One hundred and twenty years ago, on the occasion of the most bizarre edition of the modern Olympic Games, those of St. Louis 1904, the most shameful fusion in memory between sport, racism and imperialism took place, alas, well represented in the America of those times. The Games, actually assigned to Chicago, were diverted to Missouri under pressure from those in charge of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, a large trade fair organized in St. Louis who did not want to run the risk of losing any visitors. With the full disapproval of Baron de Coubertin, who refused to attend the third edition of his creation, the Games opened on 1 July and concluded on 23 November, almost five months after their inauguration. This alone would seem strange enough, but it must be added that the vast majority of athletes did not even know they were competing in the Olympic Games. Participation, excluding the Americans, was very limited and the USA won 85% of the total medals up for grabs in the 91 competitions scheduled. In short, it would all be quite grotesque if it weren’t for the fact that on 12 and 13 August 1904, to reach heights of absurdity never seen before, the so-called “Anthropological Days” were organised, i.e. competitions between “inferior races” in which, as in a spectacle circus, the whites were amused spectators. Inside the St. Louis fair there was a sort of “human zoo”, where for a few cents on the dollar visitors could closely observe Ota Benga, the Congo pygmy considered the Darwinian missing link, but given that sport was the protagonist of that event, someone had the chilling idea of organizing “tribal competitions” of archery, javelin throwing, sprinting, long and high jumps, climbing a 50 foot pole and throwing the baseball between indigenous people in costume: Sioux, Cherokee, Tehuelche, Cocopa, Inuit, Mongols, Filipinos, Mbuti, Pygmies and other African ethnic groups. All aimed at demonstrating the evolution of man from the “savage” state to “civilization” in a sort of apology for social Darwinism. In the stands, special guest, the Apache chief Geronimo himself. In order not to miss anything, competitions were also organized for freaks and for the elderly, or at least for those who were considered such at that time, i.e. at least 33 years of age. Those two days in August 1904 are universally considered the lowest point in the history of sport and St. Louis represents the moment in which the history of the Olympic Games risked being interrupted forever, due to that shame. It wasn’t like that, thank goodness. Sport demonstrated, throughout the 20th century, even in the dark decades of fascism, Nazism, during the World Wars or during the Cold War, that it was able to be a potential instrument of brotherhood and diplomacy. However, 120 years later, we are still here grappling with racism, with unhealthy ideas of superiority, with a creeping desire for ferocity or, at best, a sort of sarcasm at the expense of those we think are inferior. Sport has been able to evolve in these 120 years, but we have a little less. © all rights reserved
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