Michigan in the Olympics

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1912 - Stockholm

Ralph Craig at 1912 Olympics


The Stockholm games brought another Michigan double in the sprints, Ralph Craig winning both the 100 and 200 meter events. Craig had been the pre-Olympic favorite in the 100 meters until beaten by the unknown Howard Drew in the U.S. trials. A leg injury sustained in the preliminary round at Stockholm kept Drew from the Olympic finals. There were seven false starts in the finals, three by Craig. In one of them Craig and another sprinter ran the entire distance. Apparently that was just a good warm-up for Craig. When there finally was a clean start, he won the race with a time of 10.8 seconds, 60 centimeters ahead of U.S. teammate Alvah Meyer. Donald Liippincott placed third to give the U.S. a medals sweep.

Craig came back to win the 200 meters race with a time of 21.7 seconds, just 1/10th of a second off Archie Hahn's Olympic record. Craig earned three letters in track at U of M, from 1909 to 1911. He never won a Big 10 title, however, as Michigan had withdrawn from the conference during those years. A very successful industrial engineer, Craig later won a spot as an alternate on the 1948 U.S. Olympic yachting team.

 

Ralph Craig winning 200 meters    Ralph Craig in Waterman Gym
left: Craig wins the 200 meters, .10 second off Archie Hahn's Olympic record.
right: Craig practices in the "starting blocks" in Waterman gym.

Appearing in his third Olympics, world record holder Ralph Rose was upset in the shot put, but captured the left and right handed combined event with a total distance of 90 ft. 5.4 inches. Carroll Haff won both of his heats in the 400 meters but finished fifth in the finals. Haff returned to Michigan for a final year of competition in 1913. Alternating between the 440 and half-mile, he finished the season undefeated, closing with a win in the 440 at the Eastern Intercollegiate Meet, the "national championships" of the day.

Ralph Rose at 1912 Olympics Carroll Haff
left: Ralph Rose in competition in Stockholm
right: Carroll Haff


The U-M Results-1912

Ralph Craig
   100 meters 1st, 10.8 sec.
   200 meters1st, 21.7
Ralph Rose
   shot put 2nd, 50 ft. .5 in.
   shot put combined 1st, 90 ft. 10.5 in.
   hammer throw 9th, 139 ft. 8.35 in.
   discus11th, 130 ft. 1 in.
Carroll Haff
   400 meters 5th, 49.5 sec

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