bransonglobe.com NATIONAL • OLYMPICS Continued from page 18 most memorable event from the 1904 Games. The race took place in 90-degree heat on dusty roads with only a single water break, and 18 of the 32 athletes withdrew from exhaustion. Lorz made headlines when he dropped out of the race, rode several miles in a car, then returned to the course and crossed the finish line first — only to be disqualified as he was about to accept the gold medal. Cuban runner Felix Carbajal was done in by stomach cramps after stopping beside the road to gorge on apples. South African runner Len Tau was chased off course by a pack of wild dogs. One runner had a stomach hemorrhage and nearly died. The winner was Thomas Hicks, whose assistants fed him eggs, shots of brandy and doses of the toxic stimulant strychnine to keep him going. He was hallucinating as he crossed the finish line in 3 hours, 28 minutes, 53 seconds. It was controversial then and downright racist today, but an enduring part of the 1904 Games was what organizers called “Anthropology Days.” They recruited aboriginal Japanese, Native Americans, Igorot people from the Philippines and others from what they called “uncivilized tribes” who attended the World’s Fair to try such events as archery and track. Not surprisingly, the unprepared July 26 - 28, 2020 • 19 athletes fared poorly, and many Americans and Europeans smugly concluded they must be superior. But it was de Coubertin who called the production “an outrageous charade” and presciently said, “It will lose its appeal when black men, red men and yellow men learn to run, jump and throw, and leave the white men behind.” This image provided by the Library of Congress, shows competitors in the marathon at the 1904 Olympic games in St. Louis. This image provided by the Library of Congress, shows Myer Prinstein competing at the 1904 Olympic games in St. Louis.
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