1904 Summer Olympics / Athletics

Athletics at the 1904 Olympic Games
information
venue	Francis Field
Competition venue	St. Louis
Athletes	117
date	August 29th to September 3rd
decisions	25th
← Paris 1900 London 1908 →

Olympic Games 1904 (athletics medal table)
space	team				Total
1	United States	23	23	22nd	68
2	Great Britain	1	1	-	2
3	Canada	1	-	-	1
4th	Mixed team	-	1	-	1
5	Germany	-	-	1	1
	Greece	-	-	1	1

With the III. At the 1904 Olympic Games in St. Louis , a total of 24 athletics competitions were held. These took place from August 29 to September 3, 1904 at Francis Field Stadium. Exceptions were the all-round competitions , which were scheduled for the beginning of July: Decathlon - July 4th, American national holiday - and three-way combat - July 1st and 2nd.

Attendees

Of the total of 117 registered athletes from ten countries, 88 were US Americans who won gold medals in 22 of 24 disciplines. The only non-American Olympic champions were the Canadian Étienne Desmarteau in weight throwing and Tom Kiely, who started for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , in the decathlon . Only men were eligible to participate. Women were first admitted to the Olympic Games in athletics in 1928 . It wasn’t the age for long travel. The Europeans, like athletes from other continents, only had the expensive and tedious journey by ship. As a result, many athletes were unable to travel there. Germany, for example, was only represented in athletics by the middle distance athlete Johannes Runge and the high jumper Paul Weinstein . So these Olympic Games were not comparable to today's, where the entire world elite compete against each other.

Competitions

The competition program was not yet as standardized as it is today. In the running area, the 4,000-meter obstacle course , which had only been an Olympic discipline four years earlier, was canceled, while the obstacle course over the shorter distance - this time it was 2,590 meters - remained part of the program. The 60-meter run and the 200-meter hurdles also remained in the Olympic offer. The team run, which had been held over 5000 meters in the last games , now came into the program as a team cross-country run over 4 miles (6437.32 m). There were still no long-distance runs on the track. As a medium-distance run, the 1500 meters were the longest individual run on the track. The only longer routes were the obstacle course over 2950 m and the cross-country team run over 4 miles. Then of course there was the marathon , which was held on the street. The three standing jump competitions standing high , standing long and standing triple jump were still Olympic disciplines here in St. Louis . In the throwing competitions, weight throwing was now part of the program, while the javelin throwing had to wait before it made its debut at the 1906 Olympic Intermediate Games in Athens . The all-around competition was completely new to the Olympic offer at the Games in St. Louis . A three-way battle - which is not even mentioned in all sources - and a decathlon were fought . However, this consisted of completely different disciplines than today - more on this in the individual description of these competitions below.

Stadium and sports complex

A circular track with a length of 536.45 meters was available. It contained a 200 meter straight. It was a cinder track in very good condition. In this regard, the conditions and conditions were better than at the two games in Athens and Paris before. However, Johannes Runge describes the general framework as largely catastrophic. There was no roofing anywhere in the arena, which held around 40,000 spectators, so that everyone was exposed to the scorching sun. The terrain at the jump facilities was uneven, everywhere littered with clods of earth and stones, the problem also affected the jump areas. High jumpers who started from the side were at constant risk of foot injuries and sprains. The condition of the changing rooms was unreasonable for the athletes. Only a single room was available for all the active people, staring with dirt. Everything was full of finger-high dust. Each athlete was given a chair and a nail driven into a slat as a coat hook. There was not a single washing facility, least of all showers. For the American athletes, their clubs provided improvised wooden cots nailed together on site, on which they could be massaged or rested. While the organizers generally worked well in terms of the schedule and handling of the competitions, if you disregard the pre-run schedules, the athlete support was completely neglected here.

