Summer Olympiad (1900)

The 1900 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the II Olympiad, celebrated in Paris, France. No opening or closing ceremonies were held. The Games were held part of the Exposition Universal International - the Paris World’s fair. Over a thousand competitors took part in 19 different sports. Women took part in the games for the first time and Charlotte Cooper became 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 the Sabbath. Most of the winners in 1900 did not receive medals, but were given cups or trophies. Professionals competed in fencing and Albert Robert Ayat, who won the epee for amateurs and masters, was awarded a prize of 3000 francs. Some unusual events were contested for the first and only time in the history of the Games. The equestrian high and long jumps, swimming obstacle race, two-day cricket and live pigeon shooting being foremost among them. Alvin Kraenzlein won four athletics events in three days and, on 16 July, Ray Ewry, who had overcome childhood polio, won three championships in one day - all in the standing jump events.

Opening date
14 May 1900

Closing date
28 October 1900

Ceremonies

Official opening of the Games by: No official opening.

Lighting the Olympic Flame by: The Olympic flame was first lit during the opening ceremony of the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam.

Olympic Oath by: The first athletes' oath was sworn at the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp, Belgium.

Official Oath by: The first officials' oath was sworn at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich.

Participation

24 NOCs (Nations)
997 athletes (22 women, 975 men)
95 events

Country of the host city: France (FRA)

Sports

• Aquatics
  
• Archery
  
• Athletics
  
• Basque Pelota
  
• Cricket
  
• Croquet
  
• Cycling
  
• Equestrian
  
• Fencing
  
• Football
  
• Golf
  
• Gymnastics
  
• Polo
  
• Rowing
  
• Rugby
  
• Sailing
  
• Shooting
  
• Tennis
  
• Tug of War

Unofficial sports

Like all official Olympic events, these were held as part of the 1900 World's Fair, but the IOC does not regard them as fully part of the Olympic Games.

• Angling
• Ballooning
• Boules
• Cannon shooting
• Fire fighting
• Kite flying
• Life saving
• Long paume
• Motor racing
• Motorcycle racing
• Pigeon racing
• Water motor sports

In addition to these 71 schools and 92 military events were also held across a range of sports.

Highlights

• Alvin Kraenzlein (USA-athletics) won the 60m, the 110m hurdles and 200m hurdles, and the long jump. His record of four individual victories at one Games still stands for a track & field athlete.

• Charlotte Cooper (GBR-tennis) was the first woman to take the title of Olympic champion. We are not talking of gold medals as they were not yet awarded at these Games.

• With the French rugby team, Frantz Reichel won the Olympic title, successfully dominating Great Britain and Germany. This journalist and accomplished sportsman (boxer, gymnast, athlete and fencer) later became Secretary General of the Organising Executive Committee for the Games of the VIII Olympiad in 1924 in Paris.

Facts

• On August 26, 1900, the Dutch coxed pair suddenly needed a replacement coxswain. A French boy was chosen and the Dutch pair rowed to a close victory. The French boy joined in the victory ceremony and had his photograph taken. Then he disappeared. Years of research have failed to turn up a clue as to his name or his actual age. Judging a Parisian boy of 1900 with present-day eyes, he could be anywhere from 7 to 12 years old.

• After the preliminary rounds, Myer Prinstein (USA-athletics) was leading in the long jump competition. Because of his religious beliefs, he refused to take part in the final as this was scheduled for a Sunday. In the final, his compatriot and rival Alvin Kraenzlein beat him by one centimetre. Prinstein was allegedly so angry that he attacked and punched Kraenzlein in the face.

• The croquet event had only French players, who were actually from Paris, but an Englishman, who had traveled from Nice especially for the occasion, bought the only entry ticket sold for the competition.

• In fencing, one of the competitions organized away from the Games venue pitted fencing masters against their students. The results favoured a teacher who won against his student.

• French athletes won many medals at these Games not only because there were many more of them than athletes from the foreign delegations but also because certain events were entered by only French competitors.

• In gymnastics, to win the title in the individual all-round event, the athlete had to shine in 16 different movements to be done on several pieces of apparatus. Some exercises of this era, such as the 50kg stone lifting or the rope climbing, disappeared from gymnastics some time afterwards, while others, like the pole vault, changed sport.

• The sailing regattas took place on the Seine, but in two places: on the Meulan, 20km from Paris, and in the port of Le Havre, located at the mouth of the Seine. This was due to the big draught of certain boats, which prevented them from navigating the river. The categories were established according to the number of tons (the norm at the time) of the boat.