The 1904 Olympic Marathon Was More Gruesome Than The Hunger Games, And Every Athlete Had It Worse Than The Other

Source: Bored Panda

The marathon is one of the most iconic events at the Olympics, taking place on the very last day just before the closing ceremony. But today’s competitions are nothing compared to the 1904 race that left multiple athletes within an inch of death. Less than half of them actually finished the run.

Here’s how it all unfolded.

The 1904 Olympics took place in St Louis, USA. It consisted of only a third of the events that are held today. Most of them were even closed to female competitors. Moreover, because of travel difficulties and rising tensions around the Russo-Japanese war, only 62 international athletes competed, compared to the 11,544 that participated at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. St Louis kind of bullied their way into hosting the games after Chicago originally won the bid. Its main leverage – the Louisiana Purchase Exposition World’s Fair which was being held at the very same time. The two events ended up being combined into one very, very peculiar extravaganza.

Today’s marathons are nothing compared to the 1904 Olympic race that left multiple athletes within an inch of death

For some reason, the organizers thought it would be better to hold it during the afternoon instead of the morning

This meant the athletes had to run in temperatures of over 86 degrees Fahrenheit (over 30 degrees Celsius)

The only water the competitors had access to was a well around the 11 mile

The track consisted entirely of dirt roads, so the cars and horses riding ahead and behind the runners caused huge dust clouds that became hugely problematic for them

Olympic chronicler Charles Lucas noted that “the visiting athletes were not accustomed to the water, and, as a consequence, many suffered from intestinal disorders”

People found American runner William Garcia lying on the road in the middle of the track

People found American runner William Garcia lying on the road in the middle of the track, suffering severe internal injuries from breathing the dust kicked up by officials’ cars and horses.

The before-mentioned Lucas said that, “the dust particles caused an erosion of the membranous wall of the stomach and a serious hemorrhage resulted which almost cost the Californian his life.”

Cuban postman Andarín Carvajal was probably the most unprepared athlete in the race

Another competitor was Cuban postman Andarin Carvajal, probably the most unprepared for the race of them all. Andarin lost all of his money in New Orleans, hitchhiked to St. Louis cut off his trousers, trying to make them look as close to running shorts as possible. During the beginning of the marathon he hadn’t eaten in 40 hours, so somewhere along the race, he stopped to grab some apples from an orchard. They turned out to be rotten. Despite developing severe stomach cramps, Carvajal may have had a shot at winning. But according to Lucas, he stopped to chat with every crowd assembled along the course. Miraculously,…

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