Trivia steeplechase question

[rhymans]

A nice simple question for all you steeplechase fans out there.


Who won the German steeplechase championship in 1933?

[rhymans]

I can tell you it wasn't Adolf Hitler or any Austrian..or German

[DoubleRBar]

Probably nobody from Kenya. How about Finland?

[aaronk]

Too simple.
Next time, ask something more difficult!!

[Conor Dary]

Alan Turing?

[kuha]

Nurmi?

[Conor Dary]

Yea, Nurmi sounds right. Has to be some well known name, that wouldn't expect, otherwise I doubt RH would have posted it.

[tandfman]

Igivup. I just looked it up, and it was someone I had never heard of, either as a runner or as a public figure in any sphere.

I'll be curious to see how this plays out.

[Conor Dary]

Well that doesn't sound good.

But at least you know the answer. Google is not much help.

[Per Andersen]

Iso-Hollo?

[DoubleRBar]

The 1932 and 1936 Olympic champion is who I was thinking of too.

[Conor Dary]

Iso-Hollo?

Nice try. Except tandfman would have known who he was.

Elias Katz? But tandfman would know who he is....I give up.

[dj]

I know Richard's "answer," but I think it's the wrong question.

I believe the German Championships were a closed meet, open only to Germans, as were most national championships of that time. The open championships I'm aware of were the AAA in Britain, the AAU in the U.S., the Canadian champs and the Australian champs, with possibly other British colonies also holding open championships.

I think Richard's question is not who won the German Championship, but who won the race, almost certainly running as a guest competitor as 3000m steeplechase races (with water jumps) were not frequently contested back then.

[rhymans]

Bad phrasing on my part - Willy Göhrt won the title with 9:25.1, but didn't win the race. The only hint I can give is that this is not a British site, even if I am (British that is, not a site). If no-one gets it in the next 36 hours could you tell them, DJ [I'll be out of computer access till Sunday]

[gm]

Ahhhhh, very interesting answer! Tandfman, you have certainly heard of this person.

[Bruce Kritzler]

Joe McCluskey?

[rhymans]

Yes, McCluskey it is - well done.

[Master Po]

I had no idea on this one, and when I saw the answer, the name was new to me. One of the enjoyable things about the historical forum is learning the history of the sport.

McCluskey's brief bio from Olympics at Sports Reference (as always, thanks bambam):

http://www.sports-reference.com/olympic ... key-1.html

and his Wiki entry

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_McCluskey

He was an outstanding runner! Interesting story of him in the 32 OG steeplechase. Never heard of that, either.

Thanks!

[tandfman]

OK, that explains it all. Yes, it was Willy Göhrt whom I found listed as the German champion when I looked that up. No, I had never heard of him before. Yes, I certainly have heard of Joe McCluskey.

[Conor Dary]

OK, that explains it all. Yes, it was Willy Göhrt whom I found listed as the German champion when I looked that up. No, I had never heard of him before. Yes, I certainly have heard of Joe McCluskey.

Glad we got that cleared up. I had eliminated McC since you hadn't heard of the winner, and I assumed you knew who McC was.

As it turns out a very interesting trivia question. My faith in RH is restored.