1936 The Games were in Berlin and Geelong athlete Gerald Backhouse placed 8th in the 800m Final after qualifying with 1.53.2. The medal pictured is the participation medal for the games and is held by The Geelong Grammar School. Backhouse excelled at athletics at school, winning six consecutive Victorian one-mile competitions and four half-mile championships. At the Olympics, he finished first and second in his two heats for the 800-metre event and placed eighth in the final. (Note: imperial measurement was widely used in Australia but metric measurement was used in Olympic competition.) Backhouse joined the RAAF on the outbreak of World War Two and was killed in a training exercise in December 1941.
Thanks to Geelong Grammar School Archives for this info and photo?
