the good old olympic days

As the Olympics have started, I've read and heard a few people talking about how they miss the days when the Olympics "weren't so commercialized" and "were purer."

Thanks to Cynthia Crossen's column in last Wednesday's Wall Street Journal, I bring you a description of those halcyon Olympic days:

Held in conjunction with the World's Fair and Louisiana Purchase Exposition, the [1904] St. Louis Olympics also were the first and last games to feature a separate competition for "uncivilized tribes" – Pygmies, Sioux, Patagonians – in what were billed as "Anthropology Days." The events included not only running and throwing, but also pole climbing and a mud fight.

The final report on the World's Fair expressed the organizers' disappointment with the performances of the "savages." Their running was "very poor," javelin throwing was "another disappointment," and the best attempt in the 16-pound shot-put contest "was so ridiculously poor that it astonished all who witnessed it."

In short, the competitors, who had never been taught or trained in any of these events, "proved themselves inferior athletes, greatly overrated," the report concluded.