Silver for Irish-born Patrick Flynn in action-packed day of athletics

Antwerp, 20 August 1920 - Having already secured the men's 10km walking title, Italy's Ugo Frigerio was back in action today in the 3km heats, easily qualifying for the final. The walking events have not been without controversy and the Belfast Newsletter has questioned the virtues of the discipline as an Olympic event. ‘To most of us it must be confessed that walking races and particularly short distance walking races are altogether a mistake. They should be taken out of the Olympic programme. Probably no form of athletics leads to more bickering.’

Left: Italy's Ugo Frigerio took part in the 3km heats, after winning the 10km. Right: South Africa's Bevil Rudd wins gold in the 400m. (Images: Bibliothèque nationale de France)

Bevil Rudd, the South African favourite, cruised to victory in the men's 400m – Irish hopeful Hedges Worthington-Eyre was eliminated in the quarter finals – and the American Allen Woodring took gold in the men's 200m. Britain's Percy Hodge won the men's steeplechase final with Irishman Patrick Flynn winning silver for the United States. Flynn was born in Cork and emigrated to America in 1913.

The final of the men's 10,000m was a nail biting event that entertained until the very end. With four laps to go Wilson (Great Britain), Guillemot (France) and Nurmi (Finland) were out in front in a small bunch. Wilson and Guillemot both made a break at the bell and remained neck and neck to within 20 yards of the finish, when, from behind, Nurmi broke into the lead to clinch the victory with a time of 31 min 45.48 sec, with the Frenchman coming in second.

[Editor's note: This is an article from Century Ireland, a fortnightly online newspaper, written from the perspective of a journalist 100 years ago, based on news reports of the time.]