Conquerors Of Time

During the Depression in the 1930s, one part of society was booming. Track and field suddenly became hugely popular - above all, the mile run. Lynn McConnell here charts the period between the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics and the infamous Nazi Olympics in Berlin four years later. Its main figures are the New Zealander Jack Lovelock (who was also claimed by Britain), US racers Glenn Cunningham and Gene Venzke, Italy's Luigi Beccali, Britain's Jerry Cornes and Canadian-British Guianan Phil Edwards.