st louis 1904 was also insane.
Only 62 of the 651 athletes came from outside North America, and only 12–15 nations showed up because of the combined problems created by the Russian-Japanese war and the difficulty of getting to St. Louis once they reached the continent.
The entire Olympics were overshadowed by "Anthropology Days": an event where, I quote, "Various indigenous men from around the world competed in various events for anthropologists to see how they compared to the white man."
the American gymnast George Eyser, won six medals even though he had a wooden leg.
Some athletes were simply classified as "American" for purposes never fully explained, if not obvious. Two Norwegians were listed as winning for the US simply because they were living in the country at the time. Neither had US citizenship, and at least one was effectively an illegal immigrant. Same thing happened for one guy from Switzerland, who's medal still counts towards the US total on the official books. One French national arrived with incorrect paperwork, was allowed to compete in a "mixed country" team, and his medal was counted as part of the US total by the powers that were for... reasons.
A Russian team, attempting to compete in the marathon, set out for the US and failed to make it, because Russia still used the Gregorian calendar at the time and they got the dates wrong.
The 1904 st louis marathon is probably the most insane olympic event ever held
Only 62 of the 651 athletes came from outside North America, and only 12–15 nations showed up because of the combined problems created by the Russian-Japanese war and the difficulty of getting to St. Louis once they reached the continent.
The entire Olympics were overshadowed by "Anthropology Days": an event where, I quote, "Various indigenous men from around the world competed in various events for anthropologists to see how they compared to the white man."
the American gymnast George Eyser, won six medals even though he had a wooden leg.
Some athletes were simply classified as "American" for purposes never fully explained, if not obvious. Two Norwegians were listed as winning for the US simply because they were living in the country at the time. Neither had US citizenship, and at least one was effectively an illegal immigrant. Same thing happened for one guy from Switzerland, who's medal still counts towards the US total on the official books. One French national arrived with incorrect paperwork, was allowed to compete in a "mixed country" team, and his medal was counted as part of the US total by the powers that were for... reasons.
A Russian team, attempting to compete in the marathon, set out for the US and failed to make it, because Russia still used the Gregorian calendar at the time and they got the dates wrong.
The 1904 st louis marathon is probably the most insane olympic event ever held
