1:43am|reblogged from SportsCentr:
highlights from the 1904 olympics
also the ice cream cone was invented
- A Cuban postman named Felix Carbajal joined the marathon. He had to run in street clothes that he cut around the legs to make them look like shorts. He stopped off in an orchard en route to have a snack on some apples, which turned out to be rotten. The rotten apples caused him to have to lie down and take a nap. Despite falling ill to apples he finished in fourth place.
- The marathon included the first two black Africans to compete in the Olympics; two Tswana tribesmen named Len Tau (real name: Len Taunyane) and Yamasani (real name: Jan Mashiani). But they weren’t there to compete in the Olympics, they were actually the sideshow. They had been brought over by the exposition as part of the Boer War exhibit (both were really students from Orange Free State in South Africa, but this fact was not made known to the public). Len Tau finished ninth and Yamasani came in twelfth. This was a disappointment, as many observers were sure Len Tau could have done better if he had not been chased nearly a mile off course by aggressive dogs.
Reblogged mainly for the Cuban story, but there’s so much more gold:
- 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. (IN YOUR FACE, Michael Phelps)
- The first marathon runner to arrive was Frederick Lorz, who actually was just trotting back to the finish line to retrieve his clothes, after dropping out after nine miles. When the officials thought he had won the race, Lorz played along with his practical joke until he was found out shortly after the medal ceremony.
- The organizers of the games held “Anthropology Days” on August 12 and 13. Various indigenous men from around the world, who were at the World’s Fair as part of the exhibits, competed in various events for anthropologists to see how they compared to the white man.
- Baseball and basketball were “demonstration” sports.
More on the 1904 Olympics and “Anthropology Days”:
- “Never-to-be classic Olympic games were included - mud fighting, rock throwing, pole climbing, and spear throwing.”
- And more on the Cuban postman: “On his way to the race, Felix managed to lose all of his money in a crap game in New Orleans. As a result, he had to hitchhike his way to the games…He ran the race in lightweight street shoes…During the race, Felix didn’t seem to fatigue easily. He constantly conversed with the crowd, even running backwards at times while he spoke to them in broken English.”
