Olympic Games

The Olympic Games have, over the years, had a number of competitors from Brown University. David C. Hall ’01, a member of the 1900 team, finished third in the 800 metres, after an unfortunate accident in which the runner who ultimately finished second stepped on Hall’s heel, tearing off his shoe during the race. Without that incident Hall, whose time in the trial heat was 1:56:2, should have been able to beat the winning time of 2:01:2. William C. Prout ’09, ran the 400 metres in London in 1908. Norman S. Taber ’13, came in third in the 1500-metre race and second in the 3000-metre race in 1912. John Spellman ’24, was light heavyweight wresting champion of the 1924 Olympics. Unfortunately Spellman was not allowed to graduate with his class at Brown, because he took three days off to compete in the Olympic trials without the permission of Dean Randall. Adam Smith ’27 of the 1924 Olympic swimming team, entered Brown in 1923, but left during his first year to prepare for the Olympic trials. Lloyd Hahn ’25 competed in the 800-metre and 1500-metre runs at the 1928 games in Amsterdam. He left Brown after his freshman year. John S. Collier ’29 finished third in the 110-metre high hurdles in the 1928 Olympics. He was the son of Professor Theodore Collier. Albina Osipowich ’33, Olympic swimmer in 1928 at the age of seventeen, won two gold medals, the first in the 100 metres with a record-breaking time of 1:1, the second as a member of the 400-metre relay team. She entered Pembroke College in 1929. Helen Johns ’36 swam with the 400-metre relay team which set a new world-record time in 4:38 in the 1932 Olympics. She had originally been training for the track team before she switched to swimming.

Ronald M. Mackenzie ’26 was a member of the United States bobsled team in the 1936 Olympics. Frederick Pollard, Jr. ’37 finished third in the 110-metres high hurdles in 1936 in Berlin. He was the son of Brown’s football star, Fritz Pollard ’19. At the time of the Olympics, Fritz, Jr. was a student at North Dakota University, where he had transferred after three semesters at Brown. Robert H. Bennett ’49, hammer-thrower in the 1948 Olympics, led the Americans in his event and took third with 176 feet, 3 1/2 inches. He had hoped to compete in the 1940 Olympics, which were cancelled because of the war in Europe. Donald F. Whiston ’51 was a goalie on the 1952 Olympic hockey team. John Welchli ’50 was a member of the United States rowing team in 1956. Charles T. Butler ’55 was a member of the fifteen-man bobsled team in 1956. At Brown he started a bobsled club in 1954. The club had to travel to Lake Placid to practice. Glen S. Foster ’52, won a bronze medal for Tempest Class sailing in the 1972 Olympics at Kiel, West Germany. Robert R. Gaudreau ’66 was a defenseman on the Olympic hockey team that played at Grenoble in 1968. Richard Dreissigacker ’69 went to Munich in 1972 and rowed in the cox-less four event. Zdravko Divjak ’78 represented Yugoslavia when he swam in Montreal in 1976. James C. Miller ’73 was a member of the Canadian Olympic wrestling team in 1976. Michael Mastrullo ’79 claimed Italian citizenship because of a grandfather born in Italy in order to play on the Italian hockey team in 1984. Jonathan Smith ’83 rowed in the Olympics in Los Angeles in 1984 and in Seoul in 1988. Edward Patton ’88 rowed in the men’s heavyweight eight in Seoul 1988.

Two of Brown’s track coaches competed in the Olympics. Archie Hahn was the winner of three titles, the 60-metre, the 100-metre and the 200-metre in 1904 and the 100-metre in the off-year Olympics held in Athens in 1906. Ivan Fuqua was a member of the 1932 relay team that broke the world’s record with a time of 3:08.2. Westcott E. S. Moulton ’31, Brown hockey coach was asked to coach the 1952 Olympic hockey team, but declined, having just taken on the duties of associate dean of students.