James Aloysius Bernard Bausch (March 29, 1906 – July 9, 1974), also known as "Jarring Jim", was an American athlete who competed mainly in the decathlon.
Bausch grew up in and attended school in Garden Plain, Kansas, before finishing and graduating from Cathedral High School in Wichita, Kansas, and went to college at the University of Kansas, where he starred in football and basketball. He competed for the United States in the 1932 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles in the decathlon. Bausch only placed fifth after the first day, but splendid performances in the discus throw and pole vault helped him to build an insurmountable lead and win the gold medal over the heavily favored Finnish athleteAkilles Järvinen.[3]
After retiring from competitions, Bausch tried a career as a nightclub singer before becoming an insurance salesman. During World War II, while serving with the U.S. Navy in the Pacific, he contracted osteomyelitis, and the associated pain resulted in alcoholism. Bausch eventually overcame both problems, and in his later years helped other osteomyelitis patients.[1]
