1900 Summer Olympics

The 1900 Summer Olympics (), today officially known as the Games of the II Olympiad () and also known as Paris 1900, were an international multi-sport event that took place in Paris, France, from 14 May to 28 October 1900. No opening or closing ceremonies were held.

At the Olympic Congress of 1894, which convened in the Sorbonne building, Pierre de Coubertin proposed that the Olympic Games should take place in Paris in 1900. However, the delegates to the conference were unwilling to wait six years and lobbied to hold the first games in 1896. A decision was made to hold the first Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens and have Paris host the second Games.

The Games were held as part of the 1900 Exposition Universelle (World's Fair). In total, 1,226 competitors took part in 19 different sports. This number relies on certain assumptions about which events were and were not "Olympic". Many athletes, some of whom had won events, were unaware they had competed in the Olympic Games. Women took part in the games for the first time, with sailor Hélène de Pourtalès, born Helen Barbey in New York City, becoming the first female Olympic champion. The decision to hold competitions on a Sunday brought protests from many American athletes, who traveled as representatives of their colleges and were expected to withdraw rather than compete on their religious day of rest.

Most of the winners in 1900 did not receive medals but were given cups or trophies. Professionals competed in fencing, as was tradition, and Albert Robert Ayat (France), who won the épée for amateurs and masters, was awarded a prize of 3,000  F (equivalent to in ). Some events were contested for the only time in the history of the Games, including angling, motor racing,Journal of Olympic History, Special Issue – December 2008, The Official Publication of the International Society of Olympic Historians, p. 8, by Karl Lennartz, Tony Bijkerk and Volker Kluge ballooning,Journal of Olympic History, Special Issue – December 2008, The Official Publication of the International Society of Olympic Historians, p. 13, by Karl Lennartz, Tony Bijkerk and Volker Kluge cricket,Journal of Olympic History, Special Issue – December 2008, The Official Publication of the International Society of Olympic Historians, p. 32, by Karl Lennartz, Tony Bijkerk and Volker Kluge croquet,Journal of Olympic History, Special Issue – December 2008, The Official Publication of the International Society of Olympic Historians, p. 33, by Karl Lennartz, Tony Bijkerk and Volker Kluge Basque pelota,Journal of Olympic History, Special Issue – December 2008, The Official Publication of the International Society of Olympic Historians, p. 52, by Karl Lennartz, Tony Bijkerk and Volker Kluge 200m swimming obstacle race and underwater swimming.Journal of Olympic History, Special Issue – December 2008, The Official Publication of the International Society of Olympic Historians, p. 77, by Karl Lennartz, Tony Bijkerk, and Volker Kluge This was also the only Olympic Games in history to use live animals (pigeons) as targets during the shooting event. The host nation of France fielded 72% of all athletes (720 of the 997) and won the most gold, silver and bronze medal placings. U.S. athletes won the second-most in each while fielding the fifth-most participants, 75. British athletes won the third-most in each while fielding the second most participants, 102.

Organization

The 1900 Games were held as part of the . The Baron de Coubertin believed this would help public awareness of the Olympics and submitted elaborate plans to rebuild the ancient site of Olympia, complete with statues, temples, stadia, and gymnasia. The director of the Exposition Universelle, Alfred Picard, thought holding an ancient sport event at the Exposition Universelle was an "absurd anachronism".Cropper, Corry: ''Playing at monarchy: sport as a metaphor in nineteenth-century France''
Accessed through Google Books, Retrieved 1 March 2010 After thanking de Coubertin for his plans, Picard filed them away and nothing more came of it.

A committee was formed for the organization of the Games, consisting of some of the more able sports administrators of the day, and a provisional program was drawn up. Sports to be included at the games were track and field athletics, swimming, wrestling, gymnastics, fencing, French and British boxing, river and ocean yacht racing, cycling, golf, lifesaving, archery, weightlifting, rowing, diving, and water polo.

British and Irish sports associations and several influential American universities and sports clubs announced their desire to compete. Competitors from Russia and Australia also confirmed their intentions to travel to Paris.

