1904 Olympics facts
While investigating facts about 1904 Olympics, I found out little known, but curios details like:
Of the 77 Olympians competing in the golf tournament at the 1904 Summer Olympics, 74 of them represented the USA and 3 of them represented Canada. Canada won the Gold.
The marathon of the 1904 Olympics had many bizarre events including someone driving to the finish line and pretending to win, someone winning by using rat poison as a stimulant, someone taking a nap and still finishing 4th, and someone being chased a mile off course by aggressive dogs.
In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across. Here are 50 of the best facts about 1904 Olympics I managed to collect.
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During the 1904 summer Olympics marathon one runner hitched a ride, another was given rat poison and brandy as a stimulus, fourth place winner took a nap during the run, and two other runners were chased a mile by angry dogs
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An American gymnast with a wooden leg won six medals, including three gold, in a single day at the 1904 Olympics. He was the only Olympian to have competed with a prosthetic limb for the next 100 years, until 2008.
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The 1904 Olympic marathon involved a runner who drove 11 miles to the finish line, a runner who was poisoned by his coaches, a runner who was chased by dogs for one mile, and a runner who ate a rotten apple, took a nap and still finished fourth.
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During the 1904 Olympic Marathon, the winner drank brandy and rat poison, but was refused water. One competitor, wearing trousers and a long sleeve shirt, took a nap during the race, and finished in 4th.
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Thomas Hicks ran the 1904 Olympic marathon while drinking a mix of strychnine, egg whites and brandy which made him hallucinate and become sick. His trainers had to carry him over the finish line but he was still declared the winner, with the slowest gold medal time in Olympic marathon history.
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The 1904 Olympic Marathon’s 1st place runner was disqualified for hitching a ride in a car, 2nd place was carried over the finish line by his trainers while doping on rat poison and brandy, 3rd place took a nap after eating rotten apples, and 5th place got chased for a mile by wild dogs.
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The United States won 239 medals at their 1904 St Louis Olympics - there were only 280 medals awarded at all, so the US won 5.8 times more medals than all other countries in that year put together.
What is true about 1904 olympics?
You can easily fact check it by examining the linked well-known sources.
81% of all competitors at the 1904 Olympics were from the US...they won 239 medals.
Felix Carvajal who despite stopping to eat apples then getting sick, napping, and chatting with people finished fourth in the 1904 Olympic marathon - source
In 1904 freestyle wrestling became an Olympic event.
The men's marathon at the 1904 Olympics was so poorly organized that only 14 out of 32 athletes finished the race, which was ran on dusty country roads in 90-degree weather
The 1904 Summer Olympics were the first to be held outside of Europe, in the United States. Since transatlantic flight was 15 years away, only 9 countries and a total of 52 athletes came from outside of NA. The Unites States participated with 526 athletes and won 85% of the medals. - source
George Eyser, a peg-legged gymnast who won six Olympic medals in one day (including 3 gold) in 1904.
At the first modern Olympic Games in Athens, Greece in 1896, there was just one winner who was rewarded with an olive wreath and a silver medal. The 1904 Olympic Games in St. Louis were the first in which gold, silver and bronze medals were gifted to the 3 winners.
Gymnast George Eyser won 6 medals in the 1904 Olympics despite having a wooden leg (to replace his leg than was run over by a train).
In the 1904 Olympics, archery was the only women's sport.
In 1904, gymnast George Eyser won six Olympic medals in one day, including gold in the vault, while using a wooden prosthesis for his left leg.
The 1904 Olympics included the Plunge for Distance, a competition to see how far you could dive and glide. USA took the first 5 places - there were no other competitors.
