The Marathon at the 1904 Olympics in St Louis. It is SO chaotic and fun ! Some fun facts about it, PLEASE take the time to read this, I swear it will make your day :
1) 1st place finisher (Car Man) did most of the race in a car. He had intended to drop out, and got a car back to the stadium to get his change of clothes, and just kind of started jogging when he heard the fanfare.
2) 2nd place finisher (Rat Poison Guy) was carried across the finish line, legs technically twitching, by his trainers. They had been refusing him water, and giving him a mixture of Brandy and Rat Poison for the entire race. Doping wasn't illegal yet so he got the gold when they found out that the first guy did the race in a car.
3) 4th place finisher was a cuban mailman, who had raised the funds to attend the olympics by running non-stop around his entire country. He landed in New Orleans, and promptly lost all of the travelling money on a riverboat casino. He ran the race in dress shoes and long trousers (cut off at the knee by another competitor with a knife). He probably would have come in first (without counting Car Man) had it not been for the hour nap he took on the side of the track after eating rotten apples he found on the side of the race.
4) 9th and 12th finisher were from South Africa, and ran barefoot. South Africa didn't actually send a delegation - these were students who just happened to be in town and thought it sounded fun. 9th was chased a mile off course by angry dogs. These are the first Africans to compete in any modern Olympic event.
5) Half the participants had never raced competitively before. Some died.
6) St Louis only had one water stop on the entire run. This, coupled with the dusty road, exacerbed by the cars kicking up dust, lead to the above fatalities (and Rat Poison Guy still survived somehow).
7) The Russian delegation arrived a week late, because they were still using the Julian calendar. In 1904.
The Marathon at the 1904 Olympics in St Louis. It is SO chaotic and fun ! Some fun facts about it, PLEASE take the time to read this, I swear it will make your day :
1) 1st place finisher (Car Man) did most of the race in a car. He had intended to drop out, and got a car back to the stadium to get his change of clothes, and just kind of started jogging when he heard the fanfare.
2) 2nd place finisher (Rat Poison Guy) was carried across the finish line, legs technically twitching, by his trainers. They had been refusing him water, and giving him a mixture of Brandy and Rat Poison for the entire race. Doping wasn't illegal yet so he got the gold when they found out that the first guy did the race in a car.
3) 4th place finisher was a cuban mailman, who had raised the funds to attend the olympics by running non-stop around his entire country. He landed in New Orleans, and promptly lost all of the travelling money on a riverboat casino. He ran the race in dress shoes and long trousers (cut off at the knee by another competitor with a knife). He probably would have come in first (without counting Car Man) had it not been for the hour nap he took on the side of the track after eating rotten apples he found on the side of the race.
4) 9th and 12th finisher were from South Africa, and ran barefoot. South Africa didn't actually send a delegation - these were students who just happened to be in town and thought it sounded fun. 9th was chased a mile off course by angry dogs. These are the first Africans to compete in any modern Olympic event.
5) Half the participants had never raced competitively before. Some died.
6) St Louis only had one water stop on the entire run. This, coupled with the dusty road, exacerbed by the cars kicking up dust, lead to the above fatalities (and Rat Poison Guy still survived somehow).
7) The Russian delegation arrived a week late, because they were still using the Julian calendar. In 1904.