Sporting successes

Of course, given the initial situation described with the overwhelming majority of participants from the host country, it was clear that the USA would be the absolutely dominant nation. However, the performance level of the US athletes was at a very high international level, as the results of the last two Olympic events had already shown.
There were four athletes, all of them Americans, who each won three gold medals:

• James Lightbody won gold in both middle distances - 800 meters , 1500 meters and the 2590 meter obstacle course . He also won the silver medal in the 4-mile team run.
• The outstanding sprinter was Archie Hahn , who won the 60 meters , 100 meters and 200 meters .
• As in Paris 1900 , standing jump specialist Ray Ewry decided all of these disciplines for himself.
• Harry Hillman won over 400 meters , 200 meters hurdles and 400 meters hurdles .

There was double gold for Meyer Prinstein , also an American, in the long jump and triple jump .

Three world records have been achieved:

• James Lightbody , 1,500 meter run 4: 05.4 min
• Ray Ewry , standing long jump 3.47 m
• Ralph Rose , shot put 14.81 m - equalized world record

There were also twelve Olympic records, one of which was set.

Different sources

As with the games before, the presentation of the exact results for these competitions is not always clear. Depending on the source - see literature or web links, link 1 and 2 below - there are different representations, especially in the back positions. It also plays a role that the times of those placed in the races were not measured exactly, but estimated. However, the deviations in the sources are significantly lower than for the two previous Olympic Games in 1896 and 1900 .

Results

60 m

→ Main article: 1904 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 60 m (men)

space	athlete	country	Time (s)
1	Archie Hahn	United States	7.0 ORe
2	William Hogenson	United States	7.2
3	Fay Moulton	United States	7.2
4th	Clyde Blair	United States	7.2
5	Meyer Prinstein	United States	k. A.
6th	Frank Castleman	United States

Date: August 29 or September 1, 1904

After 1900 in Paris , the 60-meter race was part of the Olympic program for the second and last time. The 15 participants initially competed in four preliminary runs. The preliminary winners qualified directly for the final. The runners-up made the fifth and sixth places in the final among themselves. Archie Hahn won the gold medal with a time of 7.0 s and thus equalized the Olympic record - also the unofficial world record - of Alvin Kraenzlein .

The result is shown in the literature by Ekkehard zur Megede listed below in the order of priority as in the table on the right, which is based on the information from SportsReference . The estimated times for places two to four are 7.3 s there. In addition, the dates differ: At the Megede is September 1st, at SportsReference August 29th.

100 m

→ Main article: 1904 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 100 m (men)

space	athlete	country	Time (s)
1	Archie Hahn	United States	11.0
2	Nathaniel Cartmell	United States	11.2
3	William Hogenson	United States	11.3
4th	Fay Moulton	United States	11.4
5	Frederick Heckwolf	United States	k. A.
6th	Lawson Robertson	United States

Date: September 3, 1904

Depending on the source, eleven or fourteen athletes took part. These competed in three preliminary runs, with the two fastest qualifying for the final. In the final run, Archie Hahn had a lead of three meters after a fifth of the distance and held it to the finish. Nate Cartmell was still in last place after forty meters, but could still accelerate and made it into second place.

The data match in the sources used for the finale.

200 m

→ Main article: 1904 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 200 m (men)

space	athlete	country	Time (s)
1	Archie Hahn	United States	21.6 OR
2	Nathaniel Cartmell	United States	21.9
3	William Hogenson	United States	k. A.
4th	Fay Moulton	United States	k. A.

Date: August 31, 1904

For the only time in Olympic history, the 200-meter race took place on a straight line. The seven registered athletes competed in two heats. The two fastest made it to the final. Three finalists caused a false start on the first attempt and were, according to the rules of the time, set back one yard (0.9144 m) at the next start . Archie Hahn profited and won the race by a clear margin. His Olympic record lasted until 1932.

For this discipline there is no difference in sources for the finals.