On 9 November 1898, the Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques ("Union of the French Societies for Athletic Sports" or USFSA) announced that it would have the sole right to any organized sport held during the World's Fair. It was an empty threat, but Viscount Charles de La Rochefoucauld, the nominated head of the organizing committee, stepped down rather than be embroiled in the political battle.
The Baron de Coubertin, also secretary-general of the USFSA, was urged to withdraw from active involvement in running the Games and did so, only to comment later, "I surrendered—and was incorrect in doing so."

The IOC ceded control of the Games to a new committee to oversee every sporting activity connected to the 1900 Exposition Universelle. Alfred Picard appointed Daniel Mérillon, the head of the French Shooting Association, as president of this organization in February 1899. Mérillon published an entirely different schedule of events, which resulted in many of those who had made plans to compete with the original program withdrawing and refusing to deal with the new committee.

Between May and October 1900, the new organizing committee held many sporting activities alongside the Paris Exposition. The term "Olympic" rarely used in sporting events. Indeed, the term "Olympic Games" was replaced by "''Concours internationaux d'exercices physiques et de sport''" ("International contests of physical exercises and of sport" in English) in the official report of the sporting events of the 1900 Exposition Universelle. The press reported competitions variously as "International Championships", "International Games", "Paris Championships", "World Championships" and "Grand Prix of the Paris Exposition".

These poorly organized games, along with those of 1904, were termed decades later by several historians "The Farcical Games." Years later, many competitors were unaware that they had competed in the Olympics. While there is an Official Report of these Games, complete records of results do not exist. De Coubertin commented later to friends, "It's a miracle that the Olympic Movement survived that celebration".

Highlights

* These Olympic Games were the first organised under the IOC Presidency of Pierre de Coubertin
* Alvin Kraenzlein (United States) won the 60 metres (he was one of two people to ever win this event at the Olympic Games as it was withdrawn from Olympic competition after the 1904 Olympics), the 110 metre hurdles, the 200 metre hurdles and the long jump events; , these four individual gold medals are still a record for a track and field athlete. For his victory in the long jump, he was allegedly punched in the face by his rival Meyer Prinstein, who was prevented from competing in the final by officials of Syracuse University because it was scheduled for a Sunday.
* American-born Hélène de Pourtalès became the first female Olympic champion as part of the Swiss winning team in the 1-2 ton sailing event. Two months later, Charlotte Cooper (UK) became the first woman to win an individual Olympic event after winning the women's singles tennis competition. She later went on to win the mixed doubles tournament.
* Three marathon runners from the United States contested the result saying the French runners who got first and second places took a short cut, and in fact they were the only contestants not spattered with mud.
* In the coxed pairs and eights events in rowing, crews replaced adult coxswain with children. The identities and ages of these boys were not recorded but they are believed to have been among the youngest of all Olympic competitors.

Sports

Before July 2021, the IOC had never decided which events were "Olympic". In fact, Pierre de Coubertin had ceded that entire determination to the organizers. The IOC webpage for the 1900 Summer Olympics affirms a total of 95 medal events. Weightlifting and wrestling were dropped since the 1896 Summer Olympics, while 12 new sports were added. Among the sports below, only croquet was not an international competition, being contested by French players only. The number of events in each discipline is noted in parentheses.

Venues

14 venues were used at the 1900 Summer Olympics to host 20 sports.

Sport-by-sport overview

The standard of competition at the Games was variable. Despite a poor-quality track, a strong
contingent of top-class American collegiate athletes ensured the track and field competitions were of the highest quality. The tennis gold medalists were all former Wimbledon champions; swimming and fencing events were of a good standard; and even polo, a minority sport for the social elite, was well represented by some of the best players in the game. Other sports were noticeably weak in both quality and depth. Only athletics, swimming and fencing had competitors from more than ten nations.

