THE BI-METALLIC BOND

Photo from Wikipedia

The first thing which usually comes to mind about the 1936 Olympics hosted by Nazi Germany was the humiliation inflicted on the so-called Master Race by black runner Jesse Owens from the U.S.A. However, his is not the only tale of note arising from the games.

Earle Meadows cleared 4.35 in the men's pole vault, which was a significant enough accomplishment to secure the gold for the United States. The second place was earned by Japanese competitor Shuhei Nishida at 4.25. However, another Japanese contestant, Sueo Oe, also placed second at 4.25. 

Nishida and Oe were friends and were not interested in having a run-off match between them to distinguish who got the silver and who got the bronze. They requested that they share second place, but their plea was denied. The Japanese team was told to determine who would be deemed second and who would be deemed third. Based apparently on the fact that Nishida scored 4.25 on his first attempt and Oe needed two tries to achieve that score, the silver was officially awarded to Nishida and the bronze to Oe.

The two athletes returned to Japan and took matters into their own hands. They had a jeweler cut the medals in half and recombine them to produce two chimeras of medals consisting of one side of silver bonded to the other side of bronze*. The resulting two medals became known as the "Medals of Friendship."

Oe lamentably was killed in 1941 as one of the many casualties of WWII. His Medal of Friendship is in private hands. Nishida died in 1997; his medal now is in the custody of Waseda University.

*Technically speaking, the "bronze" was actually copper.