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| ISBN-13: | 9780826264756 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | University of Missouri Press |
| Publication date: | 07/22/2005 |
| Series: | Sports and American Culture , #1 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 256 |
| File size: | 11 MB |
| Note: | This product may take a few minutes to download. |
| Age Range: | 14 Years |
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CHAPTER 1
A Tale of Two Cities
The St. Louis Olympic games of 1904 were originally scheduled to take place in Chicago. On May 21, 1901, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), meeting in Paris, unanimously voted to award the games of the third Olympiad to Chicago. More than a year and a half later, on February 10, 1903, the Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the man most responsible for the modern revival of the Olympic games and the president of the International Olympic Committee, announced from Paris that the Olympic games for 1904 had been transferred to St. Louis. Chicago and St. Louis, however, were not the only American cities that made attempts to host the 1904 Olympic games. Philadelphia, Buffalo, and New York were all possible candidates.
The first modern Olympic games, held in Athens, Greece, in 1896, were a huge success. At their conclusion, the Greek government proposed that Athens become the permanent home for the Olympics. Many, including the American athletes who participated in the Athens games, supported this proposal. While the ancient Olympic games inspired the modern revival, Coubertin believed the modern Olympics should reflect the contemporary world (competition in modern, not ancient, athletic events) and be international in scope. When the Olympic games were revived in 1894, Coubertin had promoted the idea of rotating the Olympic site every four years to ensure the internationalism of the modern games. Success in Athens, as great as it was, did not persuade Coubertin to alter this founding principle. In November 1896, Coubertin explained his rationale for rotating Olympic sites in an article published in the United States. He firmly stated that the Olympic games for 1900 would be in Paris, and, in 1904, in New York, Berlin, or Stockholm. At this point the specific site for the 1904 games had not been determined, but they were not going to be in Greece.
The second Olympic games did take place in Paris in 1900, but were a failure. At the end of the nineteenth century, only in England and America did sports play a significant role in society. In France sport was considered frivolous and a distraction from the more serious intellectual concerns such as art, literature, and politics. The French viewed sports and games as English concepts and therefore non-French; French chauvinism and the historical cultural antagonism between the two countries prevented adoption of these English cultural attributes. Pierre de Coubertin was the rare exception, and it is ironic that a French aristocrat was the person most responsible for the revival of the modern Olympic games.
Coubertin believed that the infant Olympic games would benefit from association with an established international concept such as the World's Fair movement, and wanted to weld the 1900 games to the Paris fair. The World's Fair concept originated with national fairs in France at the end of the eighteenth century, and in 1889, Paris, commemorating the centennial of the French Revolution, hosted an extremely successful World's Fair. The Eiffel Tower was constructed for this event. Coubertin made elaborate and detailed plans for the 1900 Olympic games, but encountered instant and vigorous opposition when he presented his plans to the officials of the Paris World's Fair. Alfred Picart, the director for the Paris fair, believed sports to be utterly useless and absurd. Coubertin tried to organize an Olympic program, but constant opposition and hostility wore him down. Eventually, frustration led Coubertin to resign from the Olympic Organizing Committee, leaving the organization of the 1900 Olympic games in the hands of sportant-agonistic officials. The results were predictable. Construction of new athletic facilities was not even considered. Existing facilities were grossly inadequate. A clump of trees adorned the landing zone of the discus and hammer events, making the outcome of the throws an adventure. Organization of the sports events was chaotic and there was no comprehensive Olympic program. Instead, the sports were scattered throughout other classifications of the World's Fair, sometimes in ludicrous associations. For example, athletics (track and field) were part of Provident Societies (charities), rowing was under Life-Saving, and skating and fencing events were placed under Cutlery. As a final insult, the words "Olympic games" were never used in reference to any sports event! Coubertin, in regards to these games of 1900, stated, "... nothing Olympic about them. We have made a hash of our work."
In May 1900, just before the opening of the Paris games, the International Olympic Committee met in Paris. On the agenda was a discussion of possible sites for the 1904 games. In 1894, London had been briefly considered as a site for the revival Olympics of 1896, but Athens was ultimately selected for that honor. London, however, was understood to have the inside track for the 1904 games, although there was no official agreement. During deliberations of the IOC in May 1900, William Milligan Sloane, the American member, suggested that the United States be considered for 1904. Philadelphia was the first American city to express an interest in hosting the Olympic games of that year. The University of Pennsylvania was the premier track and field power in the United States, winning nine of thirteen events at the American Intercollegiate Championships of 1899. Exalting in their success, Penn athletic officials planned a tour of Europe the following year, first competing against several universities in England, and then in France at the Olympic games.