400 m

→ Main article: 1904 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 400m (men)

space	athlete	country	Time (s)
1	Harry Hillman	United States	49.2 OR
2	Frank Waller	United States	49.9
3	Herman Groman	United States	50.0
4th	Joseph Fleming	United States	50.5
5	Meyer Prinstein	United States	50.6
6th	George Poage	United States	51.0

Date: August 29, 1904

There were 13 athletes entered, who were sent to a single final run by the organizers. The tightly packed field of participants split up into two groups shortly after the start, with George Poage in the lead. Harry Hillman took over the top position at half of the race and never gave it up until the finish.

The sources give the names of the first six runners identically. From seventh onwards there are deviations. which are described in detail in the main article on the 400-meter run .

800 m

→ Main article: 1904 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 800 m (men)

space	athlete	country	Time (min)
1	James Lightbody	United States	1: 56.0 OR
2	Howard Valentine	United States	1: 56.3
3	Emil Breitkreutz	United States	1: 56.4
4th	George Underwood	United States	1: 57.2
5	Johannes Runge	GER	1: 57.9
6th	Frank Verner	United States	k. A.

Date: September 1, 1904

In this discipline, too, there was only one run despite 13 participants over 400 meters . Johannes Runge was at the front of the field after 400 meters, but then fell back. James Lightbody, who ran rather cautiously at the beginning, overtook runner after runner and won in the final sprint.

Concerning. The information in the sources used is similar for this discipline to many others: the ranking and winning times are completely identical, there are deviations for the estimated times, which are detailed in the detailed article on the 800 meter run .

1500 m

→ Main article: 1904 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 1500 m (men)

space	athlete	country	Time (min)
1	James Lightbody	United States	4: 05.4 WR
2	Frank Verner	United States	4: 06.8
3	Lacey Hearn	United States	k. A.
4th	David Munson	United States	k. A.
5	Johannes Runge	GER
6th	Peter Deer	CAN
7th	Howard Valentine	United States
8th	Harvey Cohn	United States
9	Charles Bacon	United States

Date: September 3, 1904

Nine runners were at the start. First, Cohn and Deer took the lead. Deer fell behind on lap two, while Cohn was still leading at the start of the last lap. This fell far behind, however, while Lightbody advanced to the top and finally crossed the finish line first with a new world record time .

The sources used match up to and including the sixth rank. There are then small deviations on the IOC side. Bacon and Valentine are named there as participants, but their placements remain open, while Cohn, as in the other sources, is listed as eighth.

marathon

→ Main article: 1904 Summer Olympics / Athletics - marathon (men)

space	athlete	country	Time (h)
1	Thomas Hicks	United States	3:28:53
2	Albert Corey	United States	3:34:52
3	Arthur Newton	United States	3:47:33
4th	Félix Carvajal	CUB	k. A.
5	Dimitrios Veloulis	GRE
6th	David Kneeland	United States
7th	Harry Brawley	United States
8th	Sidney Hatch	United States
9	Len Taunyane	RSA
10	Christos Zechouritis	GRE
11	Harry Devlin	United States
12	Jan Mashiani	RSA
13	John Furla	United States
14th	Andreas Ikonomou	GRE

Date: August 30, 1904

The marathon was officially 40 kilometers or 24.85 miles, but it was probably almost 2 kilometers longer. At 3:08 p.m., 32 runners tackled the route that ran through the suburbs of St. Louis to the north of the stadium. The racing conditions were tough: the extremely hilly track (seven inclines with 30 to 100 meters difference in altitude) led over unpaved roads with a layer of dust several centimeters thick. Accompanying cars and horses also raised dust, causing many runners to suffer from severe coughing cramps. Although the temperatures were consistently above 32 ° C (90 ° F), only a single water point was available. In the course of the race there were numerous changes at the top, the individual runners were sometimes very far apart. After about halfway through, Thomas Hicks took the lead and finally reached the finish line after almost three and a half hours. Only 14 runners managed the entire route.

Hicks' victory run gives an insight into the lack of sports medicine knowledge at the time. On the advice of his companions, he was not allowed to drink water, only to rinse his mouth with distilled water. At about 28 km he received a milligram of strychnine with an egg white . At kilometer 32 there was a second protein with strychnine and a sip of brandy . In addition, his whole body was rubbed with warm water. On the last mile, Hicks ate two more eggs and drank some brandy, his companions repeating the water rub.

