rigors of competing against a star-studded field.

The Formidable Finns

"Against Ritola, Nurmi, Kyronen, Kolehmainen, and one or two other Finnish stars who have sprung up since 1920, our [American] hopes are nil." -Brooklyn Daily Eagle

1924 Finland Olympic Cross Country Team | Sipila, Berg, Ritola, Nurmi (Missing Liimatainen) (L-R)

Johnson and former Finn Fager (who competed in the US under the Finnish-American Athletic Association) knew well that it would take a monumental upset to dethrone the Finns. Winners of the 1920 Olympic Cross Country team competition, Finland had built a dynasty of distance runners and was the prohibitive favorite. Ironically, it was a Finn who mentored and encouraged Johnson after his failure at the 1920 Olympics. Four-time Olympic gold medalist distance runner, Hannes Kolehmainen, pulled Johnson aside on one occasion, told him that he was the best American distance runner, and gave him training advice that would change his trajectory as a runner. Johnson recalled that Kolehmainen admonished him, "Johnson, there's nothing wrong with you except that you don't know how to train. You're probably the best distance runner in America, but you don't know pace. You have to learn to rate yourself or you'll continue to run yourself out."

Johnson took Kolehmainen's training advice to heart and subsequently compiled one of the most impressive seasons of any distance runner in America. Earl reeled off one victory after another in 1921 and capped off his undefeated season by becoming the only American to win the distance triple crown (5-mile, 10-mile, and Cross Country AAU Championships). Fittingly, he joined Kohlemainen, as the only other runner that attained the triple crown.

Johnson was keenly aware that he would have to adopt the Finnish training approach to become one of the best runners in the world. Johnson later exclaimed, “The Finns, now recognized as the best distance runners in the athletic world, train all the time. They have a different method from Americans…I followed their plan, and today I believe the Americans will change their method. The Finns train every day. They never stop. The result is that they are always in prime condition.”

It was also a Finn who had become Johnson's greatest rival. Willie Ritola lived in New York City and competed for the Finnish-American Athletic Association. He picked up distance running on a whim and got progressively better each year he competed. Johnson beat Ritola at their first head-to-head competition at the 1919 Evening Mail Modified Marathon and started with a 4-0 head-to-head win-loss streak against the Finn.

In October 1922, the tide turned when Ritola claimed the 10-mile AAU Championship over Johnson and followed that up with two more wins against Johnson to end the year. Ritola’s second win over Johnson in 1922 made him one of just two runners to ever beat Johnson more than one time at any distance of 5 miles or more. The only other runner to defeat Johnson at least twice in a race of 5 miles or more was the American 5-mile record holder Charles Pores. With Johnson absent from the AAU 10-mile and Cross Country Championships in 1923, Ritola dominated the field. At this juncture, one critic from the New York Age commented, “The running days of Earl Johnson who held the national championship title, and the only colored man to hold a long distance running championship, seem to be about over… Unless he can get back in his best form again soon it is thought that he will have to retire from competition.”

In early 1924, Ritola was unable to obtain American citizenship and was enticed to return to his Finnish homeland to prepare for the Olympics under the banner of Finland. Going into the Olympic training cycle Ritola already had momentum in his favor, but the support, training environment, competition, and coaching he received in Finland elevated his performance to a whole new level. Now, coming into this cross country race, Ritola had set the world record during the track 10k twice within the last three months—first, setting the standard during the Finnish Olympic trials and then obliterating his own record at the Olympics on a wet track. Ritola was in such a zone during the Olympic 10k race that he mistakenly ran almost an extra half lap beyond the finish line as part of his world-record performance.

Despite their rivalry, Ritola and Johnson were friendly toward one another. Johnson was photographed smiling and shaking Ritola’s hand and congratulating him for his 1922 AAU Cross Country victory. Earl followed that up by wishing Ritola well in a letter he penned to the Afro-American while he sat out of the 1923 indoor track season. Johnson wrote, “Thank you for being so interested in me, and in your article, give Ritola a boost for he is certainly a wonderful runner.”

Earl Johnson Congratulates Ritola on his 1922 AAU Cross Country Championship

Aside from Ritola, fellow Finn Paavo Nurmi had looked invincible at the 1924 Olympics. Johnson became aware of Nurmi when Nurmi splashed onto the scene and won three gold medals and one silver medal in the 1920 Olympics. Nurmi won the individual cross country crown in 1920, making him the defending champion entering the 1924 race. By 1923, he had become the first and only runner ever to hold world records for the mile, 5k, and 10k simultaneously. Like Ritola, Nurmi had taken his performances to new heights in Paris. In the Olympic 1500m final, he broke the Olympic record by three seconds and followed that up with a gold medal performance less than two hours later in the 5k by besting Ritola head-to-head. In cross country contests, he had never been defeated–both in well-contested races in Finland and in international meets. On the heels of his two gold medals in Paris, the press had elevated him to superhuman status and deemed him a lock to win the cross country race. The only thing that prevented Nurmi from attaining his planned sweep of every distance event at this Olympics was the Finnish committee withdrawing Nurmi’s entry in the 10k track race in favor of Ritola. Nurmi wanted a chance to regain his 10k world record back from Ritola and was reportedly furious at the Finnish officials who made the decision.

Besides Nurmi and Ritola, the Finnish team was loaded with proven winners. If not for Edvin Wide, who was born in Finland, but competed for Sweden, the Finns would have completed a clean sweep in all distance events thus far at this Olympics. Each member had a strong track record of individual and team success. Berg snagged an individual bronze medal in the 10k track race and Sipila was right behind him in fourth place. Liimatainen obtained an individual bronze medal in the cross country race in 1920. The fifth member of the team, Rastas, had already been part of that same 1920 gold medal team. Everyone considered it a mere formality for the Finns to be crowned as the team champions again in 1924.

The Start

Never in the twenty-eight-year history of the modern Olympic games have athletes competed under the stamina-testing conditions of today. The temperature approached the 100-degree mark, the humidity was almost unbearable for the folk whose only efforts were those of dodging the sun. The stadium running track and turf and the course over which the cross-country event was run were baked to a crispness. -Evening Star

1924 Olympic Stadium Grounds | The Cross Country Race Began North of the Practice Track Found to the East of the Stadium

With several thoughts stewing in his head, Johnson crouched down as he heard the starter's command to get set. The line of harriers on the starting line included thirty-eight runners from Finland, Great Britain, the United States, Italy, Brazil, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Ireland, and the host country, France. Gold, silver, and bronze medals were at stake for the top three individual finishers as well as for the top three teams. Not all teams had at least three runners, so only six teams had a chance for a team medal. Finland, Great Britain, the United States, Spain, Sweden, and France all had enough entries to score team points. Scores for the team competition were calculated based on the placement of the top three finishers for each country.

The course would take runners through a total of 10.65k (6.6 miles) of varied terrain and would finish in front of spectators on the track inside the Olympic stadium. The starting line was situated at a practice field complex just outside of the Olympic stadium. The first stage of the course encompassed a 1.86 km (1.15 mile) loop around the field complex, which afforded sufficient spacing between the runners before they would funnel through a narrow gate upon exiting the fields.

