The Olympic Games exude a magnetism that is difficult to explain and impossible to match. Perhaps it is the cadence – every four years; the number of disciplines – 32 sports and 329 events in the Paris edition; or the large number of countries that participate – 206 were present in Paris. It may be the mix of everything, seasoned with the values of sport, which, as a result, generate that Olympic spirit that is so much talked about and written about, and which can also possess the millions of people who follow the competition through the screens. Only in this way can we explain, for example, the nerves first and the excitement later in a canoeing slalom final or the shared pain of seeing a badminton player lose her chances of a medal due to an injury. The Games are a machine for generating stories. Of successes and failures. Of surprises and disappointments. Of feats and records.
And, like every great event, it generates other stories that remain on the margins of the medal table, but which contribute in the same way to enhancing the story. Unusual stories from the Olympic Games (Altamarea), a book by Argentine journalist Luciano Wernicke, covers all contemporary Games – from Athens 1986 to Tokyo 2020 – and creates a unique, entertaining and educational journey through each of the events.
The journey begins in Athens, 128 years ago, and vividly conveys what that second first time must have been like. With the American student James Connolly travelling without permission from Harvard and winning the first gold medal at the modern Games in the triple jump; with his compatriot Robert Garrett signing up to take part in four events, including the discus throw: he had to make a discus for training and, already in Athens, he was indescribably happy – and won the title – when he discovered that the official weight was lower than the one he had used for training; or with the Frenchman Albin Lermusiaux leading the marathon – he had been on a roll after finishing third in the 1,500 metres – until, 8 kilometres from the finish line and overcome by thirst and fatigue, he accepted a couple of glasses of wine offered to him by a spectator. He soon fainted and could not continue; Or the excitement felt by the 50,000 spectators who filled the stadium when they realised that the leader of the race was their compatriot Spiridon Louis – who had been much better off with the wine. Louis, a water-bucket carrier, was given all kinds of gifts – including a million-dollar marriage proposal which he turned down because he was already married – but when asked on the podium what he would like to receive as a gift, he said: “a cart with two oxen, to help me carry water.” Reading the first few notes in the margins, the magnetism of the main text is easier to explain.
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