Considered a blunder by present-day Olympic historians, St. Louis repeated the mistakes made at the 1900 Summer Olympics. Competitions were reduced to a side-show of the World's Fair and were lost in the chaos of other, more popular cultural exhibits. Of the 94 events, only 42 included athletes who were not from the United States. There were 689 athletes of which 681 were men and 8 were women, from 13 countries.
First games at which gold, silver and bronze medals were awarded for first, second and third place.
European tension caused by the Russo-Japanese War and the difficulty of getting to St. Louis kept many of the world's top athletes away.
In a number of sports, the U.S. national championship was combined with the Olympic championship, because there were no competitors from other nations.
Boxing, dumbbells, freestyle wrestling, and decathlon made their debuts.
Marathon runners Len Tau and Jan Mashiani, Tswana tribesmen who were in St. Louis as part of the Boer War exhibit at the World's Fair, became the first Africans to compete in the Olympics.
One of the most remarkable athletes was the American gymnast George Eyser, who won six medals even though his left leg was made of wood.
Chicago runner Jim Lightbody won the steeplechase and the 800 m and then set a world record in the 1500 m.
Harry Hillman won 200 m and 400 m hurdles and also 400 m dash.
SprinterArchie Hahn was champion in the 60 m, 100 m and 200 m. In this last race, he set a new Olympic record in 21.6, a record broken only 28 years later.
In the discus, after American Martin Sheridan had thrown exactly the same distance as his compatriot, Ralph Rose (39.28 m), the judges gave them both an extra throw to decide the winner. Sheridan won the decider and claimed the gold medal.
The marathon, which was run over dusty roads in brutally hot weather, was the most bizarre event of the Games. Thomas Hicks of the United States won, but only after his handlers fed him painkillers during the race. And an impostor nearly stole the victory when Fred Lorz, who dropped out after nine miles, was seen trotting back to the finish line to retrieve his clothes. Amused that officials thought he had won the race, Lorz played along until he was found out shortly after the medal ceremony. Banned for life by the AAU, Lorz was reinstated a year later and won the 1905Boston Marathon.
The top foreign athlete was Emil Rausch of Germany, who won three swimming events.
Zoltan Halmay of Hungary and Charles Daniels of the United States each won two swimming gold medals.