Diagram of the 1924 Olympic Cross Country Course

As the starting pistol fired, the runners dashed off in a stampede and Edvin Wide of Sweden charged off the line like he was shot out of a cannon. Wide had already gained a silver medal in the 10k and a bronze medal in the 5k Olympic track races behind Nurmi and Ritola. Heading out at breakneck speed, Wide was determined to press the issue. The Brits followed the Swede’s lead and sprinted out behind him. About the beginning stages of the race, one journalist wrote, “Edvin Wide set out to lead at insane speed. Is he going to kill himself and others?”

Runners at the Start of the Race | Johnson in the Middle of the Pack

The Americans got off to a conservative start and intelligently chose not to equal the torrid place that Wide set. Johnson, the wise veteran of many contests held under varying weather conditions and circumstances, sat near the middle of the pack at the start. He would not let others dictate his pace or race strategy. Johnson later said, "You don't win on sheer strength or ability. It's a matter of acquired perfection–timing, pacing, and rhythm…The runner learns to pace himself against his watch. He has to know when to hold back, when to challenge, and when to put on his sprint."

Nurmi was another runner who did not fall into the trap of sprinting out after the leaders. Always methodical and under control, he was the epitome of a runner who had perfected pace. His attention to detail and systematic way of training were virtually unheard of prior to his coming onto the international scene in the 1920s. His pace and timing were enhanced through his trademarked technique of carrying a pocket watch in one hand and checking it periodically to ensure that he stuck to his desired pace. Nurmi comfortably clutched his pocket watch in his right hand in this race and kept the leaders in his clear line of sight.

The runners crossed the field and headed toward the practice track. After reaching the practice track, they completed nearly half a lap before being directed east to complete a circuit around the practice fields. As they rounded the second curve of the track, Booth and Johnson were the top Americans positioned just in the middle of the pack. “Smiling” Jimmy Henigan sat in dead last place and John Gray was third to last as the harriers rounded the curve of the track.

Runners Leaving the Practice Track | Johnson in the Middle of Pack

Wide continued to push the pace as the runners passed the back end of the bleachers of the tennis complex. Nurmi lurked in 6th place, unconcerned by Wide’s 10-meter lead. The runners then headed back in the direction of the starting line, finally passing it rounding the corner, and heading south for a long straightaway on the field. This time, they followed a course due south, just outside of the practice track, and then followed a path for a short period bordering Pierre de Coubertin Boulevard. From there, they made an abrupt turn to their right to pass through a gate that enclosed the Olympic grounds and crossed the Boulevard at 1.86 k (1.15 miles).

By now, Nurmi was hot on Wide's heels in second place. Webster, Benham and Harper from Britain, and Ritola were all in the mix as part of the first pack that had broken away from the other competitors. As the second pack crossed the road, Johnson was working his way up into contention in twelfth place. Three Swedes, Turreson, Ebeling, and Bergstrom led the second pack, followed by Sipila (Finland), Martinenghi (Italy), Johnson, Heuet (France), Andia-Aguilar (Spain), Lauvaux (France), Booth (US) and Richardson (South Africa).

The course then led them west, across the Rue Paul Bert. Shortly after crossing the Rue, runners were confronted with a taller-than-waist-high rock wall to contend with at around 2.3k (1.4 miles). The same runners in that first pack approached the wall and Nurmi was the first over. Nurmi gracefully leaped on top of the wall with good steeplechasing form and bounded to the ground, maintaining his speed and never losing a stride. Wide, Benham, and Ritola followed Nurmi closely. Harper and Webster had fallen about 10 meters back. The second group was now about 20 meters behind Nurmi as they approached the wall. Johnson reached the wall in roughly 9th place. Instead of gracefully bounding off the wall as Nurmi did, Johnson had to break his stride and side-saddle-horse it to clear it.

At about 2.7k (1.7 miles) the harriers ran alongside a tennis court fence and turned the corner at the first official checkpoint. Wide recaptured the lead, followed by Benham, Ritola, and Nurmi. The gap between the first group and Harper widened. Although Webster was in sixth place, he was clearly fading. Behind Webster, three Swedes stuck together in a tight pack, positioning them well in the hunt for the team gold medal. Johnson was running evenly in tenth place. Britain (13 points) was leading the team race, followed by Sweden (16 points), Finland (21 points) and France (44 points). Early in the race, American fans had to be worried that Uncle Sam's team was deadlocked with Spain in last place with 49 points.

Race Leaders Round the Tennis Courts at 2.7k | Nurmi, Ritola, Benham, Wide (L-R)

Next, the course proceeded to take the runners along a mostly flat path below a steep embankment that ran parallel to the Seine River. Near the end of the flat section below the embankment, a third group consisting of three Finnish harriers (Siplia, Berg, and Rastas) was packed together. The Finns behind Nurmi and Ritola had a lot of ground to make up, but they looked in control and were prepared to make a move whenever the situation necessitated it.

Runners on the Flat Portion of the Course Below the Embankment at around 3k

At around 3.9k (2.4 miles) the runners faced thick, waste-high brush and a sharp uphill stretch as they ascended over the embankment. The lead pack going up the hill continued to consist of Wide, Benham, Ritola, and Nurmi. After they crested the hill and crossed the pathway on top of the embankment, Benham struggled to maintain contact with the others and began dropping off. At 4.3k, the runners reached the second official checkpoint, which also served as the turnaround point for the course. The runners approached the turnaround point by reaching the banks of the Seine, rounding a building, and then returning in the same direction they originally came.

Race Leaders Prepare to Ascend a Hill at 3.9k | Wide, Ritola, Nurmi, Benham (L-R)

At that checkpoint, Wide turned his head and glanced back at Ritola and Nurmi. Nurmi and Ritola were still behind Wide but were following him closely, stride for stride. With that glance back, Nurmi sensed an opening and a potential weakness in Wide. Nurmi proceeded to briefly check his pocket watch in his right hand and promptly threw it in the brush next to the path. The jettisoning of his pocket watch was a strong signal that Nurmi was no longer content with trailing and that he was ready to dictate the pace for the remainder of the race. Behind the lead group, Johnson moved up into seventh place and was now in a pack with three Swedes and Harper. The team lead had now shifted to the Swedes, with Finland just three points behind. Liimatainen (Finland) joined his teammates as the second pack of Finnish runners, with the Finns sweeping the twelfth through fifteenth spots. The US was presently in fourth place, but inching their way up in the standings.

Johnson Hits a Downhill Portion of the Race at 4.5k

The Battlefield

“Competitors tumbled here and there stunned into the grass, others tried with their last strength to get there. Many shocking scenes were enacted along the way, and the paramedics had a job like being on a battlefield. Along the jasmine bushes and tall sedges lay strong-willed men writhing in agony and shouting: I have to make it there…It was a team competition between countries and every place was crucial.” -Martti Jukola

The runners were next seen at around 5.7k (3.5 miles) as they angled slightly downhill and again ascended a short hill. Unquestionably, Nurmi was in command, with Ritola a few meters behind him and Wide trying to hold on a few meters behind Ritola. Johnson was now leading the second pack and was in fourth place, but Bergstrom and Harper trailed him closely.

