The men's Olympic trials were held at
Stanford Stadium on July 15 and July 16. In track events, hand timing was used as the primary timing method, while Gustavus Kirby's
automatic timing device was used secondarily.
Track Metcalfe, Tolan and Simpson qualified for the Olympics in both of the short sprints.
Emmett Toppino and
Frank Wykoff placed fourth and fifth in the 100 meters, while
Bob Kiesel and
Hec Dyer took fourth and fifth in the 200 meters; those four were named to the
4 × 100 meters relay.
James Johnson, who placed sixth in both events, was suggested for the relay pool by team coach
Lawson Robertson but not selected by the AOC. The athletes who placed fourth to seventh (
Ed Ablowich,
Ivan Fuqua,
Arnold Adams and
Karl Warner) were named to the 4 × 400 m relay team; Adams later injured his foot and withdrew from the team, and Carr was used as a substitute. Eddie Genung won his third consecutive national title in the 800 meters, defeating NCAA champion Hornbostel; the Americans went on to place fourth, fifth and sixth at the Olympics, but the absence of Eastman cost the United States an excellent medal chance. In the 5000 and 10,000 meters the American teams were relatively weak with the exception of Ralph Hill, who won his race easily; in Los Angeles he took a close silver in a controversial race, as Finland's world record holder
Lauri Lehtinen obstructed Hill's attempts to pass him in the final straight. McCluskey's time in the 3000-meter steeplechase was an unofficial world best; the IAAF did not start ratifying official world records in the steeplechase until 1954. In the 110 m hurdles, the United States fielded an extremely strong team; Keller, Saling and Beard all set both official and unratified world records during their careers, as did the man in fourth,
Johnny Morriss. The pole vault competition had the highest quality of any in the world yet; Graber broke both the amateur world record of
Lee Barnes and the unofficial professional record of
Charles Hoff, while Miller equaled the Barnes record. Four vaulters (Jefferson,
Don Zimmerman,
Fred Sturdy and
Bud Deacon) cleared 13 ft in; the third and final Olympic spot was decided by a jump-off, in which Jefferson prevailed. The United States dominated pole vault at the time; that the Americans only won gold (Miller) and bronze (Jefferson) at the Olympics was seen as a disappointment. Both Leo Sexton and
Herman Brix, who placed fifth, had exceeded the
shot put world record earlier in 1932 with throws of 52 ft in (16.07 m); those records were never ratified, and Sexton's trials mark equaled the official world record, though it too went unratified. Sexton went on to win Olympic gold in Los Angeles and set an official world record after the Olympics, becoming the first man to reach 53 feet. Like long jump champion Barber, Kenneth Churchill in the javelin benefited from the AOC's rule change; he was only sixth after the qualifying rounds but came close to breaking
James DeMers's
American record in the final. The runner-up, Malcolm Metcalf, was recognized as AAU champion. Marathon selections were based on three races, including the
Boston Marathon; the top American from each of the races (Henigan, Oldag and Michelsen) qualified for the Olympic team. Oldag was a German-born newcomer, and AOC officials had to verify that he had been
naturalized and was eligible to represent the United States. Henigan and Michelsen were both returning Olympians. In the 50 km walk, selections were based on two races; the top two from New York (Crosbie and Chisholm) and the winner of Los Angeles (Hinkel) were named to the team, with Los Angeles runner-up Pecora as alternate.
Other AAU championship events These non-Olympic events were contested in Stanford Stadium as part of the AAU national championships. McDonald, who placed third in the weight throw, was almost 54 years old; he had won the event at the
1920 Olympics when it was still part of the Olympic program, and was a multiple national champion. He won one more AAU title in 1933, becoming the oldest ever AAU champion. ==Women==