THE 1904 St. Louis Olympics organizers repeated all of the mistakes of 1900. The Olympic competitions, spread out over four and a half months, were lost in the chaos of a World’s Fair.
Of the 94 events generally considered to have been part of the Olympic program, only 42 included athletes who were not from the United States.
The 1904 Olympics did have a few highlights. They were the first at which gold, silver and bronze medals were awarded for first, second and third place. Marathon runners Len Tau and Jan Mashiani, Tswana tribesmen who were in St. Louis as part of the Boer War exhibit at the World’s Fair, became the first Africans to compete in the Olympics.
One of the most remarkable athletes was the American gymnast George Eyser, who won six medals even though his left leg was made of wood. Chicago runner James Lightbody won the steeplechase and the 800m and then set a world record in the 1,500m.
The Milwaukee Meteor
Archie Hahn (U.S. athletics), the Milwaukee Meteor, was champion in the 60m, 100m and 200m. In this last race, he set a new Olympic record in 21.6 seconds, a record broken only 28 years later.
An Olympic gold medal decider
In the discus, the American Martin Sheridan won the decider and claimed the gold medal. After he had thrown exactly the same distance as his compatriot, Ralph Rose (39.28m), the judges gave them both an extra throw to decide the winner.
Milestone
The Games were very similar to 1900: they lasted almost five months. Many of the events were not labeled as Olympic but only as sports championships within the world’s fair called the “Louisiana Purchase Exposition” held in St. Louis.
It should be noted that in those years, athletes often competed as individuals with no real national teams. Coubertin vowed after 1904 that he would never again hold the Olympics as a sideshow to a fair.
New sports
Four new sports were included in the Olympic Games at the 1901 IOC Session in Paris: boxing, dumbbells, freestyle wrestling and decathlon.
A marathon drive
Thomas Hicks of the United States won the marathon after the disqualification of his fellow countryman Fred Lorz, who had covered a large part of the 42 kilometers in a car. He did at least get out just before the finish!
(SD-Agencies)