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The hulks of the infield tossed their anchors and made their muscles, but rather obviously missed the boycotters. Nobody can handle a ball and chain quite like a totalitarian. It did not spoil his mood too much when opening-day Flagman Ed Burke missed the finals in the hammer throw. "Just because I didn't advance doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it," he said. Should some young U.S. hammer throwers be inspired, he will be pleased. "They need to learn how to compete," he said kindly. "A lot of them are marshmallows." The winner, Finland's Juha Tiainen, sighed, "It's not the same without the Eastern bloc countries." In the high jump, the celebrities were World Record Holder Zhu Jianhua of China and Dwight Stones of the U.S., but the winner was Dietmar Mögenburg of West Germany. He never missed at any height until everyone else was out and, alone with the bar, he tried raising Zhu's 7-ft. 10-in. mark by a half-inch. Mögenburg was not distressed when he failed twice. Both Zhu, 21, and Stones, 30, went out at 7 ft. 7¾ in., but with fewer misses, Zhu got the bronze. Stones went out smiling, though. "At least you have four years to look forward to," he told Zhu.
Two Frenchmen and two Americans argued it out in the last stages of " the pole vault. Only Mike Tully of the U.S. deigned to try at 18 ft. 6½ in. and casually cleared. Pierre Quinon of France went over comfortably at 18 ft. 8¼ in., while Countryman Thierry Vigneron and the other American, Earl Bell, fell out. Tully passed. Again on the first vault, Quinon surmounted 18 ft. 10¼ in. Tully passed once more. But they both failed the next height, and therefore Quinon, 22, won. "I am young and learning," he said, "perhaps how to lose mostly, but how to win this time." Vigneron, a 19-ft. vaulter who lost his world record some time ago to Soviet Sergei Bubka, observed Quinon coolly. They are not close. "It was a very difficult competition," complained Vigneron, "due to the fact that Americans were rooting for Americans."
David Albritton, 71, cheered the Americans as he watched on television in Dayton, where he no longer coaches high school track—not officially. A silver medalist in the Hitler Games of 1936, a high jumper, Albritton was Jesse Owens' best friend. They roomed together both at college and in Berlin. On the subject of people rooting for one another, Albritton might have some knowledge of what Jesse would have thought of Lewis' equaling his four gold medals. "Different times, different circumstances," he said, "different places, different people. Nobody will ever be Jesse. If Carl is fortunate, he will always be Carl. Neither one of them is stumbling stock, you know.