Decathlon, Men

The decathletes in 1936 were confronted by a new set of scoring tables, the 1934 tables, the first adjustment in the tables since 1920. They were a completely new concept as the 1912A and 1912B had been linear-based tables based on the world records in that era. The favorite in 1936 was expected to be the German Hans-Heinrich Sievert, the 1934 European Champion. But he was injured and did not contest the decathlon. Starting the year the leading American was thought to be Bob Clark who had won the 1934-35 AAU Championships. But Glenn Morris, a former intermediate hurdler, contested his first decathlon in April at the Kansas Relays and broke the American record. At the combined AAU/Olympic Trials in 1936 he won with a world record of 7,880 on the new tables, with Clark second. Clark led after the first day in Berlin, but Morris took the lead the next morning with the best time in the high hurdles, and he defeated Clark by almost 300 points with another world record of 7,900. Jack Parker completed an American medal sweep. Morris never competed in another decathlon, leaving the event after three competitions, with three American records, two world records, and the Olympic gold medal. He later had a brief stint in the NFL and played Tarzan in one movie. Leni Riefenstahl, the controversial German film maker, also revealed that she and Morris had an affair during the 1936 Olympics.