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The 1904 Olympics Marathon gold medalist won while hallucinating on rat poison and brandy

Dec 12, 2024
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Tom Hicks and supporters at St. Louis Olympic Games, 1904 (Public Domain)

The 1904 Olympics Marathon is probably the most spectacular failure in sporting history that didn't involve the 1919 Black Sox or the XFL.

Picture this: It's hot as Satan's armpit in St. Louis (90°F), and some galaxy-brain organizer named James Edward Sullivan* decides, "You know wh…

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