1904 St. Louis Summer Games
687 Athletes, 13 Countries, 96 Events
The United States won 236 medals at the 1904 Summer Games, the
most for a single country in Olympic history. Germany was the next
closest country in 1904 with 13 medals. Why such dominance? The
Games were held at the same time as the World's Fair, just as they
were for the 1900 Paris Games. Again, they were held over a long
period of time four and a half months. In fact, IOC President
Barron Pierre de Coubertin did not even bother to
attend and many athletes around the globe followed suit.
Nineteen Ivy athletes made the trip to St. Louis, returning with
19 medals, while participating in a diverse group of events.
H. Chandler Egan (Harvard '05) won the
individual golfing competition in the last Olympics that the event
would be contested. His cousin, Walter Egan
(Harvard) joined him on the gold medal Western Golf Association
team that beat two other American squads to win the team event.
Harvard teammates Beals Coleman Wright '03 and
Edgar W. Leonard '03 joined forces on the St.
Louis tennis courts. In the singles competition, Wright won the
gold medal while Leonard won bronze. Together, they dominated the
doubles competition en route to a gold medal. Wright was inducted
into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1956 after winning
three grand slam titles. He also made several Davis Cup
appearances.
Charles Fitzhugh Townsend (Columbia '04) became
the Ancient Eight's first Olympic fencer and fencing medallist. He
helped the US foil team to a silver medal.
On the track and field front, Penn footballer T. Truxtun
Hare '01 won two bronze medals in St. Louis, with one
coming in the first running of the decathlon, known then as the
"All-Around Championship." Hare beat out Ellery
Clark (Harvard '96), who was making a comeback attempt
after winning two gold medals at the 1896 Athens Games.
Another notable Ivy track and field Olympian at St. Louis was
Nathaniel J. Cartmell (Penn '08) who won silver
medals in both the 100-meter and 200-meter dash.
| Name |
School |
Sport |
| Charles Fitzhugh Townsend |
Columbia University |
Men's Fencing |
| Lesley Ashburner |
Cornell University |
Men's Athletics |
| David C. Munson |
Cornell University |
Men's Athletics |
| Garrett P. Serviss, Jr. |
Princeton University |
Men's Athletics |
| Ellery H. Clark |
Harvard University |
Men's Athletics |
| Henry C. Egan |
Harvard University |
Men's Golf |
| Walter E. Egan |
Harvard University |
Men's Golf |
| Edgar W. Leonard |
Harvard University |
Men's Tennis |
| Beals Coleman Wright |
Harvard University |
Men's Tennis |
| Nathaniel J. Cartmell |
University of Pennsylvania |
Men's Athletics |
| H. Jamison Handy |
University of Pennsylvania |
Men's Swimming |
| T. Truxton Hare |
University of Pennsylvania |
Men's Athletics |
| John DeWitt |
Princeton University |
Men's Athletics |
| Charles Chadwick |
Yale University |
Men's Athletics |
| Walter Dray |
Yale University |
Men's Athletics |
| H.N. Grieb |
Yale University |
Men's Gymnastics |
| Ward McLanahan |
Yale University |
Men's Athletics |
| Fay Moulton |
Yale University |
Men's Athletics |