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Exhibit revisits 1936.01ympics
, . ,
Italian sprinterTullio
a o
Gonnelli, resident f
Longmeadow,remembers 'ti J~
well.
the Games f&.''tij'
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ByRONCHIMELIS
rchimelis@repub.com
LONGMEADOW - All of his
relay teammates have passed
on. So has Jesse Owens, the
most famous athlete of Tullio
Gonnelli's Olympics. ..,.t.
The monster dictator named
Hitler has been dead for 59
years. What rem:~ for Gon-
,
'-- ~
t.:.
nelli is the pride in his
achievement and sportsman-
ship, and the vivid memories of
a competition whose social and .
political impact lasts to this day.
"I remember very well," the
Longmeadow resident said of
the 1936 Olympics, during
which he ran the anchor leg for
Italy's 4-x-l00-meter relay team
that surprised the experts with a
silver medal. The record-setting "
United States team, which in-
cluded ~ens,took the gold. t~ iIt,
Beginnfng Tuesday, the 1936 .
W
Olympics will be revisited with'
an exhibit at the Naismith Me-
morial Basketball Hall of Fame.
The sport of basketball made
its Olympic debut in 1936. But
the exhibit focuses on the Berlin
Games' legacy as the "Nazi Ii
Olympics," a vehicle for Hitler to
promote his master race theory,
before Owens and other minori-
ty athletes rebuked it as the
world watched.
The Hall of Fame is working
in partnership with the Spring-
field-based Hatikvah Holocaust
Education Center, which is un-
veiling a permanent Holocaust
exhibit entitled "A Reason to Re-
member," in conjunction with
the separate Hall of Fame Olym-
pics display that runs through
Jan. 17,2005.
A grand opening gala for the
two exhibits will begin Tuesday
at 4 p.m., at the Hatikvah Center
at 1160 Dickinson St. Tickets
are available at both the center Staff photo by MARK M. MURRAY
Tullio Gonnelli of'Longmeadow holds the silver medal he earned in the 1936 Berlin
Page r
Pleasesee Exhibit, 82. Olympicsas a member of Italy's4-by-1OO-meterelayteam.
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Exhibit:36 Olympics revisited o
Continued from Page B1
and the Hall of Fame.
Gonnelli is recovering from
recent health problems and is
not sure he'll be able to attend
the Hall of Fame unveiling,at
which his accomplishmentsat
the 1936 Games will be saluted.
Gonnelli, who turns 92 in No-
vember, remains a genial and
dignifiedman, able to providea
living history of an eventful
time.
"The Germans, they were pre-
pared by the Nazis," said Gon-
nelli, recalling the German
athletes who wound up as
pawns in a political situation.
"They were very well organ-
ized."
He says the lessons of the Ber-
lin Olympics remain pertinent
today. But they were not as ob- Tullio Gonnelli runs in the 4-by-1 OO-meter relay race in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.
vious in 1936,he said.
"At the time, 1 didn't know, and 200 meters, as well as the re- the 1936Games. 1936 Games were a high point of
but Hitler was using the Olym- lay, at the 1936 Olympics. He "Jesse was a very good man," a career cut short by war.
pics for propaganda," said Gon- earned the anchor spot on the Gonnelli said. "It was too bad "I competed after the Olym-
nelli, who has lived in the United 400-meter relay team, an under- that, because he was black, he pics, and 1was ready to go to the
States for 50 years, the last 48 of rated unit that startled the track didn't get the reception in the. 1940 Games that were to be held
which have been in the same United States that he deserved in Japan," he said. "But when
world by finishing second.
Longmeadow home. "Later, 1 "We were surprised," he said. (after the Olympics)." the war came, that went .kaput,
served in the Italian army in Si- "But the U.s., after 200 meters, Forty years later, Gonnelli and 1spent 36 months in the Ital-
cily during World War n. ianarmyinstead."
"It was a bad time," he said. "I won;"
hadalready . and Owens met up again, in .
Just as Gonnelli has not for-
was one ofthe lucky ones." The Italians, however, put an Montreal during the 1976
enduring stamp on track. Games. Gonnelli still has a pic- gotten the 1936 Games, neither
"I'd gone to Italy with rela- ture taken of the two former has he been forgotten. He occa-
tives, and met him in 1947,"said "We were the first relay team
track stars, with Owens - who sionally gets mail requests for
Gonnelli's wife of 50 years, Lil- to exchange the baton to the
hand in the back, without look- an autograph, mostly from Italy.
lian. "Once we came here, he got died in 1980- dressed in bright He is honored that he will be
an MBA from American Inter- ing," he said. "Now everybody red and white.
does it." saluted in conjunction with the
national College, and worked at "He was dressed like a flag," Hall of Fame exhibit. He also be-
a cost accountant at Monsanto." He vividly remembers Gonnelli said, chuckling. lieves neither the great athletes
Gonnelli competed in the 100 Owens, the enduring symbol of For the Italian runner, the nor the ominous political mes-
sages and lessons of that com-
petition should be lost to time. .
"It's very important to re-
member," he said. "It's some- ' ~
thing we should never forget."
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