ST. LOUIS - The Summer Games in Rio have a connection to St. Louis!
This year, golf is an Olympic sport for the first time since the 1904 Summer Olympics, which happened here in St. Louis. It marked the first time America hosted the Olympics.
Five on Your Side's Pat McGonigle takes us deep into the archives to show us the "five strangest things" about the 1904 Olympics.
Number Five: The tradition of awarding medals started in St. Louis.
We've all grown up with the expression "go for the gold,” and we all know what gold, silver, and bronze mean. But did you know awarding medals at the Olympics started here in St. Louis at the 1904 Summer games?
Before that, winners received cups or trophies.
Photos: The 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis
Number Four: The Rio games will last about three weeks.
But the 1904 Summer games in St. Louis stretched out for five months! Because the games went in conjunction with the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, several events had very odd scheduling. Including a marathon in the blazing August heat.
Number Three: Tug of War was an actual track and field event!
Take a look at the photo below.
You can see Francis Gym on the Wash U campus, and that building is still there!
Number Two: The infamous marathon at the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis!
It was 90 degrees on Tuesday, August 30th, 1904. Thirty-two runners took off before a crowd of 10,000 at Francis Field on the Wash U campus. It ended with a cheating scandal, widespread sickness, and one runner finishing the course in his street clothes!
But that's not even the most amazing story of the 1904 games…
Number one goes to George Eyser!
A man who won six medals in one day, while competing with a wooden left leg!
Eyser lost a limb when he was hit by a train. He came in dead last in several events, but Eyser took home medals in St. Louis in the parallel bars, the pommel horse, and rope climbing.
