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Olympic Games - 1904 St. Louis

Olympic Games - 1904 St. Louis

The 1904 St. Louis Olympics organizers repeated the mistakes of 1900. The Olympic were spread out over four months, and in truth were upstaged by World Fair.

The atmosphere was one of American inter collegiate championships.  To illustrate the point, of the 94 events 52 were functionally closed events, contested by athletes only from the USA.

The 1904 Olympics produced innovations, they were the first to award gold, silver and bronze medals.

For the only time in the Olympics, the 220 yds (200M) was run on a straight course, no bends.  Another unusual feature was the winner, Archie Hahn, got a handy 1 yd start on each of his three opponents.  This was not because they were professionals but because they false-started and in 1904 the penalty for jumping the gun was a 1 yd penalty.

Boxing and freestyle wrestling made their debuts. 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.