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  1. Arts & Culture
  2. Arts Stories & Interviews

History Museum to Dive Into the Madness That Was the St. Louis Olympics

Author Michael Loynd will lead a talk about the first Olympics on U.S. soil on Tuesday

By
Sep 21, 2023 at 1:18 pm
click to enlarge The insane story of the1904 Olympics is the stuff of legend. - MISSOURI HISTORICAL SOCIETY
MISSOURI HISTORICAL SOCIETY
The insane story of the1904 Olympics is the stuff of legend.

The 1904 World's Fair is remembered as one of the most bizarre and racially egregious events in St. Louis' history, but even more so were the Olympic games that occurred alongside the fair on what's now Washington University's campus.

Anyone from professional athletes to the "natives" corralled in so-called villages for fairgoers to marvel at could participate in the games, and despite all the craziness that followed — as well as the Olympics' general disorganization — the story of how St. Louis scored the first Olympics held on U.S. soil is the stuff of legend.

Join author Michael Loynd at Missouri History Museum's Lee Auditorium (5700 Lindell, 314-746-4599) on Tuesday, September 26, to learn all about it.


Loynd, chairman of the St. Louis Olympic Committee, will detail all that led up to St. Louis winning the Olympics from Chicago.

The show starts at 11 a.m. and attendance is free. For more information, visit mohistory.org. 

Slideshow

The 1904 St. Louis Olympics Were Memorable For A Variety Of Reasons [PHOTOS]

The men's marathon was straight up bonkers. The 1904 Olympics hosted a 24-mile marathon in 90 degree weather. Not only was it hot outside, there were only two hydration stations due to one of the organizers wanting to conduct an experiment on dehydration.
The marathon started on Francis Field at Washington University, but continued on dusty tracks. The dust was so thick that it forced some participants to quit. St. Louis had the first African participants in the Olympics. Len Tau, left, and Jan Mashiani, right, of the Tswana tribe of South Africa were the first African participants the games had. The first documented case of stimulants in the Olympics was in St. Louis. Thomas Hicks, who went on to win the men's marathon, had to be injected with strychnine. Hicks' trainers dosed him with small amounts throughout the race when he began to get tired. Strychnine was both a common rat poison and stimulant. Hicks also received a combination of brandy and egg whites when he began to get sick toward the end of the race. Hicks went on to win the men's marathon. He lost eight pounds over the course of the marathon. Many of the other participants had to drop out due to the heat or other conditions of the race. In fact, over 30 people from four different nations participated in the men's marathon. But only fourteen actually finished the race. A person crossed the finish line before Thomas Hicks, but wasn't the winner. One man, Fred Lorz, quit at the nine mile mark and was driven to the finish line. He got out of the car, jogged across the finish line and was declared the winner. As celebrations began, one official called Lorz out and he quickly claimed he was playing a practical joke.
Click to View 19 slides


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Monica Obradovic
Monica Obradovic is a staff writer for the Riverfront Times.
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