#1900 olympics

[o0fyuu0o]

Cleaning up my apartment since my parents are coming over tomorrow, probably need to clean more often I forgot I had this.

One of these men is my great great great grandfather.

[mostly-history]

A competitor in the archery events at the 1900 Paris Olympics.

Many archery events were held at these Games, but only seven of them are considered to be “Olympic”.  The rest are excluded either because they were really French championships (although international competitors were invited), or because they were team events that served as qualifiers for the final events.

This was the first time archery was contested at the Olympic Games. 153 men competed (women would be allowed to compete in archery in 1904), from France, Belgium and the Netherlands.  No Dutch archers reached the individual event finals, and France took most of the medals.

[ohhowpeculiar]

Now, for a super short, bloodless mystery: Who was the anonymous gold medalist of the 1900 Olympics rowing finals?

After losing their heat, the Dutch rowing team decided they needed to find a lighter coxswain (member responsible for steering), and recruited a young French boy for the final event. This was a tactic commonly employed by French rowers to have a slight advantage over their competitors. 

The Dutch team and their new coxswain won the Gold medal, but the young boy slipped away in the crowd and has never been identified. The above photo is the only clue to his identity.

He may have been one of the youngest Olympians ever, with age estimates ranging from 7 to 14 years old. 

Wikipedia: Coxswain mystery

Newser: Mystery Surrounds the Youngest-Ever Olympian

[mostly-history]

Horse long jump at the Paris Olympics (May 29th, 1900).

This one-time Olympic event was won by Belgium's Constant van Langendonck and his horse Extra Dry, with a distance of 6.1 metres. The Olympic record for the human long jump at the time, however, was 6.35 metres (America’s Ellery Clark at the 1896 Olympics).

[mostly-history]

Charlotte Reinagle Cooper, the first Olympic champion in women's tennis (date unknown).

Cooper was one of the first women to use an overhead serve.  She had an offensive playing style, and was excellent at volleying, although it was rare in women's tennis at the time.  At the Paris Olympics in 1900, she placed first in women's singles and mixed doubles (with Reginald Doherty).  Like most of the winners at these Olympics, she received trophies rather than medals (it wasn't until the 1904 Olympics that the gold-silver-bronze tradition began).

[mostly-history]

Live pigeon shooting at the Paris Olympics (August 1900).

This was the only Games at which animals were killed on purpose. Animal rights campaigns were carried out to prevent live shooting, and in the US in 1902, bans were introduced that led to the use of clay pigeons.  The 1908 London Games featured running deer shooting events, but cardboard cut-outs of deer were used.

There were three events for live pigeon shooting, but none of the results are included in the IOC Olympic results list, so they are counted as “non-Olympic events”.  Birds were released one at a time from traps in front of the competitors, and the winners were decided by who shot the most birds out of the sky.  Anyone who missed two birds was eliminated.

Léon de Lunden (BEL), who won the 200 franc entrance fee event with 21 kills.

[mostly-history]

Tug of war at the Antwerp Olympics (August 1920).

The tug of war appeared on the Olympic program for the first time in 1900, and the last time in 1920.  Each team had six men, and they had to pull their opponents six feet to win.  If neither side had managed this, the judges allowed another five minutes, and the team who had made the most progress was the winner.  The British team, which routinely included London City police officers, won gold in 1908 and 1920, and silver in 1912.

[g0ldmedal]

Olympic Swimming Events You’ve Never Heard Of

In the early days of the Olympics the events in the pool were unusual and designed for entertainment. Here are some of the unusual events that you might not have known about. In 1896 there was a swimming race that was approximately 100m but to participate you had to be Greek and you had to be in the Greek navy. This unique swim race must have helped the medal count for the Greek team! The…

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