All last week, Red Army athletes prepped diligently for a Big Four track meet in Berlin's Olympic Stadium. Then, just before they were to step on the field against British, French and U.S. Army men, loudspeakers blared: "The Russian team ... is not participating." There was no official explanation. Unofficial explainers held that the Russians had merely made a belated discovery : that they would not have a chance, except possibly in the weight events.
Shorn of the Russians, the meet went on, with newsreel cameras grinding from what once was Hitler's private box. The best performance was a 6 ft. 4...
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