3. "Street Fighters
and Saloon Brawlers"
In 1924, the world turned its attention to the “The City of
Light.” Only six years removed from the worst war in European history, French
leaders were eager to show that their nation had not only been rebuilt, but was
again the model for all of Europe. They
also expected their athletes to excel at the games. The French Rugby team in
particular was not only looking to win, but to redeem itself after a
humiliating 8-0 defeat to the armature U.S. team in 1920. To this end, the best
French payers in the country had been assembled including Adolphe Jauréguy,
said to be the fastest player in the world. By contrast, the American team held
no stars and did not even begin to practice for the games until six months
before, when they moved to England to begin sharpening their skills. But if
their practice games were any indication – they’d lost four matches to local
British teams – the French had nothing to fear.
If the Americans expected the French to be gracious hosts,
they were vastly mistaken. When the U.S.
team finally arrived in the port of Boulogne on April 27, immigration officials
refused to let them off until the Americans simply pushed past them. Things
only got worse from there. Paris cancelled the rest the team’s practice games
and barred them from even setting foot in Colombes Stadium, saying the team
could only practice in a dirty field next to their hotel. Coach Charlie Austin responded
by marching his team down to stadium and having them climb the fence. "If
they wanted to push us around, then we damn well pushed back." remembered
Vice-captain Charlie Doe. French journalists openly called the team "street
fighters and saloon brawlers" and said they fully expected them to be
crushed. "They were looking for a punching bag," remembered American
player Norman Cleaveland bitterly. In response to the disobedience at the
stadium as well as other ongoing disputes, the Americans were banned from any
practice field and had to go to a city park. Finally, French officials refused
to even let Americans film the Olympics. At this, tempers snapped, and the
American team said that they would withdraw from the games if the French did
not concede on this point, which they ultimately did. Still, things did not
improve; one afternoon after a team practice, the players returned to find
$4,000 and most of their personal possessions and clothes gone, despite the
fact that the room had been under guard.
On May 11, the U.S. team confronted Romania, the only other
team present besides France. Any time the Americans touched the ball they were
booed, and anytime Romanian team touched it they were wildly cheered. Still,
the game turned into a lopsided route as the Americans stopped their opponents
from even scoring a single point and went on to win 37-0.
Two days after their victory, the U.S. team was
unceremoniously thrown out of their hotel for "a little college cheering
and rollicking". By this time, the team was openly spit on and cursed at
by French citizens and avoided by American expatriots.
On May 17, the Americans entered Colombes stadium for the
second and deciding game against France. Paris bookies had set the odds against
them as 20-1. Just before the game started, the American team made an
interesting choice in asking that the playing periods be extended to 45
minutes, which was granted over French protests. They were betting they could
outlast their more powerful opponents. Finally, all the arguments, the snubs,
and the repeated public humiliations came to a head as 50,000 raucous French
fans looked on as the opening whistle blew. Seconds later, French star Adolphe
Jauréguy was handed the ball and raced down the field. With one sudden violent
movement, American William “Lefty” Rogers threw his full weight into a sharp
tackle that sent Jauréguy flying through air. Moments later, Jauréguy was
handed the ball again only to be hit hard a second time by Rogers. Given the
ball a third time, Jauréguy broke into the open field again to thundering cheers when the unthinkable
happened. American Alan Valentine caught up to him, leading to a third, even
more violent collision which left Jauréguy sprawled on the ground, unconscious.
With blood streaming from his face, Jauréguy was carried off the field and out
of the game. From then on one continuous wave of boos flowed over the field.
By the end of the first half, the French crowd looked at the
scoreboard in shock; not only were the Americans standing up to the French, but
they were beating them 3-0! The French team came out for the second half now
conscious of the hard American hits. Still, the Americans continued to hammer
them, tackling them hard each time they got the ball, leaving them groggy and
exhausted. It was as if all the bottled up American frustration was coming out
on the French players. French reporter Andre
Glarner wrote afterward, "Our men, too frail and hesitant, too fragile,
could not hold up before the admirable athletes before them." Five times the Americans scored; the
supposedly unbeatable French could only score once. As the Americans began to
pull away, the boos of the French spectators swelled to an angry roar and
attacks on Americans unfortunate enough to be seated nearby began. Several American
spectators were knocked to the ground unconscious and were passed down to the
field for medical treatment. By the end of the game, Cleaveland remembered the
French “were throwing bottles and rocks and clawing at us through the fence.”
