Olympic Games St. Louis
The IOC had planned to stage the 1904 Olympics in Chicago, USA; however the American organizers wanted the Games to be part of the large world fare, the Louisiana Purchase Exhibition. As a result the Olympics had to move to St. Louis. The event suffered from this secondary role and only 680 participants from 13 countries competed in the event, which again was spread over a long period of five month. The event was totally dominated by national competitors, as only 100 participants from outside the USA had come the St. Louis Games. It is therefore no surprise that the medals in the tug of war competition were all won by teams from the USA. It is not certain whether the American organizers were very up to date to the rules for tug of war competition; however the three USA teams in the St. Louis Games consisted only of five persons per team. The gold medal was won by the Milwaukee Athletic Club, the silver by the West Saint Louis Turnverein A and their colleagues from the B team of the same club took the bronze medal.
