The Edmondson Blog


Great Moments In Sporting History (3)

Stella Walsh dominated the 1932 Olympic 100-metre sprint, confirming her status as the top female sprinter of the 1930s.

Forty-three years later, after becoming an American citizen and being inducted into the U.S. Track and Field Hall of Fame, she was killed by a stray bullet in a robbery.

The post mortem revealed that "she" was a he. Ironically, when Walsh lost the title in Berlin in 1936 to her bitter rival Helen Stephens, team mates hinted that Stephens was too fast be a woman and doctors were called to examine the new champion and confirmed that she was female.

Four years later, another Olympic gender-bender, Hitler Youth member Hermann Ratjen, dreams of glory for the Fatherland when he taped up his genitalia and entered the Berlin Olympics as "Dora." Disappointingly, he just misses out on the medals when he finishes in fourth place in the women's high jump.

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