Download or read book America s First Olympics written by George R. Matthews and published by University of Missouri Press. This book was released on 2005-07-22 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: America in 1904 was a nation bristling with energy and confidence. Inspired by Theodore Roosevelt, the nation’s young, spirited, and athletic president, a sports mania rampaged across the country. Eager to celebrate its history, and to display its athletic potential, the United States hosted the world at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis. One part of the World’s Fair was the nation’s first Olympic games. Revived in Greece in 1896, the Olympic movement was also young and energetic. In fact, the St. Louis Olympics were only the third in modern times. Although the games were originally awarded to Chicago, St. Louis wrestled them from her rival city against the wishes of International Olympic Committee President Pierre de Coubertin. Athletes came from eleven countries and four continents to compete in state-of-the-art facilities, which included a ten-thousand-seat stadium with gymnasium equipment donated by sporting goods magnate Albert Spalding. The 1904 St. Louis Olympics garnered only praise, and all agreed that the games were a success, improving both the profile of the Olympic movement and the prestige of the United States. But within a few years, the games of 1904 receded in memory. They suffered a worse fate with the publication of Coubertin’s memoirs in 1931. His selective recollections, exaggerated claims, and false statements turned the forgotten Olympics into the failed Olympics. This prejudiced account was furthered by the 1948 publication of An Approved History of the Olympic Games by Bill Henry, which was reviewed and endorsed by Coubertin. America’s First Olympics, by George R. Matthews, corrects common misconceptions that began with Coubertin’s memoirs and presents a fresh view of the 1904 games, which featured first-time African American Olympians, an eccentric and controversial marathon, and documentation by pioneering photojournalist Jessie Tarbox Beals. Matthews provides an excellent overview of the St. Louis Olympics over a six-month period, beginning with the intrigue surrounding the transfer of the games from Chicago. He also gives detailed descriptions of the major players in the Olympic movement, the events that were held in 1904, and the athletes who competed in them. This original account will be welcomed by history and sports enthusiasts who are interested in a new perspective on this misunderstood event.
Download or read book The 1904 Anthropology Days and Olympic Games written by Susan Brownell and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2008-12-01 with total page 490 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the more problematic sport spectacles in American history took place at the 1904 World?s Fair in St. Louis, which included the third modern Olympic Games. Associated with the Games was a curious event known as Anthropology Days organized by William J. McGee and James Sullivan, at that time the leading figures in American anthropology and sports, respectively. McGee recruited Natives who were participating in the fair?s ethnic displays to compete in sports events, with the ?scientific? goal of measuring the physical prowess of ?savages? as compared with ?civilized men.? This interdisciplinary collection of essays assesses the ideas about race, imperialism, and Western civilization manifested in the 1904 World?s Fair and Olympic Games and shows how they are still relevant. A turning point in both the history of the Olympics and the development of modern anthropology, these games expressed the conflict between the Old World emphasis on culture and New World emphasis on utilitarianism. Marked by Franz Boas?s paper at the Scientific Congress, the events in St. Louis witnessed the beginning of the shift in anthropological research from nineteenth-century evolutionary racial models to the cultural relativist paradigm that is now a cornerstone of modern American anthropology. Racist pseudoscience nonetheless reappears to this day in the realm of sports.
Download or read book The 1904 Olympic Games written by Bill Mallon and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2009-03-10 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 1904 Olympic Games in St. Louis were both unusual and controversial. One of the major problems for Olympic scholars has been to determine which of the events at these Games were truly of Olympic caliber. The Games were included as part of the World's Fair, and every athletic contest that took place under the Fair's auspices was deemed "Olympic." These activities included croquet and water polo, high school and college championships in football and basketball, as well as the "Anthropology Days" events in which members of "primitive" "tribes" competed against one another. The author demonstrates, after great deliberation, that 16 events of the 21 overall were truly Olympic sports and gives descriptions, scores, and analyses for each (as well as for the five non-Olympic events). Appendices include literature relating to these games, lists of noncompeting foreign entrants, and a guide to all competitors.
