1. The First Olympic Champion
On April 6, 1896, 80,000 people including King George I of
Greece crammed into the stands at Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens to watch the
event of a lifetime. For the first time in over 1,500 years, the Olympic Games
would be held, but would appropriately occur in their birthplace. As
anticipation built and athletes lined the infield, the king stood up and
declared the games open.
Among those waiting to begin was 27 year old American James
Connolly. Raised in Boston, Connolly had quit Harvard to become part of the
first ever U.S. Olympic team. At the time, the U.S. had no Olympic committee or
even a way to try out for the team. Those wishing to go to Athens had to pay
their own way across the Atlantic and get to games in time to compete.
Connolly was among the first athletes to compete in games
that same day. He and six others would be doing the triple run event, where
they would run down a prepared track, then hop, skip and finally jump for
distance.
Connolly was the last up that day, and had to wait as France's
Alexandre Tuffèri and Greece's Ioannis Persakis took the top two spots. It was
all up to Connolly. Running down the track, he hopped twice on right foot and
jumped with all his might. It was enough. In front of the stunned crowd, he shot
to first place and earned the first winning medal in modern times (the medal
was sliver as no gold medals existed at the time). Connolly’s victory signaled
the beginning of an amazing performance by the small American team as they went
on to win 20 medals, including 11 for first place.
2. “This flag dips to
no earthly king.”
By 1908, the Olympics were fast becoming a regular tradition
as more speculators and athletes became involved. This year the games were held
for the first time in London, making expectations especially high for the
British, who looked to dominate the games. As the American team arrived, many
locals were upset by the fact that most of the U.S. competitors were of Irish
decent, and made no secret of their dislike of continued British occupation of
their old homeland.
Almost immediately, things got off on the wrong foot. On
opening day, British officials pointedly flew an American flag at half mast, as
an insult; in response, the American team refused to dip the flag as they
passed King Edward VII. According to
legend, U.S. athlete and Irish native Martin Sheridan, when asked about it,
responded, “This flag dips to no earthly king.” Despite the insult, English
fans fully expected to win all the events. These expectations were soon
shattered as one event after another went to the haughty Americans. In all, the
U.S. won a total of 15 gold medals, including top three finishes in several
races. Even the one British gold medal
in the 400 meter run rang hollow after all three Americans withdrew from the
race when British officials ordered it rerun because they claimed that the
Americans had blocked the British runner, leaving Wyndham Halswelle the only
man present to run the race. To further salt British wounds, American fans
shouted “U-S-A! U-S-A!” over the British fans’ objections.
All of the tensions climaxed with the final 26 mile marathon
from Windsor Castle to Shepherd's Bush Stadium. All hopes for a big British
victory now turned to five runners. Initially, things went well as these men
either held the lead or stayed close by. However, at about the half-way point
they began to tire and fall far behind. Now anyone in the race was acceptable
over the Americans. As the spectators eagerly waited, their prayers appeared to
be answered as Italian Dorando Pietri entered the stadium first and began to
close on finish line. Sweating heavily, he was clearly exhausted, but looked
assured for first place. Then disaster struck with just yards to go. Pietri
collapsed on the track and could not move another step. All eyes turned to
entrance to see who would enter next. To the horror of British fans and
officials, American Johnny Hayes came into view. This was too much. Several
people from the sidelines ran out to Pietri and half dragged, half pushed him
across the finish line. James Sullivan, head of the American team, immediately
filed a fiery protest, and upon further review Pietri was disqualified and the
gold medal went to Hayes. In fact, not only did Americans win gold, they also
won bronze and had a third runner finish in fourth place.
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