Rope Climbing, Men

Rope climbing has been on the Olympic Program only in 1896, 1904, 1906, 1924 and at Los Angeles in 1932, and has not been held at the Olympics since. There were only five participants – three Americans and two Hungarians.

The event consisted of climbing an 8-meter-high rope, and was contested on time. All competitors were given three tries, with the fastest times determining the placements. The three Americans shared the medals, the gold won by [Benny Bass] in 6.7 seconds, which he recorded on his first trial. He was just ahead of Jack Galbraith, who was a tenth of a second slower, with Tom Connolly winning bronze, both recording their best times in the second round.

The two Hungarians – Miklós Péter and Péter Boros – only took one attempt each. They were almost five seconds slower than Bass and over four seconds slower than the other Americans in the first round, and withdrew, presumably realizing they had little chance in an event of which they likely had little experience.