Download or read book The Olympic Games 1904 written by Charles J. P. Lucas and published by . This book was released on 1905 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The 1904 Olympic Games written by Bill Mallon and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2015-07-11 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 1904 Olympic Games in St. Louis were both unusual and controversial. One of the major problems for Olympic scholars has been to determine which of the events at these Games were truly of Olympic caliber. The Games were included as part of the World's Fair, and every athletic contest that took place under the Fair's auspices was deemed "Olympic." These activities included croquet and water polo, high school and college championships in football and basketball, as well as the "Anthropology Days" events in which members of "primitive" "tribes" competed against one another. The author demonstrates, after great deliberation, that 16 events of the 21 overall were truly Olympic sports and gives descriptions, scores, and analyses for each (as well as for the five non-Olympic events). Appendices include literature relating to these games, lists of noncompeting foreign entrants, and a guide to all competitors.
Download or read book The Wildest Race Ever written by Meghan McCarthy and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2016-03 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The exciting and bizarre true story of the 1904 Olympic marathon, which took place at the St. Louis World's Fair"--
Download or read book St Louis Olympics 1904 written by George Matthews and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2003 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first American Olympics, held in 1904 in St. Louis, were a vigorous spectacle suited to an energetic and confident nation. The games were wrested away from rival city Chicago and appended to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition World's Fair. Athletes came from eleven countries and four continents to compete in state-of-the-art facilities, which included a 10,000-seat stadium with gymnasium equipment donated by sporting goods magnate Albert Spalding. St. Louis Olympics, 1904 corrects common misperceptions and presents a fresh view of the games that featured first-time African American Olympians, an eccentric marathon, and documentation by pioneering photojournalist Jessie Tarbox Beals.
Download or read book The Olympic Marathon written by David E. Martin and published by Human Kinetics. This book was released on 2000 with total page 532 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: No Olympic event can rival the rich history and grand spectacle of the marathon. Created for the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896 as a commemoration of the legendary run by the Greek messenger Philippides, the race has endured like no other, producing a century of awe-inspiring competition and unforgettable stories. The Olympic Marathon brings the high drama and rich details of the past 24 Olympic marathon races to life in a way no other book ever has. This definitive resource, written by world-renowned Olympic marathon experts David Martin and Roger Gynn, goes beyond statistics to offer readers a vivid chronicle of the athletes and their memorable marathon performances. Fans will relive the compelling moments that have made the Olympic marathon legendary: Spiridon Louis winning the first modern Olympic marathon in Athens in 1896, Emil Z "topek's dramatic triple-gold performance in 1952, Ethiopian Abebe Bikila winning a gold medal while running barefoot, Joan Benoit Samuelson earning her place in history as winner of the first Olympic women's marathon in 1984, and many other fascinating stories. For each race, The Olympic Marathon provides the following: -A summary of the geographical setting and political climate surrounding the Olympic Movement -A course map and detailed street description -A step-by-step narrative of how the race was run -Biographical sketches of the top three finishers -A "Looking Ahead" section, which summarizes marathon highlights leading up to the next Olympic marathon Generously illustrated, often with rare and never-before-published photos, a pictorial glimpse is provided into the contemporary atmosphere and dynamics of each race. Plus, for readers who want complete statistics on each race, the book provides a comprehensive appendix. Included are chronological and alphabetical race results for all men and women who participated in the event and listings of the fastest men's and women's Olympic marathon performances. The Olympic Marathon is the authoritative book on the race that has captured the imagination of the world. It's a one-of-a-kind resource that every fan of running and the Olympics will treasure.