By the time the runners arrived near the bottom corner of the tennis court at 5.9k (3.7 miles) and readied themselves to make the same loop they had just completed, four runners had withered from the blazing heat and dropped out. Webster (Britain), Doloques (France), Williams (Britain) and Gomes (Brazil) could not go any farther. As the mass of runners rounded the tennis court at 6.2k (3.9 miles) and started their second loop of this phase of the course, the psychological and physical toil proved to be too much for many. This was a make-or-break moment of decision for almost the entire field as they faced the proposition of repeating the same grueling loop that they had just completed. Feeling the negative consequences of his overambitious start, Wide grimaced and relented to Ritola and Nurmi, letting them go by unopposed.

Behind the lead pack, a shocking display of runners made woozy and delirious from the sun and the grind materialized. A bevy of runners began staggering off the flagged path and moaned for relief. Berg, the Finnish 10k bronze medalist, wobbled and fell unconscious into the tall grass. Another Finn, Rastas, aware of Berg's fate, tried to re-double his efforts on this section of the course but soon felt unsteady. Bergstrom (Sweden) was in front of Rastas but was faltering and flailing from side to side. As Rastas approached Bergstrom to pass him, Bergstrom tried to steady himself by grasping and clinging to Rastas' arm. Both subsequently collapsed to the ground and neither were able to get up. The complexion of the race changed completely from this point on. Heavy attrition started to mount with twelve runners now falling out of the race. Bergstrom, Ratas, Lauseig, Dieguez, Speroni, Palma-Iturraspe, Palau-Claveras, and Berg all fell victim to the unrelenting heat and fast pace.

Sensing that his two Finnish teammates had fallen by the wayside, and seeing an opening due to the drama that was unfolding, Sipila charged forward with a surge that took him from seventh to fourth place. His eyes were now fixed on a wavering Wide who was hanging on in third place. With Sipila’s surge, Finland managed to take a commanding lead in the team race, placing three runners in the top four. The US had now passed Britain into third place.

Johnson was not far behind Siplia and was still in medal contention. Earl wiped the perspiration from his brow with the cloth that he clutched in his right hand. As Johnson witnessed runners dropping out, his thoughts flashed back to his own 1920 Olympic 10k track race. He had entered that 10k race with confidence that he could compete with the best distance runners in the world. However, a long boat ride to Antwerp stalled his training. By the time the American athletes arrived in Belgium, they had very little time on solid ground to train and work off the excess pounds they put on while indulging themselves with the copious amounts of food available on the voyage. On the day of the 10k trials at the 1920 games in Antwerp, rain poured down all day and the athletes were forced to wait for their race, unshielded from the rain. By the time Johnson's preliminary race was held, he was soaked and cold. Johnson was running well with the leaders in the race, but fell victim to a cramp on the 15th lap and bowed out.

Normally the epitome of grit and an iron will, this 1920 Olympics race marked the only time in Johnson's entire running career that he failed to finish. Quitting on the Olympic stage in 1920 proved to be the greatest disappointment of his career. This time, he would not let the elements conspire against him or let an opportunity like the present one slip away. Now, in the thick of contention for an Olympic medal, quitting was not an option. No amount of exhaustion, pain, or blistering heat was going to prevent him from finishing today–especially not with the stakes as high as they were in the individual and team competitions.

At the next viewing point near 7k (4.3 miles), Paavo Nurmi glided in all by himself. During the last 800 meters (half mile) he had generated such a strong surge that even Ritola could not match it. Hannes Kolehmainen, who would run the Olympic marathon race the next day, had rented a bicycle, which allowed him to observe the race at various points along the course. From the vantage point of his bicycle, he witnessed the moment of truth between Nurmi and Ritola. Kolehmainen recounted, "Nurmi observed Ritola, and noticed that his step was becoming uncertain, he faltered a little. Nurmi himself felt his strength starting to decrease, but he had to make a decision and he did it, he sprinted strongly away from Ritola and increased his lead to a hundred meters, a quarter mile. At that moment, Ritola had to feel that Nurmi was not really a person, but a machine, as had always been implied.”

By the time Nurmi reached the hill going up the embankment for the second time at roughly 7.2k (4.5 miles), no other runner was even visible in the frame of the photo. Ritola passed the same point still in second place, but fatigue had visibly set in judging by the expression on his face. Behind Ritola, the race for the bronze medal was unfolding in earnest. Wide was laboring and trying to hang on to third place all by himself.

Nurmi Going up the Steep Embankment for the Second Time at 7.2k

Sipila was the first to climb the hill behind Wide in the next pack, but Johnson was just two strides behind him. Ebeling and Harper were about five meters behind Johnson. Sipila crested the hill and spurted ahead hoping to lose Johnson. Johnson was caught off guard by Sipila’s move and he slowed slightly to catch his breath. Harper and Ebeling saw Johnson lose his momentum at the top of the hill and they decided to make a move to bridge the gap. Harper’s move put him right on the heels of Johnson. Ebeling cleared the hill, but he could not match Johnson and Harper. Within the next 100 meters, Ebeling’s body finally gave out and he, like so many of the other runners, collapsed into the thick grass.

Siplia Leading Johnson up the Embankment at 7.2k

Harper had been keeping a close eye on Johnson and had followed closely behind him for the last 3k (1.9 miles) of the race. Like Johnson, Harper was not bothered in the least by the toxic fumes emitted from the nearby factories. “Evergreen” Harper was a rising British distance star and an avid smoker. After a race later in his career, when asked by the media about his smoking habits, his wife interrupted Ernie and interjected that he would routinely cut his smoking habit down to just five cigarettes per day during his training periods. Harper famously made it a habit to finish every race with a drag on a cigarette. In 1924, he was one of the younger athletes in the race at just 22 years old and was getting his first taste of international success at these Olympics. Harper had already defeated Johnson by nearly twenty seconds and finished fifth in his international debut at the Olympic track 10k race. Harper was a consummate sportsman and had been commended for waiting for competitors who had lost their footing or had fallen during other competitions. He seemed to have a knack for sticking close to Johnson during the Olympics. At the starting line of the track 10k race, he was photographed lining up immediately to the right of Johnson while shaking an official's hand in true sportsmanly fashion. Both Johnson and Harper were as tough as nails and neither was looking like they were ready to relent.

When officials numbered the runners that reached the turnaround point for the second time at 7.8k (4.8 miles) it was apparent that the casualties had mounted. Turesson (Sweden) was seen staggering from one side of the path to the other before he collapsed, fell unconscious, hit his head, and was in terrible condition. He was still unconscious five hours after the race and was given “just a chance” to recover while he was detained in the Paris Beau Jean Hospital.

