How the 1904 Marathon Became One of the Weirdest Olympic Events of All Time
The 1904 Olympic marathon in St. Louis was marked by bizarre events, including extreme conditions, lack of regulations, and peculiar incidents. Winner Thomas Hicks even consumed a dangerous mixture during the race.
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The 1904 Olympic marathon in St. Louis became one of the most bizarre events in Olympic history. The race was overshadowed by the World's Fair happening at the same time, where even "savages" were recruited to compete for the amusement of white spectators. The marathon course was grueling, with extreme heat, hills, and dangerous road conditions. Athletes faced challenges like dodging traffic, dealing with dehydration, and even encountering wild animals. The winner, Thomas Hicks, resorted to consuming a mixture of strychnine, egg whites, and brandy during the race, showcasing the lack of regulations on performance-enhancing substances at the time. The event also saw peculiar incidents like athletes hitchhiking, stealing peaches, and taking naps during the race. Despite the chaos, Hicks managed to finish first, albeit in a delirious state. The 1904 marathon highlighted the absurdity and challenges faced by athletes in the early days of the Olympics, making it a memorable and peculiar event in Olympic history.
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9 commentsTrite as the saying is, the dose makes the poison.
Strychnine is similar to caffeine -- only orders of magnitude more potent, so that a couple of milligrams will stimulate your CNS, and a hundred milligrams will kill you. Caffeine, of course, will only stimulate you if you take more than about 100mg, and it'll only kill you if you take it by the teaspoon.
The strychnine derivative securinine (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Securinine) was sold in Russia as a "safer" stimulant along the same lines as strychnine, until roughly the turn of the millennium. I enjoy experimenting with strange drugs -- and the Russian pharmacopoeia is as strange as it gets (the Italian one is also strange, with rubidium chloride as a stimulant!) -- so I've tracked down and tried securinine. Didn't notice much from it. Not much better than a strong cup of coffee. No discomfort, in any case.
> he playfully snatched two of the fruits and ate them as he ran. A bit further along the course, he stopped at an orchard and snacked on some apples, which turned out to be rotten. Suffering from stomach cramps, he laid down and took a nap. Mellor, now in the lead, also experienced severe cramping.
Athletics at the 1904 Summer Olympics – men's marathon - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39036502 - Jan 2024 (1 comment)
Athletics at the 1904 Summer Olympics: Men's Marathon - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32651197 - Aug 2022 (47 comments)
Running a marathon was never crazier than during the 1904 St Louis Olympics - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24112827 - Aug 2020 (23 comments)
1904 Summer Olympics – Men's Marathon - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23016964 - April 2020 (1 comment)
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