Download or read book The 1906 Olympic Games written by Bill Mallon and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2015-07-11 with total page 251 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the early concepts of the Olympic Games was to include "intercalated" Games every four years between the normal cycle, and to hold these Games in Athens, the ancestral home of the Olympics. In 1906 the first, and only one, of these games was held. Occurring only two years after the St. Louis Games of 1904 and two years before the London Games of 1908, the Athens Games were considered by many not to be "official"; social and political forces prevented continuation of the intercalation cycle in 1910 and later. Yet these Games were surprisingly successful and helped guarantee the survival of the modern Olympics. This book, fourth in the series on the early Olympics, presents all the data on 29 nation and city-state participants in more than a dozen events in the Athens Games. Scores and descriptions are provided, and many historical errors and omissions in other sources are corrected. Appendices include the published program for the Games, the actual schedule followed during the Games, and country-by country listings of all participating athletes.
Download or read book Power Games written by Jules Boykoff and published by Verso Books. This book was released on 2016-05-17 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A timely, no-holds barred, critical political history of the modern Olympic Games The Olympics have a checkered, sometimes scandalous, political history. Jules Boykoff, a former US Olympic team member, takes readers from the event’s nineteenth-century origins, through the Games’ flirtation with Fascism, and into the contemporary era of corporate control. Along the way he recounts vibrant alt-Olympic movements, such as the Workers’ Games and Women’s Games of the 1920s and 1930s as well as athlete-activists and political movements that stood up to challenge the Olympic machine.
Download or read book United States Olympic Book written by United States Olympic Committee and published by . This book was released on 1928 with total page 500 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Issues for include reports of the Olympic winter games.
Download or read book Showdown at Shepherd s Bush written by David Davis and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2012-06-19 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The epic clash of an Irish-American, Italian, and Onondaga-Canadian that jump-started the first marathon mania and heralded the modern age in sports The eyes of the world watched as three runners—dirt poor Johnny Hayes, who used to run barefoot through the streets of New York City; candymaker Dorando Pietri; and the famed Tom Longboat—converged for an epic battle at the 1908 London Olympics. The incredible finish was contested the world over when Pietri, who initially ran the wrong way upon entering the stadium at Shepherd's Bush, finished first but was disqualified for receiving aid from officials after collapsing just shy of the finish line, thus giving the title to runner-up Hayes. In the midst of anti-American sentiment, Queen Alexandra awarded a special cup to Pietri, who became an international celebrity and inspired one of Irving Berlin's first songs. In Showdown at Shepherd's Bush, David Davis recalls a time when runners braved injurious roads with slips of leather for shoes and when marathon mania became a worldwide obsession. Standing next to Cait Murphy's Crazy '08 as an invaluable look at a bygone sporting era, Showdown at Shepherd's Bush is a dramatic narrative aimed at the recordsetting number of marathon participants in the United States (more than 500,000 in 2010!) and other running enthusiasts, and timed nicely for the return of the Olympics to London in 2012.
Download or read book The Rise and Fall of Olympic Amateurism written by Matthew P Llewellyn and published by University of Illinois Press. This book was released on 2016-08-15 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For decades, amateurism defined the ideals undergirding the Olympic movement. No more. Today's Games present athletes who enjoy open corporate sponsorship and unabashedly compete for lucrative commercial endorsements. Matthew P. Llewellyn and John Gleaves analyze how this astonishing transformation took place. Drawing on Olympic archives and a wealth of research across media, the authors examine how an elite--white, wealthy, often Anglo-Saxon--controlled and shaped an enormously powerful myth of amateurism. The myth assumed an air of naturalness that made it seem unassailable and, not incidentally, served those in power. Llewellyn and Gleaves trace professionalism's inroads into the Olympics from tragic figures like Jim Thorpe through the shamateur era of under-the-table cash and state-supported athletes. As they show, the increasing acceptability of professionals went hand-in-hand with the Games becoming a for-profit international spectacle. Yet the myth of amateurism's purity remained a potent force, influencing how people around the globe imagined and understood sport. Timely and vivid with details, The Rise and Fall of Olympic Amateurism is the first book-length examination of the movement's foundational ideal.