In May 1900, athletic administrators from the University of Pennsylvania contacted British Olympic athletic authorities about the possibility of "transferring" the Olympic games of 1904 from London to Philadelphia. Frank Ellis, a graduate of Penn and former chairman of the university's track and field committee, was selected to represent Penn in its efforts to host the 1904 games. His mission was to express Philadelphia's interest in hosting the third Olympiad to British Olympic officials, secure their consent and support, and then present the Philadelphia proposal to Coubertin and the International Olympic Committee. British Olympic officials had indicated their receptiveness to the proposal from Philadelphia, so success in England was expected. Ellis and the Penn athletes sailed for Europe in early June. Ellis's efforts were indeed successful; on July 28, 1900, the New York Times and Chicago Tribune reported that the Olympic games were coming to America in 1904 and that Philadelphia would be the host city. Then, mysteriously, Philadelphia and Frank Ellis faded from the scene. There is an explanation. During the summer of 1900, while the Paris games were in progress, James E. Sullivan, assistant director of the American Olympic team in Paris and secretary-general of the Amateur Athletic Union in the United States, met in Paris with French track and field officials in an attempt to form an International Federation of Track and Field. The American AAU was the dominant athletic organization in the United States and Sullivan was the power behind the AAU. Formed in 1888 to coordinate, direct, and control athletic competition among the numerous athletic clubs that had been formed in the major cities of America during the last third of the nineteenth century, the AAU had no rival for athletic supremacy in 1900 (the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA, was not formed until 1906).
Sullivan did not share Coubertin's vision of the Olympic games as a grand international sports festival. He instead held a limited view of the Olympics as simply an international track and field competition. The formation of an international track and field organization was an attempt by Sullivan to wrest control of the Olympic games from Coubertin and the International Olympic Committee. James Sullivan was an aggressive and often bellicose American chauvinist who viewed track and field competition as a manifestation of a nation's strength and character. He was a blunt, combative, nonon-sense pragmatist obsessed with making the United States the world's greatest track and field power. He considered himself the ultimate authority on track and field and viewed Coubertin and the IOC with contempt. He later remarked, "Coubertin was a powerless, pathetic figure in charge of an inept committee." Sullivan was convinced that the Olympic games required his leadership.
Sullivan had been chosen as the director of athletics for the Pan American Exposition to be held in Buffalo in 1901, and he wanted the Olympic games to be part of the athletic celebration in Buffalo. Sullivan convinced two Americans to join and support his efforts: Casper Whitney, president and editor of Outing Magazine (one of the premier sports magazines of the day), and Philadelphian Frank Ellis. Sullivan persuaded Ellis to join his crusade to control the Olympics, supporting the new international track and field organization, the Buffalo Olympics of 1901, and abandoning efforts to promote the Olympic interest of Philadelphia. Ellis must have felt that patriotism and the Olympian ambitions of Sullivan required Philadelphia to surrender its Olympic quest.
On November 1, 1900, an article appeared in the Boston Transcript newspaper and the national Public Opinion magazine stating that an American committee composed of James E. Sullivan, Casper Whitney, and Frank Ellis had been successful in their efforts to have Buffalo host the Olympic games in 1901. Sullivan, having failed during the summer of 1900 in Paris to form an International Federation of Track and Field, still sought control of the Olympic games. Coubertin, aware of Sullivan's attempt to form a new international organization, recognized that effort as a threat to his own control of the Olympic movement. Coubertin moved quickly to counter Sullivan's ambitions. In October 1900, Coubertin appointed two more Americans to join William Sloane on the International Olympic Committee: Theodore Stanton and Casper Whitney. Stanton was a complete novice to sport, a surprise choice in 1900, and his appointment to the IOC remains a mystery to this day. His tenure as a member of the IOC ended in 1904. The selection of Whitney, on the other hand, was pure genius on Coubertin's part. Whitney was not only one of the most prominent sports editors in America but also had been part of Sullivan's committee that challenged Coubertin and the IOC during the summer of 1900. Coubertin, in one masterful stroke, not only secured the loyalty and support of a prominent American journalist but also converted a member of Sullivan's own team to his cause.
The Pan-American Exposition was set to open in May 1901, in Buffalo, with James Sullivan as the director of athletics. In a direct assault on Coubertin and the International Olympic Committee, on November 1, 1900, Sullivan unilaterally announced that the Olympic games would be held in Buffalo in 1901. Coubertin, outraged, responded decisively. He confronted several individuals who had conspired with Sullivan, including some members of the International Olympic Committee, demanding loyalty. Count Brunetta d'Usseaux of Italy, Professor Bergh-Petre of Sweden, and G. de Saint-Clair and Pierre Roy of France quickly denied supporting Sullivan. Coubertin's aggressive action ended any possibility of defection and ended the bid of Buffalo to host the Olympic games in 1901. Still, Coubertin took no chances. On November 11, 1900, he announced publicly that the next Olympic games would be in 1904, and would be held in either New York or Chicago. Two days later, in an article in the New York Sun, the combative Sullivan, referring to Coubertin's resignation from the Paris Organizing Committee, responded to the Baron's public announcement, saying Coubertin had "... been stripped of his athletic powers by the French government and was no longer in control of international meetings."
Sullivan was not concerned with Olympic principles and protocol, as evidenced by his attempt to subvert the quadrennial cycle of the Olympic games by conducting Olympic games only one year after the Paris Olympics of 1900. He viewed the Olympic games as an international track and field meet and as a venue for the United States to demonstrate athletic supremacy. But in January of 1901, Whitney, longtime friend of James Sullivan and recently appointed (October 1900) International Olympic Committee member, reminded Sullivan that his AAU was not only without international jurisdiction but also had no control of American college athletes. Coubertin had gained an ally in Casper Whitney. Over the next several months, Sullivan reluctantly accepted the inevitable and acknowledged the authority of Coubertin and the International Olympic Committee.
New York, America's largest and best-known city at the end of the nineteenth century, was mentioned by Coubertin as early as 1896 as a possible site for the 1904 Olympic games. But New York made no effort to host the games. Coubertin named New York based on the city's international prestige and as a synonym for the United States. Again, in November of 1900, Coubertin publicly announced that the 1904 Olympics would be held in either New York or Chicago. The only specific reference to New York possibly hosting the Olympic games occurred in a letter written by William M. Sloane to Coubertin on December 12, 1900. Sloane says, "I am not sure, but I think it would be possible to unite our four oldest universities in a plan to hold games of 1904 in New York." Sloane is referring to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Penn. This plan also pointedly excludes James Sullivan and his Amateur Athletic Union. In the same letter, after mentioning the New York idea, Sloane states that he personally favors Chicago as the host city for 1904. There was never any organized effort by anyone to have New York host the 1904 Olympic games.
The precise origin of Chicago's attempt to serve as host for the 1904 Olympic games is unknown. It is likely that a group of Chicago movers and shakers, meeting at the Chicago Athletic Club, began discussing the possibility during the spring of 1900. The Chicago Athletic Club provided a gathering place for the wealthy and social elite of the city. By May, Chicago was very much aware of the Paris Olympic games. Albert G. Spalding, Chicago's favorite son, founder of the Spalding Sporting Goods empire, and co-founder of the Chicago Athletic Club, had been put in charge of the American athletes by the U.S. Commission to the Paris Exposition. The University of Chicago was represented on the American team by a group of track and field athletes coached by the legendary Amos Alonzo Stagg. The participation of these local athletes, Stagg, and Albert Spalding prompted the Chicago Tribune to offer extensive coverage of the games. A steady supply of stories wired from Paris by Chicago reporters told of the athletic successes of their local heroes. Illustrations accompanied many of the articles and kept Chicago readers informed on Olympic matters. This coverage undoubtedly created an interest in the Olympic movement among the socially elite and sports-minded citizens of the city, including Henry J. Furber, a prominent Chicago attorney and businessman and a member of the Chicago Athletic Club. It is not unreasonable to imagine Furber and other members of the club reading accounts and discussing the Olympic exploits of Chicago and fellow American athletes in Paris and proposing that Chicago bring the 1904 Olympic games to their city.
Chicago's efforts to secure the Olympic games of 1904 began during the summer of 1900, probably in July or early August. Someone from the Chicago Athletic Club discussion group, probably Henry Furber, contacted Henri Merou, the consul-general of the French Consulate in Chicago. Consul Merou was cooperative and contacted Henri Breal, the secretary of the Franco-American Committee in Paris, asking if Breal would support the efforts of Chicago to host the next Olympic games. Henri Breal was aware of the Olympic movement since its inception in 1894. At the initial Olympic Congress of 1894, his father, Michael Breal, a close friend of Coubertin, had conceived the idea of the marathon run, an event unknown in either ancient or modern times, but based on the legendary run of the Greek messenger Pheidippides. Dispatched from the battle of Marathon (490 BCE) to Athens, Pheidippides ran the twenty-four miles to Athens, proclaimed the Greek victory over the Persians, then died from exertion.
The longest race in the ancient Olympic games was an event called the dolichos, which varied from between 20 and 24 stades, about 2 miles. The official marathon distance of 26 miles, 385 yards was established at the London Olympic games of 1908. Coubertin thought the marathon a bit extreme, but recognized the symbolism of such an event and agreed to include the marathon run in the Olympics to honor the glory and heritage of ancient Greece. Michael Breal, after conceiving the idea, also donated a silver cup, which was awarded to the winner of the first marathon race at Athens in 1896.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "America's First Olympics"
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