From the Archive: The Worst Event in Olympic History - Sports Bizarre

Bizarre with Mick Molloy and Titus O’Reily

With Paris now underway, we look back at the worst event the Olympics have ever held.

The 1904 Olympics in St Louis, Missouri, were a disaster in every way possible. Held over six months alongside the World’s Fair, it had a human zoo and a ‘savage Olympics’ pitting various indigenous groups against each other.

But the marathon would be the biggest mess; competitors were refused water, runners were chased off course by dogs, there was cheating, several near deaths, and the first recorded case of doping in Olympic history.

Titus O’Reily and Mick Molloy look back at the worst event ever held at an Olympics and find their favourite Olympic competitor, a Cuban named Félix de la Caridad Carvajal y Soto.

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