One hundred years ago, St. Louis was the first city in the Western Hemisphere to host the modern-era Olympic Games, which had been revived in 1896.
Although the III Olympiad was overshadowed on the world stage by the concurrent 1904 World’s Fair (a.k.a. the Louisiana Purchase Exposition), also held in St. Louis, the event left lasting impressions in the St. Louis area. The official games were held Aug. 29 through Sept. 3, 1904, although numerous so-called “Olympic” events were held from May through November as part of the fair’s Department of Physical Culture.
By leasing land to fair organizers for $650,000, Washington University in St. Louis gained four permanent buildings on its new Hilltop campus, which was then under construction just west of Lindell and Skinker boulevards. In 1905, after the festivities, the university moved from its downtown campus to the current site.
The university’s Francis Field and Gymnasium, now on the National Register of Historic Places, and a 12,000-seat stadium were the sites of the Olympic track-and-field events, which included a notorious marathon that featured alleged cheating, drugging, heat exhaustion and other adventures.
The 24.85 mile marathon was set to begin at 2:30 p.m. Aug. 30 on Francis Field. The temperature was in the 90s and the humidity, well, it was a typical late August St. Louis day with a heat index higher than a record-breaking high jump. Only 12 of the 31 entrants completed the dusty, hilly and mostly unpaved course. If the heat didn’t fell the runners, exhaust fumes and dust from the many pacer automobiles did.
After four laps around Francis Field, the runners exited on Olympian Way, then headed west on Forsyth Boulevard to North and South Road. At Manchester, they veered west to Ballas Road, then north on Ballas to Clayton Road as far as Denny Road, then turned back eastward along Olive Road. From Olive, they returned to North and South Road, then east on Forsyth and back into the stadium.
Three hours and 13 minutes after the start, the apparent winner, Fred Lorz of New York, entered the stadium, barely breaking a sweat. After he was adorned with a floral wreath by First Daughter Alice Roosevelt, Lorz confessed that he had ridden about a third of the way in an automobile. Realizing he was out of the race, Lorz only ran into the stadium to get his clothes and couldn’t resist the adoring crowd, he later claimed. Dragging in at 3:29:63, supported by his handlers, was English-born Thomas Hicks of Cambridge, Mass., who passed-out before he could claim his rightful first prize. By today’s standards, he also may have been disqualified, as his handlers kept him moving along the way by administering a mixture of strychnine sulfate and raw eggs with a brandy chaser.
Coming in fourth was Cuban mailman Felix Carvajal, who became something of a folk hero. With no handlers, no strategy and no training program, Carvajal showed up at the starting line wearing a long-sleeved shirt, heavy-heeled street shoes and long pants, which were sheared off at the knee by another contestant before the race. Legend has it that Carvajal ran a casual race, stopping to practice his English with spectators and detouring into an apple orchard for a snack.
The Americans dominated the first Olympics to award gold, silver and bronze medals, winning 80 gold medals, 86 silver and 72 bronze. The closest competitors were Germany and Cuba, which each took five gold medals. Some argued that the Americans had the home field advantage in that many European competitors chose not to make the trip to the middle of North America.
In 1904, Charles Lindbergh had yet to make his record-setting transatlantic flight and the Wright brothers were still perfecting their glider, so a visit to St. Louis meant a long ocean voyage and a 1,000-mile train trip. Only 11 other countries sent athletes to the games. Even the International Olympic Committee (IOC) founder, Pierre de Coubertin, opted to stay home in Paris.
U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt didn’t attend either, although he agreed to be honorary president of the games in concert with the president of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, former Missouri Gov. David R. Francis. An 1870 Washington University graduate and a former mayor of St. Louis, Francis had wrestled the fair away from first-choice Chicago in order to tie it into the centennial of the Louisiana Purchase.
Among the victories by Americans in the 1904 Olympics were the 800-, 1,500-, and 2,500-meter runs by Chicagoan James Lightbody; four gold medals by Ray Ewry in the standing jumps; three gold medals by sprinter Archie Hahn; the running broad jump and running triple jump by Meyer Prinstein; and all medals in the cycling, rowing, archery, boxing and wrestling contests.
George C. Poage, the first African American to win an Olympic medal, took the bronze in the 200- and 400-meter hurdles.
The Cuban team aced all competitors in the fencing competition, the Germans made a good showing in gymnastics and the Canadians stayed ahead of the Americans in several rowing events.
Making their debut at the 1904 Olympics were boxing, dumbbells, freestyle wrestling and the decathlon.
Approximately 680 athletes, about 525 of them Americans, participated in 94 events, according to figures published by the IOC. Precise totals vary among sources due to the loss of some official records combined with the decision by Fair officials to label any athletic competitions during the fair as “Olympic” contests.
In all, the III Olympiad saw 13 Olympic records and four world records broken.
The Francis Field, Gym and stadium were not the only Olympic venues. Swimming events took place at the U.S. Life Saving Exhibition Lake, which was located at what is now the southeast corner of Wydown and Skinker boulevards. The Amateur Golf Championship events were held at Glen Echo Country Club in Normandy, and the National Regatta was held at Creve Coeur Lake under the auspices of the Western Amateur Rowing Association.
Although the St. Louis games were a smashing success for the Americans, IOC officials wanted larger international participation. They had repeated their error of embedding the 1900 Paris Olympics into a larger event and got the same result — the games were overshadowed by a World’s Fair. They sought to save the Olympics by scheduling off-year contests in Athens every four years. Following a successful effort in 1906, political unrest in Greece prevented a rerun, and the plan was scrapped.
The Summer Olympics did not return to the United States until 1932 in Los Angeles, then 52 years later in 1984, again in L.A. Atlanta hosted the games in 1996.
Today in St. Louis, the historic event is memorialized by a wrought iron gate built in 1914 at the entrance to Francis Field and Gym, where Washington University athletes still play. Boaters still sail at Creve Coeur Lake, and golfers still strive for the hole-in-one at Glen Echo Country Club.