Gene Venzke

Gene Venske was a world record holder and member of the U.S. Olympic Track and Field team (1936). The name Gene Venzke is legendary in track circles around the world. Volumes have been written about this famous track star who began his career at Pottstown High School, even though they had no track and field team. Venzke entered a track meet, representing Pottstown by himself, and won four events.

Venzke left school at the age of 16 to work at Doehler Die Casting Co. in Pottstown. He used to run to and from his home in Colebrookdale, a distance of five miles, in hobnailed shoes. He ran about 1,700 miles a year this way, supplying him with the foundation that would enable him to startle the track and field world.

He returned to Pottstown High School and graduated in1932. He was awarded a scholarship to the University of Pennsylvania by setting the world record in the indoor mile. Venzke made Ripley’s Believe It or Not (1932) for holding the world record while in high school (Pottstown High). As a member of the University of Pennsylvania track team, he won the IC4A 1500 meter championship and competed in 113 races, winning 52 first places, 35 second places and 16 third places.

During his career that included 18 years of competition, he ran in 353 races. Venzke attributed much of his success to University of Penn coach Lawson Roberston and Hill School coach Michael Sweeney. At the Olympics held in Berlin (1936), Venzke was favored to win a medal in the 1500 meter run. He was called “Son of the Wind” by the famous sportscaster Grantland Rice. In the Olympic trials at Harvard, he ran a 3:52.3 – the fastest time ever run by an American for 1500 meters. Venzke finished eighth in the 1500 meter run at the Olympics (1936). During his career, he had many much-publicized duals with the famous Glenn Cunningham of Kansas. At the age of 32, Gene ran a 4:08 mile. He broke the American outdoor 1500 meters record with a time of 3:52.6. He was declared Berks County’s greatest athlete of the century (1952).

Despite a long list of athletic honors, Venzke’s life had its disappointments. He was injured before the 1932 Olympics and could not compete. He failed to reach his peak for the 1936 Olympics and when he finally did reach his peak in 1940, the Olympics fell victim to WWII and were cancelled.

Venzke was a member of the United States Track and Field Hall of Fame. When asked to say a few words at the New York Athletic Club ceremonies (1982), he said “I called Ireland’s Eamonn Coghlan to the microphone and said, ‘You’re looking at the man who holds the world record for the indoor mile now – and the one who held it 50 years ago.’ There’s about a 20-second difference between our times and I asked Eamonn what he thought it would be like 50 years from now. He said, ‘I just hope I’m as healthy as you.’” Eamonn Coghlan need remember only one thing: If the spirit is right, no amount of work will kill you. Venzke was convinced “each generation contributes something to the next and every record we have is going to fall.”

Deceased