Ah, I was looking for Citation Needed in the thread
Mostly TrueLooks like the srychnine was intended as a performance enhancing drug, but Hicks was carried over the finish line by his team, so he should have by rights been disqualified.
Some pretty crazy shit, all in all.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1904_Summer_Olympics_–_Men's_marathon
Not having eaten in 40 hours, he saw a spectator eating two peaches. He asked if he could have the peaches, and the spectator declined. He then stole both peaches and ran away.
Lol
that wikipedia article is a work of art
the strychnine was intended as a performance enchancer
???
Based solely on the adage of “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”.
That fucking wild!
Also, I believe the guy who finished first was disqualified for riding in a car for part of the race. I could be misremembering though.
Correct he was riding with the car for nearly half the race, assuming Wikipedia is correct. I strongly recommend to read the Wikipedia article about this race, but this meme is a good summary of it.
They should add this alongside the regular marathon. Call marathon: Chaos mode
Asian Games 2026 in Japan will be the modern example
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20260924/p2a/00m/0na/017000c
“We are sorry for your inconveniences, the competent people are all being trailed for corruption” 🍒
Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games organizers apologize for wrong anthem
Kuwait played the Borat anthem when a Kazakhstani shooter won an international competition there.
I would watch the shit out of this as a movie. Why isn’t this a movie?
It would be a fantastic comedy film, but could be seen as too far-fetched.
“Based on a true story”
All you need
I mean I guess…
I just watched Coyote v Acme the other night, and that movie starts with “based on a true story.” I can assure you that it was not.
Turns out that title card does not need to actually be true
Or when Rachael Gunn failed to receive a single score on her dance.
Didn’t the original Marathon runner, Pheidippides, die of exhaustion soon after? Maybe the organizers were trying to recreate history as understood in their time.
There’s a joke about the rat race in there somewhere
Jon Bois, an excellent and hilarious video essayist, did a video on this! Really good, and I recommend watching anything and everything Jon Bois makes.
I think there is a pretty good episode of the Dollop on it too.
Other keystone sports episodes of The Dollop: Rube Waddel, 1908 New York To Paris Car Race.
I don’t think I’ve heard the car race one.
I’m not a doctor, but I don’t think that’s how stomach lining works. Or else, people working in very dusty environments 40 h/week would constantly get stomach issues.
That was back when Olympians were Olympians, not the finely tuned, pampered sports professionals we see today! /s
From the wikipedia:
While Frederick Lorz was greeted as the apparent winner, he was later disqualified as he had hitched a ride in a car for part of the race.
Seriously go read the wiki, this post barely scratches the surface of the nonsense that went down
