Robert
Garrett was probably as surprised as anyone that his name would go down in the
Olympic history book.
He was
captain of the Princeton running team and back in 1896 when the modern day
Olympic games were born, Garrett was urged to participate. One of his
professors, William Sloane, was one of the games' organizers. When the king of
Greece finally agreed to host the games, Professor Sloane asked Garrett to
attend.
At that
time the entries were unlimited and not really "national" in the
sense of representing each nation's best athletes. Garrett probably decided to
go because his professor asked him and his Mother could afford it. She not only
paid for him to travel to Athens, but also for three of his classmates.
Garrett
was a runner, but he always wanted to throw the discus. He even asked a local
blacksmith to make one so he could practice. The Smithy did so, but it was
based on a 2nd century description and ended up weighing 20-pounds. Much too
heavy to throw.
On a
sightseeing tour in Athens Garrett saw an old discus and picked it up. It was
light. It weighed less than 5 pounds. He decided to enter the discus event just
for fun.
The
first time he threw it, he was so bad the stadium crowd roared with laughter.
With each throw he got better and managed to qualify for the finals.
He
competed with several Greeks who had been practicing all winter, but on his
last throw he made a distance of 95 feet, 7 and a half inches and won a laurel
wreath, the equivalent of a gold medal.
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