The 1900 Olympic Games

The 1900 Olympic Games have been termed “The Farcical Games.” The events were poorly organized and years later many of the competitors had no idea that they had actually competed in the Olympics. They only knew that they had competed in an international sporting event in Paris in 1900. No official records of the 1900 Olympics exist.
Based primarily on 1900 sources, the sites, dates, events, competitors, and nations as well as the event results are compiled herein for all of the 1900 Olympic events, including archery, track and field, cricket, equestrian, fencing, soccer, pelota basque, water polo, and rowing, among other sports.

Bill Mallon is a cofounder and vice-president of the International Society of Olympic Historians (ISOH) and the original editor of the Journal of Olympic History. He is a surgeon in Durham, North Carolina.

Bill Mallon
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 351
Bibliographic Info: tables, statistics, appendices, notes, index
Copyright Date: 2009 [1997]
pISBN: 978-0-7864-4064-1
eISBN: 978-0-7864-8952-7
Imprint: McFarland
Series: History of the Early Olympics

Introduction      ix

Abbreviations      xi

References      xiii

1900 Olympic Games—Analysis and Summaries      1

SUMMARY STATISTICS      17

NOTES      28

Archery      30

NOTES      36

Athletics (Track & Field)      37

NOTES      64

Cricket      71

Croquet      75

NOTES      78

Cycling      79

NOTES      100

Equestrian Events      101

NOTES      104

Fencing      105

NOTES      124

Football (Soccer)      126

NOTES      128

Golf      129

NOTES      133

Gymnastics      134

NOTES      139

Pelota Basque      140

Polo      142

NOTES      148

Rowing & Sculling      150

NOTES      159

Rugby Football      161

NOTES      164

Shooting      165

NOTES      190

Swimming      193

NOTES      203

Tennis (Lawn)      207

NOTES      216

Tug-of-War      218

NOTES      223

Water Polo      224

NOTES      227

Yachting      228

NOTES      240

Other Sports—Non-Olympic Status      242

NOTES      255

Appendix I: 1900 Program      257

Appendix II: Competitors (by Country)      259

Appendix III: IOC Document on 1900 Sports and Events      299

Appendix IV: 1900 Olympic Sports and Events in the Literature      303

Index      313

“this book provides numerous interesting facts about the poorly documented early years of Olympic history”—Booklist; “the sites, dates, events, athletes and participating countries are listed, together with all the results”—Olympic Review; “even more impressive than the volume on the 1896 Games. Mallon has performed a Herculean task…a clear format accompanied by readable and informative commentary…a must-have”—Journal of Olympic History.