July 24th 2008 marked the 100th anniversary of the first time the Olympic Marathon was run at the now official distance of 26 miles 385 yards.
The Marathon race was invented for the modern revival of the Olympic Games in 1896. The aristocratic organisers came up with the idea of a race commemorating the mythical herald Pheidippides, who was supposed to have run from the battlefield of Marathon with news of the unexpected victory of the outnumbered Greek army over the invading Persians in 490 BC. According to legend, Pheidippides ran the 25 miles non-stop from the coast to the central square of Athens, arriving with just enough energy left to declare “Victory!” - and then fell dead from exhaustion.
In July 1908 the two weeks of stadium games began badly with poor attendance and wretched weather. Tension between the British hosts and a fiercely nationalistic American team, dominated by Irish Americans from New York, sparked a series of scandals. The Americans were determined to prove that they – with their new “scientific” training methods – were the rightful leaders of the international sport and not the British. The stands began to fill with partisan supporters as Team America swept the board in track and field events.
The Marathon Race was the climax of the Games. Long distance running was supposed to be the last bastion of British sportsmanship. The home crowd expected their men to win. The atmosphere was at fever pitch. Friday 24th July was a hot day. Tens of thousands of flag waving spectators lined the route from the East Terrace of Windsor Castle to the White City Stadium.
The race was hard with many changes of lead. One by one the British champions fell. Then the favourite, Canadian Tom Longboat, an Iroquois Indian, collapsed – supposedly nobbled with strychnine
The stadium was crammed with 100,000 spectators. Among them, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (creator of Sherlock Holmes), a celebrity reporter for the Daily Mail, had a seat by the finish line in front of the royal box where the 63 year old Queen Alexandra herself waited to see the British Empire vindicated.
Instead, Italian Dorando Pietri staggered into view. He had won himself a 3½ minute lead but he was ready to drop. Time after time he fell as he stumbled around the track. As he apparently lay dying yards from the finish line, with a doctor massaging his chest, another runner entered the stadium. Johnny Hayes, an Irish American from New York, came pounding down the track.
The doctor and track official bending over Pietri helped him up and with their support he staggered across the line 35 seconds ahead of the American and the crowd went wild.
Dorando Pietri was eventually disqualified and the gold medal went to the American Johnny Hayes, but Pietri became the popular hero of the day. And at the prize giving, Queen Alexandra gave him a special silver cup to honour his heroic race.
Posted 26/08/2008 12:13:23 by Rebecca Jenkins with 0 comments.
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