Thomas Hicks with companions during the marathon

Frederick Lorz had given up after 15 kilometers. He got into an escort vehicle, which broke down. He went to the goal on foot and was celebrated there as the winner. Although he claimed he was joking, he was banned from the Olympics for life. The American federation was more lenient and let the ban expire the following year, after which Lorz honestly won the Boston Marathon.

Allegedly, the barefoot black South African Len Taunyane was said to have been chased by a dog for more than a mile, losing about six to seven minutes. Fourth-placed Cuban Félix Carvajal - also known as Andarín Carvajal in some sources - ran the race with heavy street shoes. Since he didn't have gym shorts, he cut off the legs of his normal pants before starting to adapt to the heat. To refresh himself he ate fresh fruit on the way, after which he was slowed down by stomach cramps.

There is a complete match of the sources used except for the runners who gave up the race. An overview can be found in the detailed article on the marathon .

110 m hurdles

→ Main article: 1904 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 110 m hurdles (men)

space	athlete	country	Time (s)
1	Fred School	United States	16.0
2	Thaddeus Shideler	United States	16.2
3	Lesley Ashburner	United States	16.4
4th	Frank Castleman	United States	k. A.

Date: September 3, 1904

The eight hurdlers registered after Ekkehard zur Megede first competed in two preliminary runs. With regard to the number of participants, however, the sources used here are not entirely in agreement. According to SportsReference there are six starters, according to Volker Kluge seven. No information is given on the IOC side. In each case the two fastest made it into the final. Fred Schule won overly, but remained well above Alvin Kraenzlein's Olympic record of 1900 .

At the Megede there is a time of 16.3 s for the second placed Shideler in the finals, for the third and fourth places there are no times listed for the Megede . Otherwise, the sources agree on this.

200 m hurdles

→ Main article: 1904 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 200 m hurdles (men)

space	athlete	country	Time (s)
1	Harry Hillman	United States	24.6 OR
2	Frank Castleman	United States	24.9
3	George Poage	United States	k. A.
4th	George Varnell	United States	k. A.
5	Fred School	United States

Date: September 1, 1904

Only five athletes were registered, which is why one run was enough. It was won by Harry Hillman, who undercut the Olympic record by over eight tenths of a second. The hurdles over 200 meters was only an Olympic discipline in 1900 and 1904, which Hillman's record still holds today.

After Ekkehard zur Megede there were only four participants at the start - the first four, as we can also find them in the table on the left. For the second-placed Castleman, zur Megede mentions a time of 25.0 s. Otherwise the data from the sources match.

400 m hurdles

→ Main article: 1904 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 400 m hurdles (men)

space	athlete	country	Time (s)
1	Harry Hillman	United States	53.0
2	Frank Waller	United States	53.2
3	George Poage	United States	58.4
4th	George Varnell	United States	k. A.

Date: August 31, 1904

Four runners competed in this discipline. Harry Hillman clearly led the race for a long time, stumbled on the eighth hurdle and still won by over a meter. He beat the world record by over three seconds; time did not count, however: according to the rules of the time, no hurdles were allowed to be broken, and they were only 2½ feet (76 cm) high instead of the usual 3 feet (91.4 cm).

The ranking and winning times are identical in all sources used here. Ekkehard zur Megede names a time of 53.6 s for Waller, for Poage there is only a time indication from Volker Kluge. SportsReference states that he is thirty yards behind the second-placed Waller.