Archery

The history of the archery competition at the 1900 Olympics is one of confusion. The IOC currently lists six events with Olympic status, but a case has been made that as many as eight other events equally deserve to be considered part of official Olympic history. About 150 archers competed in the six events that later had official status conferred. However, as many as 5,000 were involved in archery competition in conjunction with the 1900 World's Fair. Belgian Hubert Van Innis took two gold medals and one silver and would add to his tally twenty years later in Antwerp.

Athletics

The track and field events were held at the home of the Racing Club de France at the Croix-Catelan stadium in Bois de Boulogne. No track was laid and races took place on an uneven field of grass littered with trees. Additional events were held for professionals and a series of handicap races also took place. These are not considered official Olympic events.

The sprints

In the seven events contested over 400 metres or less, the United States took 13 out of a possible 21 medals. Athletes from Columbia University, Princeton University and the University of Pennsylvania all won gold medals. Indeed, two would-be dentists from the University of Pennsylvania were among the stars of the Games. Alvin Kraenzlein won 4 individual gold medals, a feat that has never repeated, while Walter Tewksbury took five medals including two golds. The hurdles in the 400 m hurdle race were -long telegraph poles arranged on the track and the race, uniquely in Olympic competition, had a water jump on the final straight. Adolphe Klingelhoeffer, who had Brazilian citizenship in 1900, competed for France in three events.

Middle- and long-distance races

United States dominance in sprinting was matched in the longer track races by United Kingdom. Only George Orton, who won Canada's first Olympic title in the shorter of the two steeplechases, ruined a perfect record for the British. Orton won his title less than an hour after placing third in the 400-metre hurdles.

The Marathon

The most contentious of all the events in these Games began and ended in the Bois de Boulogne. Intended to follow the track of the old city wall, the course was poorly marked out and runners often got lost and had to double back on themselves before continuing. On some parts of the course, runners had to contend with distractions from cars, bicycles, pedestrians and animals. Arthur Newton of the United States finished fifth but stated he had not been passed by any other runner during the race. Another American, Richard Grant, claimed he was run down by a cyclist as he made ground on the leaders. French honour seemed to have been satisfied when Michel Théato crossed the finish line and a military band struck up La Marseillaise. However, modern research has revealed that Théato was born in Luxembourg and maintained Luxembourgian citizenship throughout his life.

Field events

The Hungarian discus thrower Rudolf Bauer was the only non-American crowned as Olympic Champion. American domination was even greater in the field events than the track events, with outstanding performances coming from Ray Ewry and Irving Baxter. Ewry started his Olympic career with a sweep of the three standing jumps, while Baxter finished second to Ewry three times and won both the regular high jump and pole vault. Meyer Prinstein became the first Jewish Olympic gold medalist in the triple jump.

Basque pelota

The chistera form of the game was played at this, the sport's only appearance at full Olympic level. Two pairs entered and the Spanish partnerships of Amezola and Villota became their nations' first Olympic champions. The mano form of the game and a chistera tournament for professional players were contested unofficially.

Cricket

After the withdrawal of teams from the Netherlands and Belgium, only two teams played in the cricket tournament. A team made up of players from the Albion Cricket Club and the Standard Athletic Club, two Paris clubs consisting almost exclusively of British expatriates, played a touring team from the southwest of England. The Devon and Somerset Wanderers were no more than a team of competent club cricketers (made up from Blundells School old boys and members of Castle Cary Cricket Club), and only Montagu Toller and Alfred Bowerman were deemed good enough to play at county level for Somerset. The game was played before a small crowd at the Vélodrome de Vincennes. An emphatic second innings bowling performance from Toller captured victory for the visitors as time appeared to be running out for them. If the French had held out for five more minutes the game would have been a draw. Knowledge of the game would have been lost but for the forethought of John Symes, a member of the victorious team, who kept a scorecard in his own writing.

Croquet

The croquet tournament was notable as it marked the first appearance of women at Olympic level. Madame Desprès, Madame Filleul-Brohy and Mademoiselle Ohier were eliminated in the first round of competition. All players were French. A single paying spectator attended the tournament, an elderly English gentleman who travelled from Nice

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases