Athletics at the 1904 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon
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Men's marathon at the Games of the III Olympiad | ||||||||||
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St. Louis | ||||||||||
Dates | August 30 | |||||||||
Competitors | 32 from 7 nations | |||||||||
Winning time | 3:28:53 | |||||||||
Medalists | ||||||||||
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The men's marathon at the
It proved to be a bizarre affair due to poor organization and officiating.[2] The race was run during the hottest part of the day on dusty country roads, with only two sources of water. While 40 athletes entered, 32 athletes representing seven nations (US, France, Cuba, Greece, South Africa, Great Britain, and Canada) ultimately started, with only 14 managing to finish the race.[3]
Frederick Lorz crossed the finish line first and was hailed as the winner, but he was disqualified after it was discovered that he had hitched a ride in a car for 11 miles (17.7 km) after having supposedly dropped out of the race. The actual winner, Thomas Hicks, was near collapse and hallucinating when he crossed the finish line, a side effect of being administered brandy, raw eggs, and strychnine by his trainers. The fourth-place finisher, Andarín Carvajal, took a nap during the race after eating spoiled apples.
Background
This was the third appearance of the
Cuba and South Africa each made their first appearance in the event, while the United States was the only nation to have runners in each of the first three Olympic marathons.
The marathon included the first two black Africans to compete in the Olympics: two
Competition format
The marathon distance had not yet been standardized; in St. Louis, the course was 24 miles and 1500 yards (40 km). The St. Louis organizers started the marathon at 3:00 pm, whereas most modern marathons start in the early morning to take advantage of cooler times of day.
The start included five laps, or 12⁄3 miles (2.68 km), around the stadium track.[5] The remainder of the course was on dusty country roads, with race officials riding in vehicles ahead of, and behind, the runners: this created dust clouds that exacerbated the severely hot and humid conditions,[6] with a temperature of around 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius) at starting time.[7][8] The course had to be altered at the last minute after roads in the Creve Coeur area were washed out by rain.[9]
The course was also not cleared of obstacles for the marathon, with the runners having to constantly dodge cross-town traffic, delivery wagons, railroad trains, trolley cars and even people walking their dogs.[6]
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Runners gathered immediately before the race start
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First runners leaving the stadium (Mellor and Spring in front of referees' automobile)
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Andarín Carvajal on his way to fourth place
Summary
During the race,
The first to arrive at the finish line, after three hours and 13 minutes – more than 13 minutes slower than the winning time in 1900 – was Fred Lorz.
After being hailed as the winner, he had his photograph taken with Alice Roosevelt, daughter of then-U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt: she placed a wreath upon Lorz's head, and was about to award him the gold medal when spectators claimed Lorz had not run the entire race.
Lorz had been suffering cramps and actually dropped out of the race after nine miles: he then hitched a ride back to the stadium in a car, waving at spectators and runners alike during the ride. When the car broke down at the 20th mile, he re-entered the race and jogged across the finish line.[6]
Upon being confronted by furious race officials with these allegations, Lorz immediately admitted his deception. Despite his claim that he was playing a practical joke, the AAU responded by banning Lorz for life; this was commuted to six months on February 19, 1905, after Lorz formally apologized and it was found that he had not intended to defraud. Lorz later won the 1905 Boston Marathon.[2][10]
Cuban postman
Arriving without correct documents, Albert Corey, a French immigrant to the United States, is inconsistently listed as participating in a mixed team in the four mile team race (with four undisputed Americans) and competing for the United States in the marathon.[10] The South African entrants, Len Taunyane and Jan Mashiani, finished ninth and twelfth, respectively; this was a disappointment, as many observers were sure Taunyane could have done better if he had not been chased nearly a mile off course by wild dogs.[10]
Dehydration
The only two sources of water for the competitors were a water tower at six miles, and a well at about the halfway (12 miles and 750 yards) mark.[2][6] James E. Sullivan was a chief organizer of the Olympics, and set up no other water sources along the 24 miles and 1500 yards course of the marathon even though it was conducted in 32 °C (90 °F) heat over unpaved roads that were choked with dust.
His ostensible reason was to conduct research on "purposeful dehydration": this, combined with poor officiating, saw the marathon end with the worst ratio of finishers to starters (14 out of 32), and the slowest winning time, 3:28:45, which was exactly 29 minutes slower than the second-slowest winning time.[6]
Schedule
Date | Time | Round |
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Tuesday, 30 August 1904 | 15:00 | Final |
Results
Athletics at the 1904 Summer Olympics | |
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Track events | |
60 m | men |
100 m | men |
200 m | men |
400 m | men |
800 m | men |
1500 m | men |
110 m hurdles | men |
200 m hurdles | men |
400 m hurdles | men |
2590 m steeplechase | men |
4 mile team race | men |
Road events | |
Marathon | men |
Field events | |
Long jump | men |
Triple jump | men |
High jump | men |
Pole vault | men |
Standing long jump | men |
Standing triple jump | men |
Standing high jump | men |
Shot put | men |
Discus throw | men |
Hammer throw | men |
56 pound weight throw | men |
Combined events | |
Triathlon | men |
All-around | men |
References
- ^ Logman, Jeré (April 20, 2012). "The Marathon's Random Route to Its Length". The New York Times. The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 14, 2017. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
- ^ ISBN 0140066322.
- ^ "Athletics at the 1904 St. Louis Summer Games: Men's Marathon". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
- ^ Journal of Olympic History. September 1999. Archived(PDF) from the original on May 22, 2021. Retrieved May 22, 2021 – via International Society of Olympic Historians – ISOH.
- ^ a b "Marathon, Men". Olympedia. Archived from the original on November 3, 2020. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
- ^ Smithsonian Magazine. Archivedfrom the original on February 9, 2014.
- ^ from the original on March 14, 2022. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
- ^ "Fleetest Runners of All Nations Start in Great Marathon Race". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. August 28, 1904. p. 27. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
- ^ "Marathon Course Changed; Recent Rains Caused Washouts of Many Highways", St. Louis Republic, August 24, 1904, page 9.
- ^ a b c Cronin, Brian (August 10, 2010). "Sports Legend Revealed: A marathon runner nearly died". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles. Archived from the original on October 16, 2011. Retrieved August 31, 2010.
- ^ 1967: Creation of the IOC Medical Commission
- ^ a b Aliya Whiteley (2015). "The Strange Story of the 1904 Olympic Games Marathon". Mentalfloss. Archived from the original on October 11, 2016. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
- ISBN 978-0-88011-969-6.
Sources
- Wudarski, Pawel (1999). "Wyniki Igrzysk Olimpijskich" (in Polish). Retrieved December 14, 2006.
- Charles J. P. Lucas, The Olympic Games, 1904. St. Louis, Mo: Woodward & Tieran Printing Co., 1905 (copy from LA84 Foundation library)
External links
- Bois, Jon (August 11, 2016). "Rat poison and brandy: The 1904 St. Louis Olympic marathon". SBNation. Retrieved April 23, 2020.