2590 m obstacle

→ Main article: 1904 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 2590 m obstacle (men)

space	athlete	country	Time (min)
1	James Lightbody	United States	7: 39.6
2	John Daly	GBR	8: 01.6
3	Arthur Newton	United States	8: 07.0
4th	Frank Verner	United States	k. A.
More sub contractor	Harvey Cohn	United States
	David Munson	United States
	Richard Sanford	United States

Date: August 29, 1904

There were seven runners at the start. The run was on a grass track with three obstacles and a moat per lap. Initially , Irish rider John Daly, a favorite and the only foreign participant , was in the lead for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland . In the fourth of five laps he was around fifty meters ahead. But then Daly broke in completely and had to let James Lightbody pass by. Arthur Newton, who finished third in the marathon the following day, also overtook the Irishman. But this caught itself again and saved second place.

The information on this result contradicts each other in the various sources, in some cases considerably. This applies to the times after the Olympic champion as well as the names and ranking from fifth place. The deviations are described in detail in the detailed article on the 2590 meter obstacle course .

4 mile team run

→ Main article: 1904 Summer Olympics / Athletics - team run (men)

space	country	Athletes	Points
1	United States	Arthur Newton (1st) George Underwood (5th) Paul Pilgrim (6th) Howard Valentine (7th) David Munson (8th)	27
2	Mixed team USA / FRA	James Lightbody ( USA )  (2nd) Frank Verner ( USA )  (3rd) Lacey Hearn ( USA )  (4th) Albert Corey ( FRA )  (9th) Sidney Hatch ( USA )  (10th)	28

September 3, 1904

The race went over four miles (6437.32 m). The decisive factor for the evaluation was not the time, but the number of places, as was the case four years earlier in the 5000-meter team race. Two teams with five runners each competed, the New York Athletic Club with a purely US-American team and the Chicago Athletic Association, in which the French Albert Corey started alongside four US-Americans. So it was actually an American club championship.

There are no significant differences between the sources and the results. However, it is not clear whether the race took place as a cross-country run or in the stadium.

high jump

→ Main article: 1904 Summer Olympics / Athletics - high jump (men)

space	athlete	country	Height (m)
1	Samuel Jones	United States	1.803
2	Garrett Serviss	United States	1,778
3	Paul Weinstein	GER	1,778
4th	Lajos Gönczy	HUN	1,750
5	Emil Freymark	United States	1.720
6th	Ervin Barker	United States	1,700

Date: August 29, 1904

Samuel Jones was superior to his five competitors. Garrett Serviss and Paul Weinstein both reached the same height, which is why a jump-off had to be held. This was won by Serviss. Weinstein took part in the long jump held at the same time and was a bit disadvantaged because of the constant change of competitions.

The information on the result in the sources used here hardly differ. The order is completely the same, with the performances up to fourth place there are only deviations in the tenth of a millimeter range. For the fifth-placed Emil Freymark, SportsReference , Volker Kluge and Ekkehard zur Megede do not give any figures, and for the Megede , sixth-placed Ervin Barker has no performance.

Pole vault

→ Main article: 1904 Summer Olympics / Athletics - pole vault (men)

space	athlete	country	Height (m)
1	Charles Dvorak	United States	3.50 OR
2	LeRoy Samse	United States	3.35
3	Louis Wilkins	United States	3.35
4th	Ward McLanahan	United States	3.35
5	Claude Allen	United States	3.35
6th	Walter Dray	United States	3.00
7th	Paul Weinstein	GER	3.00

Date: September 3, 1904

Seven athletes were registered; World record holder Fernand Gonder from France was not present . Charles Dvorak won with a height of 3.50 m, but failed three times when trying to set a new world record. Four jumpers had reached a height of 3.35 m and had to find out the medals in a jump-off, which had the exit shown on the left. At least that is how it is described in the most likely result variant by SportsReference and Kluge .

There is a different presentation of the results at the Megede and on the IOC page - described in more detail in the main article on the pole vault .

Long jump

→ Main article: 1904 Summer Olympics / Athletics - long jump (men)

space	athlete	country	Width (m)
1	Meyer Prinstein	United States	7.34 OR
2	Daniel Frank	United States	6.89
3	Robert Stangland	United States	6.88
4th	Fred Englehardt	United States	6.63
5	George Van Cleaf	United States	k. A.
6th	John Hagerman	United States

Date: September 1, 1904

Ten athletes were at the start, but the British world record holder Peter O'Connor was missing . Meyer Prinstein, the runner-up on the top list at the time, won by almost half a meter.

Here the information from the sources used with regard to ranks one to six is ​​completely identical. Different information after sixth place can be found in detail in the detailed description of this discipline .

Triple jump

→ Main article: 1904 Summer Olympics / Athletics - Triple Jump (Men)

space	athlete	country	Width (m)
1	Meyer Prinstein	United States	14.35
2	Fred Englehardt	United States	13.90
3	Robert Stangland	United States	13.36
4th	John Fuhrer	United States	12.91
5	George Van Cleaf	United States	k. A.
6th	John Hagerman	United States
7th	Samuel Jones	United States

Date: September 1, 1904

Each of the seven participants had three attempts, then the three best had three more attempts. The competition was very exciting because initially nobody was able to break away decisively. After the fifth attempt, Frederick Englehardt led, who was then surpassed by Meyer Prinstein by almost half a meter.

For this competition, too, the information in the sources is largely identical, the only difference being that the seventh-placed winner is not listed in the literature by Ekkehard zur Megede mentioned below.

Standing vault

→ Main article: 1904 Summer Olympics / Athletics - Standing vault (men)

space	athlete	country	Height (m)
1	Ray Ewry	United States	1.60
2	Joseph Stadler	United States	1.45
3	Lawson Robertson	United States	1.45
4th	John Biller	United States	1.42
5	Lajos Gönczy	HUN	1.35

August 31, 1904

Only five athletes were officially registered for the high jump from a standing position , but many more are said to have participated. Raymond Ewry won overwhelmingly, but missed his own world record .

The information on this discipline is slightly different in all the sources used here. This applies to the height information, which differs significantly, especially for the winner, the placements and the question of who was there as a participant. The different versions are detailed in the main article on standing vaulting .

Stand long jump

→ Main article: 1904 Summer Olympics / Athletics - standing long jump (men)

space	athlete	country	Width (m)
1	Ray Ewry	United States	3.47 OR
2	Charles King	United States	3.27
3	John Biller	United States	3.25
4th	Henry Field	United States	3.18

Date: August 29, 1904

As expected, Ewry proved to be superior in the long jump from a standing start , in which only US athletes participated. With each of his four jumps he would have won the competition. With his victory distance he set a new world record .

In this discipline, the ranking of the first four jumps is shown in the sources identically. There are slight deviations in the specification of the widths; in addition, Volker Kluge names seven participants, while the other sources give four starters. The results are presented in detail in the detailed description of this discipline .

Triple jump

→ Main article: 1904 Summer Olympics / Athletics - standing triple jump (men)

space	athlete	country	Width (m)
1	Ray Ewry	United States	10.55
2	Charles King	United States	10.16
3	Joseph Stadler	United States	9.60
4th	Garrett Serviss	United States	9.53

Date: September 3, 1904

The triple jump from standing was an Olympic discipline for the second and last time in 1904. Here, too, Ewry lived up to his role as a favorite and prevailed against his three fellow competitors.

In this discipline, the ranking of the athletes is the same as in the standing long jump in the sources. There are only slight deviations when specifying the widths. In Volker Kluge also six other participants will be named that do not appear in the other sources - more details, see the main article for standing triple jump .

Shot put

→ Main article: 1904 Summer Olympics / Athletics - Shot put (men)

space	athlete	country	Width (m)
1	Ralph Rose	United States	14.81 WR
2	Wesley Coe	United States	14.40
3	Lawrence Feuerbach	United States	13.37
4th	Martin Sheridan	United States	12.39
5	Charles Chadwick	United States	k. A.
6th	Albert Johnson	United States
7th	John Guiney	United States
DSQ	Nikolaos Georgandas	GRE	-

Date: August 31, 1904

Eight athletes were registered for this competition. Right from the start, an exciting duel between Ralph Rose and Wesley Coe developed. Rose led up to the fourth stroke with 14.35 m and was outdone by Coe by two inches. In the last run Rose rose by almost half a meter and set a new world record .

There are few discrepancies in the various sources on this result. Detailed explanations can be found in the detailed article on the shot put .

Discus throw

→ Main article: 1904 Summer Olympics / Athletics - Discus throw (men)

space	athlete	country	Width (m)
1	Martin Sheridan	United States	39.28 OR
2	Ralph Rose	United States	39.28 OR
3	Nikolaos Georgandas	GRE	37.68
4th	John Flanagan	United States	36.15
5	John Biller	United States	k. A.
6th	James Mitchel	United States

Date: September 3, 1904

Six athletes were involved in this competition. Martin Sheridan and Ralph Rose fought an exciting duel for victory. After the preliminary fight Sheridan was still in third place, then surpassed the Greek Nikolaos Georgandas with his next litter. After six throws, Rose and Sheridan were both in the lead with the Olympic record distance of 39.28 m. The rules of the time did not stipulate that in the event of a tie, the second-best throw would count, so the jury ordered further throws for the two leaders. Martin Sheridan prevailed with the better distance and after finishing fourth in the shot put, he was Olympic champion ahead of Ralph Rose, who had previously won gold in the shot put and bronze in the hammer throw .

There are almost no deviations in the sources used for the main competition, only the width for the third is given on the IOC page with one centimeter less than with the other sources.

Hammer throw

→ Main article: 1904 Summer Olympics / Athletics - hammer throw (men)

space	athlete	country	Width (m)
1	John Flanagan	United States	51.230 OR
2	John DeWitt	United States	50.265
3	Ralph Rose	United States	45.730
4th	Charles Chadwick	United States	42.785
5	James Mitchel	United States	k. A.
6th	Albert Johnson	United States

Date: August 29, 1904

Six athletes had registered. The competition was already decided after one round because the top three did not improve any more. John Flanagan confirmed his role as a favorite and won the gold medal.

For places two to four, the sources used here sometimes show different widths in the centimeter or half-centimeter range. These are probably results obtained by converting from the English system of measurement or also by rounding. At that time, measurements in many disciplines when throwing and jumping were actually in the half-centimeter range, sometimes even more detailed, as in these Olympic Games in high jump . The sixth place is not listed at Ekkehard zur Megede .

Weight throw

→ Main article: 1904 Summer Olympics / Athletics - Weight throw (men)

space	athlete	country	Width (m)
1	Étienne Desmarteau	CAN	10.465
2	John Flanagan	United States	10.160
3	James Mitchel	United States	10.135
4th	Charles Hennemann	United States	9.180
5	Charles Chadwick	United States	k. A.
6th	Ralph Rose	United States	8.530

Date: September 1, 1904

This competition was only on the Olympic program here in St. Louis. A 56 pound (25.4 kg) ball attached to a short chain was thrown. The throws were to be carried out from a ring with 7 feet - this corresponds to 2.13 m. . Before the competition, world record holder John Flanagan was the favorite. However, he had not achieved this from a ring, but with a free run-up. However, Flanagan had to admit defeat to the French-Canadian Étienne Desmarteau. Forty-year-old American James Mitchel won a bronze medal.

The weight throw was one of only two athletics competitions in St. Louis with a non-US winner. Only in the decathlon was this the case with British gold medalist Tom Kiely .

For places two to four, the sources used here sometimes show different widths in the centimeter or half-centimeter range. These are probably results obtained by converting from the English system of measurement or also by rounding. At that time, measurements in many disciplines when throwing and jumping were actually in the half-centimeter range, sometimes even more detailed, as in these Olympic Games in high jump . The width of the sixth-placed Rose was estimated; Chadwick has no width.