Benham, who was up with the leaders for the first half of the race, faded, eventually collapsed, and was revived after being unconscious for half an hour. The Irishman Ryan was never able to get in the mix of things before he too collapsed. Booth was running well as the 2nd American before he fell to the side of the path and "folded like a knife". Booth had worried about losing his shoes while navigating through the rough terrain, so he taped his spikes to his feet so tightly that his feet eventually became numb. He was so distracted by the oppressive heat, that he didn’t realize that the tape cutting off his circulation was the biggest source of his problems. After Booth was able to remove the tape, he was fine, but it was too late for him to get back in the race.

Sweden and Great Britain, the two teams that were most aggressive at the initial stages of the race, were feeling the unfortunate consequences of their decision and no longer had enough runners (a minimum of three) to score. With just Wide left in the race, Sweden’s chances of medaling in the team race vanished. Harper and Sewell were now the lone Brits still left in the contest. The conservative strategy was beginning to pay off for the US as they now found themselves in second place–just four places behind Finland.

After the harriers passed the turnaround point for the second time, they were relieved that the next phase of the course consisted of some downhill and flat sections. However, their hopes and spirits were soon dashed when they realized that at about 9k (5.6 miles) they would have to approach the final hill of the course. Nurmi and then Ritola pushed through the hill and continued their mastery of the course. Shortly before the hill, Sipila had Wide set in his sights and recognized that Wide was fading. Sipila looked unsteady as he took his first steps up the hill, but he forged ahead and caught up to Wide. They ran side by side for a short time until the world went dark for Sipila. He buckled and fell down the thistle path. Wide continued, thinking he had shaken one of his Scandinavian nemeses. However, halfway up the hill, Wide suddenly looked pale as a ghost, lost his balance, and rolled to the bottom. Wide picked himself up again–only to fall a second time. The third time, he got back up and regained some momentum but staggered again. To steady himself, Wide grasped a rope that marked the course boundary and leveraged it to pull himself up the hill. The rope was not sturdy enough to hold Wide's weight and it suddenly snapped, sending him back down the hill. In the process of falling, he struck his head on the ground and blood began to run down his face. Onlookers offered to help Wide, but he refused aid, knowing that any contact would be considered interference and would disqualify him. On the fourth try, he bravely made it up the hill and managed to stagger another 50 meters further before he ultimately collapsed and was found in a heap with a dozen bleeding cuts from his tumbles.

About 50 meters behind Sipila, Johnson could hardly believe his eyes as he approached the hill and witnessed the mighty Wide and the formidable Finn Sipila either prostrate or struggling to pick themselves up off the ground! He was feeling the fatigue from the grind and the constant pressure from Harper following his every move, but seeing an opening to move into medal position re-invigorated him. Johnson and Harper wasted no time in passing Wide and Sipila. As he passed Wide, the realization hit Johnson that the race for the bronze medal would likely come down to a contest between him and Harper over the last 1.6k (around one mile) of the course.

Now behind Johnson and Harper, Sipila faintly regained his senses and saw other runners passing him. Thinking that he was the last hope for Finland to win the team gold medal, Sipila rose to his knees, half-conscious, and trudged forward but fell again. As he made another attempt to lift himself off the ground and began crawling in the grass, Sipila caught a glimpse of another light blue Finnish shirt out of the corner of his eye. Liimatainen had been moving up the ranks of runners through attrition and was now in ninth place. As Liimatainen passed Sipila, Sipila managed to lift his head and feebly say, “Run to the end, Heikki!” before collapsing for the last time. All of Finland’s hopes for the team medal would fall squarely on Heikki Liimatainen to finish the race.

The Arrival of Peerless Paavo & the Relentless Ritola

“He (Nurmi) was less overwrought than the many thousands of men and women who looked on.” -Daily Telegraph
"All this while the marvelous Nurmi was running smoothly, evenly, and with a steady tread, unwearied, as if he were starting the Olympic race under ideal conditions. There has been nothing like this mightiest of all iron-hearted Finns in two thousand years of track history."
-Grantland Rice

The conditions were so hot that fewer spectators than expected braved the severe weather and attended the conclusion of the race inside the stadium. The total capacity of the grand stadium was 60,000, yet just an estimated 8,000 fans were in attendance for the cross country event. Those fans that were in attendance all headed for the cover of the main grandstands to find whatever shade was available. Buoyed by their athlete’s triumphs throughout the Olympics, Finnish fans were there in full force. A quarter of the fans in attendance for the cross country event were Finns, there to support their distance running dynasty. During the parade of cross country athletes in the stadium before they headed to the starting line, the Finns received the loudest ovation. The Finnish fans endured the murderous heat fully expecting to be rewarded with another individual and team championship.

A radio station had been set up at the stadium, near the tribune to convey information about which runners were leading the race and various checkpoints. Not many updates were provided over the loudspeakers, but announcements were made that Nurmi, Ritola, and Wide had broken away from the rest of the competitors and were the race leaders. Fans in the stands could hear sirens outside of the stadium and horrible rumors began to circulate among the spectators about runners succumbing to heat stroke along the route. The suspense built as the spectators waited impatiently and very uncomfortably for the first sight of a runner.

After a half hour of waiting, a runner wearing a light blue shirt, white shorts, and white spikes with a familiar stride came into view. He temporarily disappeared from sight while making a long circuit near the stadium. As he neared the stadium gate, it became evident that the familiar stride belonged to the incomparable Nurmi. Le Journal described his entry into the stadium the following way, “Then at the marathon gate, we saw the inevitable winner appear, formidable and placid, the Finn Nurmi. He had to cover 300 meters on the track before crossing the finish line. With his even, almost peaceful stride, it seemed so easy and effortless.” Another pundit exclaimed, “The superman is not dependent on the winds of the sky or the heat of the day!”

Nurmi Arrives in the Stadium as the Leader

A Finnish observer who was accustomed to Nurmi dominating foes without exerting much energy described a more strenuous entry for Nurmi into the stadium, “Then came Nurmi. His expression was frighteningly hard, strained. Sweat has soaked his blue shirt dark, the white shorts have wrapped wet around the hips. The Merciless Nurmi is tired, even if he does not obviously show it.” A Daily Telegraph account continued, “He was greeted in a way you would expect–we shouted a welcome to him that took the form of a thunderous roar that grew in volume so as to become deafening when he broke the tape.” After crossing the finish line he coldly trotted a few meters off the track and sat down on the infield grass to remove his white spikes. While he hurriedly removed his spikes, Nurmi was greeted and congratulated by his animated Finnish track teammate Antti Huusari, who was on the infield as part of the decathlon competition. Nurmi barely acknowledged Huusari, promptly removed his spikes, gathered his warm-up clothes, and with a stone face, walked barefoot toward the locker room.

Nurmi is Congratulated by Huusari in the Infield

By this time, Ritola had entered the stadium in second place about one minute and a half behind Nurmi. Ritola was bouncing step by step, but his stride was much more labored than Nurmi’s was. A Finnish spectator remarked, “Ritola is completely gone. The head is tilted more than usual, the face twisted in pain.” As Ritola reached halfway down the homestretch, Nurmi nonchalantly approached Ritola from the infield. “As he (Nurmi) was about to disappear from view, he took one sharp glance at Ritola, who was coming up the straight, and a half-smile played about his thin lips as he saw his fellow Finn (Ritola) finish second.” Showing any kind of emotion was out of character for Nurmi and his brief smile left some wondering if, rather than celebrating his teammate’s finish, he was taking satisfaction in his domination over his rival and the rest of the field. Another reporter commented, “Nurmi's ‘poker face’ broke for the first time during the meet when his lips flashed for an instant into a triumphant smile as his only rival ran by him, forced to acknowledge Peerless Paavo as the running ruler of Finland.” Thinking it was a mere formality that another Finn would arrive in short order, Nurmi headed to the locker room and did not bother to stay to see how the rest of the drama would unfold.

Visibly exhausted, Ritola managed to cross the line for his second silver medal of the Olympics. He too was greeted by Finnish decathlete Huusari, who offered a hand to Ritola and helped usher him off the track and onto the infield. Ritola then squeezed his sides, bent over, and proceeded to sit on the infield grass to catch his breath.

Ritola Catches His Breath in the Infield

Now or Never

"Today it was ‘now or never’" -Baltimore Afro-American

Outside the stadium, about 400-500 meters behind Ritola, the competition for the bronze medal was still playing out. Johnson’s efficient stride and low-to-the-ground running style kept his legs churning as he and Harper passed by the tennis court for the third time and headed toward the crossing at the Rue Paul Bert. There was not any wasted movement or motion as Johnson continued forward and the unflappable Harper followed right behind him. After crossing the Rue, Johnson peered at the enormous Olympic stadium to the left of him. Johnson felt goosebumps and a surge of adrenaline as he heard the crowd noise and announcements from the public address announcer inside the stadium. With just 1k left to go, it was time to dig deep and make his move! It was now or never!

Earl Johnson Makes a Decisive Move to Leave Ernie Harper Behind at 10k

With a strong surge, Johnson caught Harper off guard. Harper struggled to lift his legs to match Johnson’s quick pace and cover his move. With this bold and gutsy spurt, Johnson managed to gain a 20-meter advantage at the 10k mark. With just 650 meters left in the race, Johnson crossed Boulevard Pierre Coubertin and made a sharp left to double back toward the stadium. He could see the stadium straight ahead and heard a loud ovation (for Ritola) from the crowd inside. His legs continued to churn as he veered to the right and saw the stadium gate. He took a sharp left through the gate into a tunnel that poked through the grandstand, which offered the only momentary shade he felt during the entire race. The brief relief Johnson felt from the shade in the tunnel was short-lived.

When Johnson poked out of the other side of the tunnel onto the track, the crowd rose and exploded with applause. Johnson had just 300 meters to finish on the track. He could not hear any footsteps behind him, but the roar of the crowd would have made it nearly impossible to hear anyone approaching him from behind anyway. "Endurance Earl" repeated positive affirmations in his mind–Stay the course! Hang on! Finish it! The temperature inside the stadium was even hotter than it was outside. One of the American runners recounted to the Chicago Tribune, "We had the same feeling as if stepping into a white-hot furnace. The fiery sun heating down on the mass of metal threw a hellish glare upon the runners. In our exhausted condition, it was like trying to run in an airless oven".

One last moment of uncertainty and deja vu entered Johnson’s mind as he remembered the disastrous last lap he experienced during the track 10k race just six days before. As Johnson picked up the pace on his last lap of that 10k race, he lost his footing on the soggy cinder track and fell, allowing competitors to gain ground on him. Although he finished the race, he was not able to gain any ground on the field and he finished a disappointing 8th place.

Now, with a golden opportunity in front of him to cement his legacy, he worried about every step he took. Slowly but surely, he edged his way around the final turn of the track and headed down the last straightaway. Johnson was so preoccupied with ending the grueling punishment the race inflicted on him that he failed to cut into the inside lane–potentially leaving open the possibility for a competitor to swoop in and pass him on the inside. The Pittsburgh Courier reported, “He (Johnson) was running towards the tape. His breath coming in short gasps, and showing the strain of the long race; his strength slowly sapped by the sweltering rays of a mid-summer sun, Johnson came on. The stands arose en masse to cheer him on. His running became an amble. But he continued to go forward.”

As the finish line approached, his stride slowed and each step forward became a chore. Exhausted, spent, and with his shirt drenched with perspiration all the way through, Johnson took a few long strides, pushing off from his heels. Finally, he bowed his head, leaned in, and crossed the line. Cheers rocked the stadium as he endured to the end and secured the individual bronze medal. For a brief moment, his pain and severe exhaustion were swallowed up in pure joy as he took in the crowd's loud ovation. The years of sacrifice, trials, and opposition led to this defining moment in his life. In his elderly years, Johnson reflected on the race and called the moment that he crossed that line "the greatest thrill of my life."

Johnson Strains as He Approaches the Finish Line

Johnson Finishes and Secures the Individual Bronze Medal

The Baltimore Afro-American reported, "Today it was ‘now or never’ and he (Johnson) came through with the speed and stamina that will give him a place for all times among America's great runners." Johnson’s finish made him the first and only American to ever secure an individual cross country medal at the Olympics.

Pandemonium

“Runners collapsed right and left as they entered the oven-like stadium for the final lap at the end of the 10,000-meter cross country run. The straight-away was strewn with bodies at one time. Ambulances clanged across the center field, hurrying to hospitals with casualties.” -Brooklyn Standard Union

After crossing the line and taking a few moments to collect himself, Johnson looked toward the stadium entrance where he anxiously awaited the arrival of his teammates. As the de facto trainer for the American team, Johnson had prepared his teammates well for the rigors that they would endure during an Olympic cross country race, but he worried that the brutal heat had sidelined some of his teammates. Finland already claimed the first two spots, but the Finns would need one more runner to finish to complete their team scoring.

The first three individual finishers had acquitted themselves well in light of the extenuating circumstances of the extreme heat. The struggle that unfolded next was something that would be talked about for decades to come. Harper, who had hung on with Johnson as long as he could, came into the stadium about twenty seconds after Johnson. As he rounded the curve and approached the finish, he began tilting his head upward and nearly running in place. Like Johnson, he failed to cut into the first lane. Just a few meters from the finish, his balance and coordination began to fail. With all of the composure he could muster, he tip-toed across the line and began staggering and wobbling while circling his outstretched hands. Before officials could extend their arms to support Harper, he wobbled one more time, collapsed, and passed out. Harper would not get an opportunity to take a drag on a cigarette after this one.

Harper Crosses the Line and Wobbles Before Fainting

Andia-Aguilar, a slightly built runner sporting a red shirt for Spain, was next to enter through the stadium gate. Andia was delirious, and disoriented and started heading the wrong way around the track after just a few meters into the stadium. A well-intentioned official waved his flag to point Andia in the right direction, only for Andia to spin, twist, and then strike his head on the flag. Andia swayed a little further and fell to the ground, turning and convulsing wildly amid yells of spectators and shrieks of women. He was put on a stretcher and taken away and rushed to the dressing room to get medical attention. One journalist claimed that Andia was reported dead in the locker room when an English doctor rushed in and pumped several injections of strychnine into his arm to save his life. He was taken from the scene in an ambulance and conveyed to the hospital.

To Johnson's delight, his American teammate, Arthur Studenroth was in the next group of two runners to enter the stadium. The home crowd urged their French compatriot Lauvaux on as he held a slight lead on Studenroth. Studenroth unleashed a strong sprint at the end but came up just short at the line and finished in sixth place–just one second behind Lauvaux. With Studenroth's admirable finish, the Americans had matched the Finns in getting two harriers across the line. Both Studenroth and Lauvaux had wisely run a conservative race and continued to improve their position at each checkpoint through attrition. Martinenghi of Italy followed a similar strategy and finished in seventh place without much fanfare.

As the runners continued to trickle into the stadium, formerly confident Finnish fans became increasingly nervous that they had not seen their third and final runner needed to complete their team scoring. Just outside the stadium, a group of three runners struggled to make it inside. American John Gray suffered stomach trouble and vomiting spells and collapsed just outside of the gate. He was taken to the Olympic Village and was not in serious condition. Gray’s collapse meant that only two potentially scoring runners were left for the USA. Likewise, Britain’s Sewell staggered and fell just outside the stadium. He made another attempt to pick himself up, only to collapse for a second and final time. Finland’s final hope for the team gold rested solely with Heikki Liimatainen. Liimatainen’s strength began to run out just as he crossed a fence about 200 meters from the stadium. Liimatainen swayed and barely caught himself as he dropped to his knees. He was able to gather enough energy to make his way to the foot of a small tree and take a short rest in the shade. As he saw other runners passing him, he got back on his feet and started walking toward the finish line.

When Finnish-born American August Fager passed Liimatainen as the third remaining American runner, Liimatainen realized the urgency of the situation and tried to follow Fager. With the team gold on the line, Fager beat Liimatainen into the stadium, but Fager proceeded to run in the wrong direction on the track. Fager regained his sense of direction in relatively short order and corrected himself, while Liimatainen ran almost 50 meters in the wrong direction until course officials intercepted him. For a while, Liimatainnen froze, dazed and confused about which path he should take to finish the race. While the Finn waffled, four runners entered the stadium and passed him: Richardson of South Africa, Marchal and Heuet of France, and American Jimmy Henigan.

Fager overcame his hesitation and made his way to the finish line, biting his lip under a terrible strain as he crossed. Fager's eighth-place finish cemented the American team as the only team to complete their team scoring thus far with three men in. With Liimatainen floundering, and Finnish fans screaming and gesturing from the stands, the suspense was building to an incredible crescendo. The first runner to pass Liimatainen in the stadium, Richardson, crossed the line six seconds behind Fager for ninth place. Marchal and his fellow Frenchman Heuet had entered the stadium next. Heuet continued on to the line and finished another six seconds behind Richardson–giving the French two scoring runners. However, Heuet's teammate Marchal was teetering, staggering like a drunk, and running aimlessly in circles on the track. Marchal reached a distance of about 30 meters away from the finish line and fell. The fourth American runner, Henigan, was 75 meters behind Marchal and was also feeling the effects of the heat, but was able to seize the opportunity to pass the fallen Frenchman Marchal and finish in eleventh place.

Meanwhile, Liimatainen regained his senses and made his way around the curve toward the finish line. As Liimatainen approached the fallen Marchal, Marchal elevated off the ground, began babbling like a madman, gazed wildly about him, and desperately dashed toward what he thought was the finish line. In reality, a delirious Marchal sprinted full-tilt toward a wall, crashing directly into the stands, and was knocked unconscious and carried away with a bloody face. With Marchal down, no other obstacles stood in Liimatainen's way toward the finish line. All Liimatainen needed to do was drag his body in any way, shape, or form across the finish line to secure a team win for Finland. Given his current physical and mental state, that was not going to be an easy task. Liimatainen continued to zigzag and stagger on the track but in the proper direction of the finish. Finally, he reached a spot on the track about 10 meters away from the finish line. Completely disoriented and incoherent, Liimatainen mistook that mark as the finish line, stopped suddenly, reversed course for a little while, and started to leave the field. The fans in the stands began yelling frantically and gesturing to Liimatainen to finish the race, but he could not comprehend what was happening. The tension in the stands and around the scene on the track was palpable. It was bedlam with hundreds of Finns in the crowd shouting desperately with hoarse voices, urging Liimatainen on just to finish.

The Controversy

“Some dim instinct told Liimatainen that he made it to the line and he turned around to stagger towards the dressing room. They shouted “Run to the end”. Tuulos and Huusari happened to be in the infield and finally got Liimatainen to figure it out.” -Martti Jukola

Without any film recordings or photos of the climax of the team race to refer to as evidence, what happened next is still in dispute. The aforementioned Finnish decathlete Huusari was on the infield along with Finnish triple jumper Viho Tuulos. Liimatainen, who we know was disoriented and not in the right state of mind recalled, “I thought I was already at the finish line and went to leave 10 meters before the finish line, but luckily, the triple jumpers V. Tuulos and Huusari saw my commotion and came and yelled at me, not daring to touch me, in which case the run would have been abandoned. They exclaimed, “Heikki, Heikki, you haven’t been to the finish line yet.” That’s when I came to my senses to the point that I understood the situation and walked the 20 meters to the finish line.”

Liimatainen chose his words carefully, knowing that if any spectator, official, or athlete not competing in this specific race made contact with him to assist him, he would be disqualified. One translated Finnish account described the moment in question more pointedly: "Heikki is at the end, he doesn't understand what is going on…A pair of Finnish hands grab him, and lead him to the track." Another declared, "The Finnish decathletes absolutely grab Liimatainen, he is forcibly guided in the right direction, and with every step, the man pushes all his strength to get one more step forward, step by step, slowly, very slowly…" An alternative Finnish author blamed the officials, "It was right to call the competition a referee scandal. The judges in the stadium were as clueless as the men who ran the race. They were not able to control their nerves at all, and if Liimatainen had to be in the middle of judges running back and forth at the gate forever, Finland would have, against the law, been left in second place in the team competition."

The American coaches alleged that Liimatainen was illegally assisted and filed a protest with the Olympic Committee. Tom Keane, who coached the American distance runners, registered a complaint at "the way, in which the Finns were coached to victory in the 10,000-meter cross country run." US Head Coach Lawson Robertson stated, "However, our team would have won if the third Finn, who was coached by his mates from the sidelines, had been disqualified in consequence." The appeal failed, and ultimately, Liimatainen was declared the twelfth-place finisher. Finland was awarded the team gold medal, beating the American team by a thin margin of three points with a final score of 11-14. If rules had allowed for the displacement of scoring runners by other team finishers, the margin would have been a mere two points due to the fourth American man Henigan beating Liimatainen to the tape.

After Liimatainen dragged himself across the line, only three more runners finished. The last finisher was Norland of France, who drew a fitting close to the competition by the way he crossed the line. One journalist exclaimed, "Of all the races I have ever seen this was by far the most dramatic, and when finally, a Frenchman (Norland) struggled home with one foot bleeding and one shoe gone, the whole crowd rose at him and roared an acclamation." As was the pattern for countless other competitors, Norland crossed the line and immediately fainted. Norland's finish gave France the requisite three finishers it needed to claim the team bronze medal.

The Aftermath & Fallout

“Four ambulances rushed back along the route where many lay as dead men, face down under the blazing sun, with Wide & Turgesson in critical shape. The two were still unconscious hours after the heartbreaking race. A review of the cross country route looked like the war area with dead scattered as from machine gun fire.” -Grantland Rice

Just 15 of the 38 competitors finished the race. Eight were carried away from the stadium on stretchers. A total of 11 runners were afflicted with heat stroke–including the entire Swedish team. Seven men, in all, were taken to the hospital. Five competitors had to be attended to at the Red Cross station under the stadium. Wide, Andia-Aguilar, Turreson & Bergstrom were among those taken to the hospital in the worst condition, while about two dozen others had to be given medical treatment with several of them lying in a semi-conscious state for more than an hour after having given their all. Fortunately, no runners succumbed to the blazing inferno they faced on the course. The scene inside and outside of the stadium was so shocking and desperate that no photos have been published showing the medical response to the various runners who fainted or were injured. The Chicago Tribune summed up well why this brutal and grueling race became so infamous and legendary:

"Then three big Red Cross ambulances, manned by war-time drivers and stretcher-bearers, and carrying the most renowned European physicians, dashed up with clanging bells to minister to the shattered runners who fell along the route…Wide, Bergstrom, and Andia were all reported dead and the stands were stunned as death rumors swept the stadium. Fourteen women screamed and fainted in the uncovered stands and bleachers at the sight of the grasping runners fighting off suffocation and unconsciousness from their unsparing enemies, heat, and fatigue. The finest physicians and surgeons of a dozen nations worked like mad with the most energetic restoratives to keep the worst affected men from crossing the Last Finish Line."

Lou Clarke, a member of the gold medal-winning American 4x100m relay team witnessed the race and recalled thirty years later, "It was brutal, the worst thing I ever saw in my life. There never will be anything like it. Those fellows were out of their heads. Nuts."

The physical toll was so great and the outrage expressed about the race was so extensive, that the 1924 installment became the last cross country race ever contested at the Olympics. Sadly, an event that had been contested at the Olympics since 1912 was completely removed from the program of future Games. The carnage from the cross country race also precipitated a decision to wisely move the starting time of the marathon race from 3 pm to 5 pm on the concluding day of the Olympics to spare marathoners from battling during peak high temperatures.

Finnish Heroics

"A large number were still in the hospital the next day, but Nurmi used his time better. He then took the gold medal at the 3000m." -Martti Jukola

Peerless Paavo Nurmi became the sensation of the 1924 Olympics. Just a day after winning the taxing cross country race, Nurmi capped off his Olympic games with another individual win and team gold in the 3000m race. Indomitable, invincible, and superhuman were all apt words used to describe Nurmi's performance at the Olympics. He went undefeated in seven races within six days and won five gold medals. Almost thirty years later, Johnson was asked about Jesse Owens, Paavo Nurmi, and the greatest runners and Olympians he ever witnessed. Johnson responded, "I consider him (Nurmi) the greatest because any man who could go out and run four Olympic championship distance races…I mean a man who can go out and run four and win all four of them – he's got to be great. In 1924 he won four Olympic championships…You see, Nurmi won the 1500-meter and 3000-meter team races, the 5000 meters, and the cross country championship. Cross country is 10,000 meters, that's six and a quarter miles. He did it all in the course of a week and ran heats in the 1500 meters. I call him the greatest.”

Not to be completely outdone by Nurmi, Ritola ran eight races in eight days. He completed an unprecedented feat of running 39,000 meters during the Games and clinched four gold and two silver medals. Nurmi's immaculate performance was the only thing that prevented Ritola from a clean sweep of victories in his events. Nurmi and Ritola finished the 1924 Olympics not only as the most decorated track and field athletes in Olympic history but also as the greatest athletes in any sport to ever compete in the Olympics.

Liimatainen's heroics made him a legend in Finland. Siplia, whose last words before collapsing were "Run to the end, Heikki!" added another anecdote to the lore of the Finnish team's gold medal performance. A Finnish author recounted, "When Sipila was finally taken to the infirmary, he regained consciousness for a moment, but at the same time had a severe convulsion and thought he was surely going to die. Sipila faintly whispered, "Forgive me for not running to the end." He had thought they lost, but after hearing it was the other way around, a calm smile spread across his face as his consciousness darkened again."

Americans Nearly Miraculous

In the sweltering heat that caused the black cinders and green center field of Colombes Stadium to be dotted with white, limp forms of unconscious athletes, America's track and field team rose to new heights of Olympic glory today. -Brooklyn Standard Union

The USA was the sole team with four finishers and the only team without a runner that required extensive medical attention. Head USA Track and Field Coach Lawson Robertson lauded the team, “All our men were fairly strong and ran the greatest race of any American Cross-country team.“ With their appeal denied, the American harriers were left wondering what could have been if Liimatainen had been disqualified. An American victory in the team cross country race would have been considered an upset at a similar level as the US hockey team’s Miracle on Ice victory against the USSR in 1980. Johnson and his courageous teammates would have claimed the first gold medals for any American distance runner since Johnny Hayes in 1908--who ironically won a marathon gold after the Italian Dorando Pietri, was disqualified for receiving aid from an official after collapsing just a short distance from the finish. No other American would win a gold medal in a running event of 10k or more in the Olympics until Billy Mills pulled off an upset win forty years later in the 10k in 1964.

Only one member of the American cross country team would return to the Olympics. 1924 marked the first of three trips for Jimmy Henigan to the Olympics. Henigan earned a spot on the marathon team in 1928 and 1932 and finally broke through with a Boston Marathon title in 1931. It took him seven attempts at the Boston Marathon before he finished one and a total of eleven attempts before he won it. By the time he retired from competitive running at 42, Henigan reportedly won 516 races. Verne Booth finished in the top three in the 10k US Olympic Qualifying race in 1928 but was shocked to not be selected for the team. Booth wanted a chance for redemption in 1928 and was perplexed about why a fourth-place 5k runner was selected ahead of him for the team after Booth's first 5k split during his 10k race was better. August Fager re-appeared prominently on the running scene in 1928 as a competitor in the coast-to-coast Trans-American Footrace, better known as the Bunion Derby. Fager was one of 199 runners that departed Los Angeles en route to run 3,423 miles across the entire country, mostly along Route 66. Fager won at least one single-day challenge and remained in contention until it was clear that race organizer C.C. Pyle was not going to reward single-day winners with the prize money they were promised.

