Athletics at the 1904 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon
Unusual and poorly organized footrace / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The men's marathon at the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, United States, took place on August 30 of that year, over a distance of 24 miles 1500 yards (40 km).[1]
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Men's marathon at the Games of the III Olympiad | ||||||||||
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Venue | St. Louis | |||||||||
Dates | August 30 | |||||||||
Competitors | 32 from 7 nations | |||||||||
Winning time | 3:28:53 | |||||||||
Medalists | ||||||||||
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It proved to be a bizarre affair due to poor organization and officiating.[2] The race was run during the hottest part of the day on dusty country roads, with only two sources of water. While 40 athletes entered, 32 athletes representing seven nations (US, France, Cuba, Greece, South Africa, Great Britain, and Canada) ultimately started, with only 14 managing to finish the race.[3]
Frederick Lorz crossed the finish line first and was hailed as the winner, but he was disqualified after it was discovered that he had hitched a ride in a car for 11 miles (17.7 km) after having supposedly dropped out of the race. The actual winner, Thomas Hicks, was near collapse and hallucinating when he crossed the finish line, a side effect of being administered brandy, raw eggs, and strychnine by his trainers. The fourth-place finisher, Andarín Carvajal, took a nap during the race after eating spoiled apples.