Triathlon

→ Main article: 1904 Summer Olympics / Athletics - three-way battle (men)

space	athlete	country	Points
1	Max Emmerich	United States	35.7 OR
2	John Grieb	United States	34.0
3	William Merz	United States	33.9
4th	George Mayer	United States	32.4
5	John Bissinger	United States	30.8
6th	Philipp Kassel	United States	30.1

Date: July 1 and 2, 1904

This competition was calculated from the total of points for the individual performances in the disciplines for this all-around event - long jump , shot put , 100-yard run (91.44 m). It is not known to which point evaluation the services relate. The US-Americans clearly dominated, as they were a far superior number with good level and ability at the start. It is also not known whether athletes from other nations took part at all or whether the Americans stayed among themselves, as in some other disciplines.

The three-way fight, like the decathlon, has a special position with regard to the date of the event. All athletics competitions took place from late August to early September 1904. The two all-round competitions, on the other hand, were held at the beginning of July. Perhaps this is the reason that the discipline is not listed in the sources used by Volker Kluge , Ekkehard zur Megede and SportsReference . But you can find it on the IOC website .

Decathlon

→ Main article: 1904 Summer Olympics / Athletics - Decathlon (men)

space	athlete	country	Points
1	Tom Kiely	GBR	6036 OR
2	Adam Gunn	United States	5907
3	Truxtun Hare	United States	5813
4th	John Holloway	GBR	5273
5	Ellery Clark	United States	2778
6th	John Grieb	United States	2199
DNF	Max Emmerich	United States	0

Date: July 4, 1904

The decathlon that took place back then differed considerably from what is usual today. In a single day, the six participants had to complete the following disciplines: 100-yard run (91.44 m), shot put , high jump , 880-yard walk (804.67 m), hammer throw , pole vault , 120-yard hurdles (109 , 73 m), weight throw , long jump , run over 1 mile (1609 m). Up to the seventh discipline, Hare and Gunn took turns at the top. Then Kiely took the lead in the weight throwing and did not give it up until the end. Besides the Canadian hammer throw winner, he was the only gold medalist at the St. Louis track and field competitions who did not come from the United States.

The decathlon , like the three-way fight, has a special position with regard to the date of the event. All athletics competitions took place from late August to early September 1904. The two all-round competitions, on the other hand, were held at the beginning of July.

At Ekkehard zur Megede and on the IOC side , Ellery Clark has 700 points less listed, which puts him in sixth place behind John Grieb. However, this information seems rather unlikely due to the precisely listed services for Clark at SportsReference and the correspondence of place and number of points with Volker Kluge . The Max Emmerich named here, Olympic champion of the three-way fight, does not appear at the Megede .

literature

• Volker Kluge , Olympic Summer Games - The Chronicle I, Berlin 1997 ( ISBN 3-328-00715-6 )
• Ekkehard zur Megede , The history of Olympic athletics, Volume 1: 1896–1936, Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 2nd edition 1970

Web links

• IOC page on athletics at the 1904 Summer Games at olympic.org, accessed August 5, 2018
• Sports-Reference, Athletics at the 1904 St. Louis Summer Games , accessed August 5, 2018
• The St. Louis marathon drama at sportschau.de, accessed on August 5, 2018
• Paris 1900: Games under the Eiffel Tower on sportschau.de, accessed on August 5, 2018
• Canada on the 1904 Summer Olympics from holdraum.com, accessed August 5, 2018
• Athletics on retrolympics.de, accessed on August 5, 2018

Notes / individual evidence

1. ↑ Ekkehard zur Megede , The History of Olympic Athletics, Volume 1: 1896-1936, Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 2nd edition 1970, p. 43f
2. ↑ Sports-Reference, Athletics at the 1904 St. Louis Summer Games: Men's 100 meters , English, accessed August 5, 2018
3. ^ Ekkehard zur Megede , The History of Olympic Athletics, Volume 1: 1896–1936, Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 2nd edition 1970, p. 45
4. ↑ Albert Corey was actually French. But since he started for the Chicago Athletic Association , the IOC lists him as an American in the statistics.
5. ↑ The Trials and Tribulations of 1904 Olympic Marathon Runners , May 6, 2016 at todayifoundout.com (English), accessed August 5, 2018