The Best of the Rest

“What most people do not realize is the hard work that goes into the efforts of all of the competitors. They have to train long and hard and absorb intensive coaching.” -R. Earl Johnson

Earl Johnson's performance is enormously underappreciated in light of the elite field of runners he was able to defeat at the Olympics. The Englishman, Ernie Harper, who put up a gallant fight and stuck with Earl Johnson almost the entire duration of the race developed into the greatest British distance runner of his generation. He would return to the Olympics as a marathon runner in 1928, and in 1936, he secured a silver medal as the marathon runner-up. In that 1936 Olympic marathon, Harper's fine sportsmanship was again on display when he admonished the winner, Sohn Kee-chung, to be patient and not to chase the early race leader Juan Carlos Zabala. Kee-chung and Harper ran a good portion of the race side-by-side, but Harper developed a blister on the ball of his right foot which hampered him enough that he could not keep pace with Kee-chung. Between 1924 and 1930, Harper finished first or second at the British Cross Country Championships six times. At the International Cross Country Championships, Harper won three team golds, four team silvers, one individual gold, and one individual silver medal.

Swede Edvin Wide recovered from his traumatic 1924 cross country experience and returned to compete in the 1928 Olympics. Once again, Nurmi and Ritola reigned supreme in both the 10k and 5k races, and Wide was forced to settle for two more bronze medals. Wide won five consecutive Swedish cross country titles and set Swedish records in the 5k and 10k. He finished his Olympic career with four bronze medals and one silver medal. Wide was the oldest living Olympian when he passed away at 100 years old–just before the start of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

Besides Nurmi and Ritola, the other Finnish team members all achieved several impressive individual accomplishments. Vaino Siplia, who was one place ahead of Johnson before collapsing, was a four-time Finnish cross country national champion, a 1928 Olympic marathoner, and a world record holder for 20k and 30k distances. Eero Berg won an individual bronze medal in the 1924 Olympic 10k. Heikki Liimatainen won the individual bronze medal in the 1920 Olympic Cross Country race. Eino Rasta competed in three different Olympic games, moving up to the marathon in 1928 and placing fourteenth.

For France, Gaston Heuet was a three-time Olympian and won a coveted cross country bronze medal in the 1919 Inter-Allied Games. Robert Marchal, who had to be carried away on a stretcher during the 1924 Olympics, finished third and fourth at the International Cross Country Championships in the 20s and finished eleventh in the 1928 Olympic 10k.

Several other runners from the 1924 Olympic Cross Country race competed in multiple Olympic Games including Richardson (South Africa), Speroni (Italy), Martinenghi (Italy), and Lauvaux (France).

Our Earl

“The fact that he [Johnson] made good in such sensational fashion is what has made the followers of track and field sports gasp. Few had ever heard of him before, and therefore they thought he had been “made” overnight, not knowing of his long-cherished ambition to be a great runner and of his many years of patient preparation.” -Hunter Johnston | Johnson’s Former Trainer

By capturing two medals at the 1924 Olympics, Johnson cemented his status as the undisputed greatest American distance runner from 1920 through 1924. No other American had won more than one distance medal before him. Clarence DeMar and Joie Ray are the only other American distance runners to rival Johnson’s success during the Roaring 20’s and each of them only managed to earn a single bronze medal at the Olympics. To put Johnson’s bronze medal into proper perspective, consider that it took not just two of the greatest runners in Olympic history, but two of the most accomplished athletes in any sport to displace him. Combined, Nurmi & Ritola garnered fourteen Olympic gold medals and twenty total medals from 1920-1928. If the American appeal to disqualify Liimatainen had been upheld, Johnson would have added a well-deserved team gold medal to his collection. His double medal performance also made him the first Black American to earn an individual and team medal at the Olympics.

About Johnson’s performance, the Chicago Defender proudly declared: "Earl Johnson steps into the hero class. He entered the 10,000-meter run and STAYED. “Can he stay?” is always a good question in any contest, whether on the field of sport or the field of honor. Young men fell out of the race like rotten apples from an old tree, but Earl STAYED and came in under the prize…What you want to remember is that Johnson STAYED and that he FINISHED third.”

After arriving back on American soil, Johnson and the three other Black American Olympians were given a warm reception in a parade held for the US team in New York City. In black communities in Harlem and Baltimore, Johnson and DeHart Hubbard were given hero's welcomes.

After the Olympics, Johnson effectively retired from racing, only occasionally running an exhibition race. Johnson felt he had reached his peak and needed to focus on his career. He stated, "I am now 34. I feel I have won enough honors and cups to satisfy me. I shall retire with but few defeats to my record, whereas if I stay in, the day will come when I shall go [down] in defeat many times." On another occasion, he declared, "My work does not permit me to take the time that I have used heretofore in preparing for big events. This is my only reason for not taking part in the big competition…In big time competition, I have been on two Olympic teams and I have won numerous prizes in national competition. This takes its toll, so I am satisfied."

Johnson dedicated the rest of his life to training, coaching, influencing, and encouraging amateur athletes and promoting several sports in Pittsburgh. Shortly after the Olympics, he helped his former 1920 Olympic teammate Frank Shea coach the University of Pittsburgh to their only national (IC4A) cross country championship. Under his watchful guidance at Edgar Thomson Steel, Johnson mentored and trained a childhood acquaintance, Rufus Tankins as a distance runner. In quick order, Johnson developed Tankins into one of the best in the country and aspired to train Tankins for the 1928 Olympics. As a sports director and social worker at the Edgar Thomson Steel plant and as a prominent supporter of sports in the Hill district of Pittsburgh, Johnson was involved in just about every sport and league imaginable. He partnered with Honus Wagner in organizing local baseball leagues, coached future baseball stars of the Negro Leagues on his company team, coached championship men's and women's basketball teams, raised money for aspiring Olympic boxers, penned a weekly sports newspaper column, and much more.

July 12th, 2024 marked the 100th anniversary of Earl Johnson's remarkable bronze medal and silver medal-winning performance. Johnson’s impact and accomplishments have largely been forgotten over the course of years. As a consequence of his heroic performance barely receiving any mainstream press, due to the unfortunate removal of the cross country event from the Olympics, and as a result of the overshadowing triumph of Nurmi, Johnson’s performance and running accomplishments fell off the radar. The last recorded celebration of Johnson’s Olympic achievements occurred seventy years ago when Pittsburgh’s Mayor Lawrence commemorated Olympic Day by inviting Johnson and two other former Olympians for a ceremony at the City Council meeting. With the Olympics coming back to Paris in 2024 it’s a fitting time to bring his story back to prominence. We look forward to chronicling the incredible life and legacy of “Our Earl” and advocating for him to posthumously receive the recognition due to him as a true American hero, a ground-breaking athlete, an influential coach, a respected mentor, and an influential pillar of the communities in which he so devotedly served.

Now or Never: The Extraordinary Story of R. Earl Johnson & The 1924 Olympic Cross Country Race