Download or read book The Games A Global History of the Olympics written by David Goldblatt and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2016-07-26 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A people’s history of the Olympics.”—New York Times Book Review A Boston Globe Best Book of the Year A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of the Year The Games is best-selling sportswriter David Goldblatt’s sweeping, definitive history of the modern Olympics. Goldblatt brilliantly traces their history from the reinvention of the Games in Athens in 1896 to Rio in 2016, revealing how the Olympics developed into a global colossus and highlighting how they have been buffeted by (and affected by) domestic and international conflicts. Along the way, Goldblatt reveals the origins of beloved Olympic traditions (winners’ medals, the torch relay, the eternal flame) and popular events (gymnastics, alpine skiing, the marathon). And he delivers memorable portraits of Olympic icons from Jesse Owens to Nadia Comaneci, the Dream Team to Usain Bolt.
Download or read book Meet Me in St Louis written by Robert Jackson and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2004-03-01 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: You are holding a ticket to one of the largest and most magnificent celebrations of all time -- the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair! For seven months nearly twenty million visitors from around the globe flooded the fairgrounds of Forest Park. Many explored the twelve mammoth palaces (made of plaster and horsehair!), which showcased amazing exhibits. Others enjoyed watching the first Olympic Games in the United States, keeping cool all summer with a new treat that became an instant hit -- the ice-cream cone. And everyone loved viewing all 1275 acres of fairgrounds from atop the 265-foot Ferris wheel. Robert Jackson describes the planning, building, events, and memory of a fair that enthralled millions with its magic. In fascinating detail, he captures the energy and imagination of turn-of-the-century America, when fairgoers begged friends and family to meet them in St. Louis.
Download or read book A Shot to the Heart written by Catherine Stein and published by Catherine Stein, LLC. This book was released on 2020-07-24 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The best shot of these Olympic Games is coming from Cupid’s bow. Competitive archer Cora Maxwell will let nothing stop her quest to compete at the 1904 Olympic Games. Not even a devastating injury to her arm. With the help of a mechanical device known as the Electro-Flex, Cora has worked her way back to top form—and she’s found a long-distance friend in the machine’s inventor. She’s ready to shoot for gold and she’s thrilled to have a fan to cheer her on. Inventor Adam Levett harbors a secret love for his athletic friend, but he values their friendship too highly to risk revealing his feelings. When they meet in person for the World’s Fair and the Olympics, he plans to cheer her to victory, but he won’t allow himself to hope for more. Until a searing kiss makes him suspect the attraction might not be as one-sided as he’d believed. As the days tick down to Cora’s competition, strange disturbances at the Fair threaten both Adam’s career and her Olympic dream—as well as their evolving relationship. But these friends are no quitters, and together they square off against rogue dragons, electrical mishaps, and vicious competitors. Because in these Games, only true loyalty can win the heart of a champion.
Download or read book The 1904 St Louis Olympic Games and Anthropology Days written by Brownell Susan and published by . This book was released on 2007-11 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 1904 Olympic Games and Anthropology Dayswere a pivotal point in the history of American anthropology and of the Olympic Games. This is because they were anchored within larger transformations in global culture – namely, the decline of empire, the rise of the nation-state, and the ensuing decline of the Victorian evolutionary racial schemes. Anthropology Days reflected the notion of ‘culture’; whilst the Olympic events and other sports reflected nation-building. But Anthropology Days were considered an embarrassment by Pierre de Coubertin – the founder of the modern Olympics. Because of their association with them, today’s sport historians often regard the St. Louis Olympics as a shameful event which almost killed the Olympic Movement. St. Louis 1904 became a counter-model that sent the Olympic Games off onto another trajectory that emphasized a global sports mono-culture contested by athletes representing nations, and discouraged the cultural diversity of indigenous sports. As part of this shift, international sport was transformed from a carnivalistic spectacle into a serious ritual. The "laughter of the pygmies" would no longer find a space in sport, which became a "ritual of records." This book was previously published as a special issue of International Journal of the History of Sport