As the game ended, American player Gideon Nelson was knocked out when a heavy
cane hit him in the face. The final score was 17-3.
A French band began playing the “Star Spangled Banner” as the players were given their medals. However, the boos and hisses were so loud that the music could not be heard and there was fear that fans would riot and harm the players. Finally, police surrounded the Americans and escorted them off the field. Over the following days tempers cooled and the team suddenly became celebrities. The French press even began calling them heroes. Doe recalled, “All we had to do was walk in to a bar or restaurant and there would be free drinks all around.”
After the games, the Americans boarded a ship, sailed back
across the Atlantic and eventually arrived in San Francisco. No victory parade
or official plaudits from American politicians awaited them. With radio only
beginning to become popular and with nowhere near today’s wall to wall
television coverage, many athletes from all nations won medals then went back
to their ordinary lives. The American players understood and accepted this at
the time, but as the years passed and the Olympics became more popular, many
players felt like they had been forgotten. "Our victory in '24 made the
hockey win against the Soviets look like an everyday occurrence," Doe
recalled seven decades later. "If we had that kind of coverage rugby might
be the great American pastime today.”
The 1924 victory marked the last time Rugby was an Olympic
sport. In 1928, the International Olympic Committee removed rugby from the list
of accepted sports in order to make room for others. Requests in 1980s by the
Soviet Union and South Korea to bring it back were also turned down. Then in 2005,
the IOC removed baseball and softball and announced they would include rugby in
the 2016 games. So when that first game begins, the U.S will be the defending
champions after 92 years.
4. Weissmuller vs. Kahanamoku
While the rugby players fought their private battle against
the Paris fans in 1924, over at the pool at Piscine des Tourelles, 19 year old Johnny
Weissmuller was making his own place in Olympic history.
Born in modern day Romania, Weissmuller’s family had soon
taken him to the U.S., eventually settling in Pennsylvania. After a sudden
attack of polio, 9 year old Weissmuller had gone into swimming after a doctor
said it was a good way to fight the disease. Soon after dropping out of high
school, he came to the attention of swim coach William Bachrach, who believed
the young man could compete at an international level. After a year of Bachrach’s
tutelage Weissmuller broke Duke Kahanamoku's world record in the 100 meters
freestyle. He also went on to win several other championships. With such talent,
Weissmuller was a shoe in for the Olympic team in 1924. However, despite the
fact that he had spent nearly his entire life in America, Weissmuller’s foreign
birth officially bared him from the games. So he lied and wrote in all his official
documents that he was born in Pennsylvania and even had his father sign an affidavit
so he could compete.
Safely at the Olympics, Weissmuller came up against his
biggest challenge. Fellow American Kahanamoku, whose record Weissmuller had
broken, already had three previous gold medals and seemed more than match for
the newcomer. The 100 meter freestyle was an event that Kahanamoku and many
others looked for him to win. However, Weissmuller swam hard and finished just
ahead of Kahanamoku. Ironically, Kahanamoku’s younger brother Sam finished
third, giving America all three medals.
Not only did Weissmuller win the 100 meter, he also won the
longer 400 meter freestyle and the 4 x 200 meter relay, giving him three gold
medals for the games. Weissmuller, as a member of the water polo team, even got
to tack on a bronze.
Weissmuller would go on to become arguably the best swimmer
of his era. Four years after his stunning victories he would repeat his
performance by again taking home a gold medal in the 100 meter and 4 x 200
meter relay. All told, over a career, he won 52 United States National
Championships, and set sixty-seven world records. Afterward he retired, having
never lost a race.
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