Frederick Lorz
Frederick Lorz (also: Fred Lorz ; born June 5, 1884 in New York City , † February 4, 1914 ) was an American long-distance runner who became known through a bizarre incident at the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis .
In the marathon of these games he was the first to cross the finish line and was celebrated until a spectator accused him of cheating. In response, Lorz willingly admitted that he had covered half the distance in an escort vehicle (some reports say he exposed the hoax on his own initiative). His assurances that he only wanted to allow himself a joke were of no use: he was banned from the Olympic Games for life, and runner-up Thomas Hicks was declared the winner.
The American federation was more lenient and let the suspension expire the following year. With his victory at the Boston Marathon in 1905 and a time of 2:38:25 h, Lorz then proved that he could win honestly.
In 1910 Lorz married Dorothy Reilly, with whom he had four children. In 1914, he died at 29 years at a pneumonia .
Web links
- Did you know? The Worst of the Modern Olympics What hero ...? , Article by John Hanc in Newsday, Aug. 25, 2004
- Olympics flashback: 1904 marathon a joke of a race , article by Mike Miller in The Capital Times, August 31, 2004
- Article about the 1904 Olympic Marathon on marathoninfo.free.fr (French)
- Frederick Lorz in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
Footnotes
- ↑ Boston Marathon winners list ( Memento of the original from March 29, 2002 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Lorz, Frederick |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Lorz, Fred |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American marathon runner |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 5, 1884 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | New York City |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 4, 1914 |