1904 Summer Olympics

The **1904 Summer Olympics**, officially known as the **Games of the III Olympiad**, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in St. Louis, Missouri, in the United States from August 29 until September 3, 1904, as part of an extended sports program lasting from July 1 to November 23, 1904, at what is now known as Francis Field on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis. It was the first time that the Olympic Games were held in a majority English language nation, and the first time that they were held outside of Europe.

## Background

The city of Chicago, Illinois originally won the bid to host the 1904 Summer Olympics, but the organizers of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis would not accept another international event in the same time frame. The exposition organization began to plan for its own sports activities, informing the Chicago OCOG that its own international sports events intended to eclipse the Olympic Games unless they were moved to St. Louis. Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic movement, gave in and awarded the games to St. Louis.

### Sports

	+ File:Diving pictogram.svg Diving (2) (details)
	+ File:Swimming pictogram.svg Swimming (9) (details)
* File:Archery pictogram.svg Archery (6) (details)
* File:Athletics pictogram.svg Athletics (25) (details)
* File:Boxing pictogram.svg Boxing (7) (details)
* File:Cycling (road) pictogram.svg Cycling (7) (details)
* File:Fencing pictogram.svg Fencing (5) (details)
* File:Football pictogram.svg Football (1) (details)
* File:Gymnastics (artistic) pictogram.svg Gymnastics (11) (details)
* File:Lacrosse pictogram.svg Lacrosse (1) (details)
* File:Roque pictogram.svg Roque (1) (details)
* File:Rowing pictogram.svg Rowing (5) (details)
* File:Tennis pictogram.svg Tennis (2) (details)
* File:Tug of war pictogram.svg Tug of war (1) (details)
* File:Pictogram.svg Weighlifting (2) (details)
* File:Wrestling pictogram.svg Wrestling (7) (details)

* Basketball, Hurling were featured as demonstration sports

## Venues

Main article: Venues of the 1904 Summer Olympics

* Creve Coeur Lake – Rowing
* Francis Field – Archery, Athletics, Cycling, Football, Gymnastics, Lacrosse, Roque, Tennis, Tug of war, Weightlifting, and Wrestling
* Francis Gymnasium – Boxing, Fencing
* Forest Park – Diving, Swimming.
* Glen Echo Country Club – Golf

## Participating nations

 File:1904 Summer Olympic games countries.png
 File:1904 Summer olympics team numbers.png
Athletes from twelve nations competed in St. Louis. Numbers in parentheses indicate the number of known competitors for each nation. Due to the difficulty of getting to St. Louis, and since the Russo-Japanese War caused European tensions, only 52 athletes from outside of North America came to the Olympics.

* File:Flag of Australia (1903–1908).svg Australia (3)
* File:Flag of the Habsburg Monarchy.svg Austria (2)
* File:Canadian Red Ensign (1868-1921).svg Canada (56)
* File:Flag of Cuba.svg Cuba (3)
* File:Flag of France.svg France (1)
* File:Flag of the German Empire.svg Germany (22)
* File:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Great Britain (6)
* File:Flag of Greece (1828-1978).svg Greece (14)
* File:Flag of Hungary (1867-1918).svg Hungary (4)
* File:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg South Africa (8)
* File:Flag of Switzerland.svg Switzerland (2)
* File:US flag 45 stars.svg United States (526)

## Medal count

Main article: 1904 Summer Olympics medal table
These are the top ten nations to win medals at the 1904 Games.

 File:Silver medal of 1904 Summer Olympics.jpg

The nationalities of many medalists are disputed as many competitors were recent immigrants to the United States who had not yet been granted US citizenship.

In 2009, historians from the International Society of Olympic Historians discovered that cyclist Frank Bizzoni formerly thought to be an American athlete was still an Italian citizen when he competed in 1904.

The International Olympic Committee considers Norwegian-American wrestlers Charles Ericksen and Bernhoff Hansen to have competed for the United States; each won a gold medal. In 2012, Norwegian historians however found documentation showing that Ericksen did not receive American citizenship until March 22, 1905, and that Hansen, who was registered as an "alien" as late as 1925, probably never received American citizenship. The historians have therefore petitioned to have the athletes registered as Norwegians.
In May 2013 it was reported that the Norwegian Olympic Committee had filed a formal application for changing the nationality of the wrestlers in IOC's medal database.

The Australian Olympic Committee claims Francis Gailey as an Australian rather than an American as per the IOC records. He won three silver medals and a bronze in swimming.

Multi-medalist Frank Kugler is recognised as an American by the IOC although he was a German national at the time of the Games. The same applies to Swiss national Gustav Thiefenthaler.

The IOC also lists French-American Albert Corey as a United States competitor for his marathon silver medal, but (together with four undisputed Americans) as part of a mixed team for the team race silver medal. Other sources list these athletes as competitors for their country of birth rather than the United States.

## External links

Template:Nations at the 1904 Summer Olympics

Template:1904 Summer Olympic venues

1. ↑ Mallon, Bill (1998). 1904 Olympic Games — Analysis and Summaries. LA84 Foundation. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved on August 8, 2011.