Since 1896, the biggest sports spectacle in the world has taken place every four years - the Olympic Games. Families, universities and entire countries all come together to celebrate the best athletes in the world.
Since the 1920 Summer Olympics, Cal alone has sent over 300 athletes to compete in the games. Cal’s Olympic medal count stands at 185 - 105 gold, 47 silver and 33 bronze.
One of the gold medals belongs to Archie Williams, a legendary track star who won an NCAA Championship in the 400 meter race in 1936 in Chicago, and then went on to win the gold medal in the 400 just months later at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany.
Williams’ road to the games wasn’t typical from what we know of them today. Today, athletes typically train for years knowing the Olympic Games would be a possibility for them. For Williams, a no-name runner at the time, the Olympics only became a realistic possibility for him about six months prior to the games. He had qualified for the NCAA Championship that year for the first time in his career, and by winning there, he automatically qualified for the Olympic finals in New York.
Williams finished the Olympic final race in 46.8 seconds and qualified for the Summer Olympics.
“I thought it was crazy to think that could happen,” Williams said in an oral history by the Cal Regional Oral History Office published in 1992. “I admired and knew the history of the Olympics. I knew the history of all the guys who were doing it. I knew who the best runners were at that time. I knew who they were. I said, ‘You'll have to beat this guy; you'll have to beat that guy.’”
The Olympics then were much different than what we know about the games today. For starters, Williams and his teammates made the two-week journey to Berlin by boat - with no way to train.
“You couldn't practice on the boat. We would do exercises, pushups and stuff. We couldn't run or anything,” Williams recollects in the oral history.
Once in Berlin, Williams and his team had two weeks to prepare for their meet and it was almost as if they had to start their training all over again. Williams said much of their time was spent eating. The Olympic Village dining halls varied in size based on country, and the American dining hall was one of the biggest and the best. If he wasn’t training, Williams said he could be found eating.
After the two weeks were up and it was time to compete, everything was a lot more rushed. There were more than two preliminary competitions in one day, and the semifinals and finals were no more than 24 hours later.
“It's over with just like that,” Williams said in the oral history. “It's a dash and you don't have time to think. Or you're trying not to just run out of gas. And you're trying not to get left behind. That was it.”
Because Williams' success all happened so suddenly, there weren't many people who knew who he was or what he was about. Williams started at Cal in 1935 and he found himself in the Olympics after just one year competing at the collegiate level. The top runners at that time were normally found at USC or Stanford, and Williams felt tremendous pride representing Cal on the biggest athletic stage.
“When I was running the race, we were down there getting ready for the race and people were yelling and screaming, ‘Do one for Cal,’” he said in the oral history. “It was like a dream. We felt pride.”
Contribute to Cal’s Olympic Legacy
Be a part of the Golden Bears’ sterling Olympic legacy: give to Cal to benefit the Bears on their Road to Rio. Your gift evenly supports the operational budgets of all of Cal’s Olympic sports. Help Cal build Olympians with support that will directly impact the Bears’ famed athletic programs - in Rio de Janeiro and for years to come. Contribute to the campaign by visiting this link: http://calbea.rs/1rRKqJj.
