Sueo Oe (left) and Shuhei Nishida (right) in 1930.
Nowhere was this more evident than during the Berlin 1936 Olympic Games.
But who would take home the silver?
Sueo Ōe (left) and Shuhei Nishida (right) in 1930. (Photo: Asahi Shinbun, Public domain, viaWikimedia Commons)
They were set to jump off for the medals and both cleared 4.25 meters.
Rather than proceed with the showdown, they wanted to share the podium as equals.
Undeterred by the official standings, the men went straight to a jeweler when they arrived in Japan.
Their medals were split down the middle and then fused togetherhalf silver and half bronze.
Still, these games were the first to be televised and were even filmed.
In fact, Nishida and Oe’s competition is in a scene from Leni Riefenstahl’sOlympia.
Sueō Oe and Shuhei Nishida sawing a pole at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. (Photo: Asahi Shinbun, Public domain, viaWikimedia Commons)
So where are the medals now?
Oe, unfortunately, passed away just five years later in the war after joining the Imperial Japanese Army.
His medal is privately owned, but luckily Nishida’s is on display at Waseda University.
Sueo Oe and Shuhei Nishida sawing a pole at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
