Know your Olympics - St. Louis Olympics 1904

#3 George Eyser and Frank Kugler - The two most unique Olympians

George Eyser - A unique Olympian of his own class

These Olympics also indirectly paved the way for the Paralympics. While Archie Hahn shone in track sprinting, there were two other athletes who stole the limelight for different reasons. They were George Eyser and Frank Kugler. Both were Americans, and both created unique records of their own.

George Eyser competed in gymnastics, and his left leg was made entirely of wood. Yet he won three Olympic gold medals in gymnastics. One was in rope climbing, one was in vault and one was in parallel bars. He also won two silver medals and a bronze medal. The silver medals came in combined four events and a pommel horse. On the other hand, the bronze medal came in horizontal bar.

Long before Jesse Owens created history in athletics. Long before Mark Spitz and Michael Phelps, it was George Eyser who made a name for himself. With a wooden leg, it was certainly no joke to win six Olympic medals in one go.

On the other hand, Frank Kugler was another legend of his own class. He won a silver medal in heavyweight wrestling. He won a bronze medal in two hand lift weightlifting. He also won a bronze medal in all-round dumbbell weightlifting. If that was enough, Frank joined the American team to clinch a bronze in the tug of war as well.

Yes, you read that right. Four sports, four different medals. Nobody has ever emulated this record since then. In a way, the St. Louis Olympics was certainly one hell of an edition to remember.

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#4 Women's Boxing debuts in St. Louis

Women's Boxing was once a demonstration sport at St. Louis [Image for Representational Purposes]

When did women's boxing make its official debut? Did it make its debut at the London Olympics in 2012? You are partially correct, since the official debut occurred in St. Louis in 1904. Yes, women's boxing once made its appearance at the St. Louis Olympics in 1904.

Women's boxing was introduced as a demonstration sport at the St. Louis Olympics in 1904. This was interestingly the same edition when boxing made its official debut in the male edition. However, for some great reason, not many people took a great liking to women's boxing. The sport was discontinued, and it wasn't even tried as a demonstration sport in further editions.

It took more than a century for women's boxing to officially return to the Olympics. Finally, in 2012, when the Olympics were held in London, women's boxing made its official debut. Interestingly, one of our greatest boxers, MC Mary Kom, added personal glory of her own. She clinched a bronze medal on debut, losing to the ultimate champion, Nicola Adams of Great Britain in the semifinals.

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#5 Marathon in St. Louis - The most hilarious as well as the most worrying

Marathon at St. Louis - The most hilarious as well as the most worrying [Image for Representational Purposes]

The marathon at the Olympics is one of the most talked about incidents at any point of time. However, in this edition, the marathon was not only a hilarious one, but also a worrying one.

The incidents have enough anecdotes for Quentin Tarantino to make it into a well crafted dark comedy. The marathon began well into the afternoon. This was not the stipulated time, as if the organizers deliberately wished to tire the runners out. You can imagine the state of the competition when 32 runners competed and only 14 managed to finish the race.

The original runner, Fred Lorz, claimed to have won the race. However, it was revealed that he took a ride for more than half of the distance. As a result, he was disqualified. An exhausted, rather dehydrated Thomas Hicks barely managed to cross the finish line as the runner-up. However, he was now the ultimate winner.

But now, if we look from a modern perspective, even Thomas ought to have been disqualified. This was because he was administered doses of strychnine and brandy. Yes, you read that right. Thomas, of all things, was administered strychnine and brandy by his trainers. This was admissible then, in order to prevent him from collapsing midway.