In the early days of the Olympics, competing in multiple sports was far from unusual.
At the loosely organized 1904 Olympics, at which the United States won at least 230 (sources vary due to uncertain citizenship for many competitors) of the 280 medals awarded over nearly five months as a sideshow to the St Louis World’s Fair, Franz Kugler became the only man to win medals in three sports in the same Games – hitting the podium in wrestling, weightlifting and tug of war. In 1908, eight US track and field athletes – including Irish-born hammer-throwing legend Matt McGrath – entered the tug of war competition, only to withdraw in protest over the shoes worn by the Liverpool Police team, who went on to lose to their fellow law-enforcement personnel from London. A lot of events were unofficial “demonstration sports,” such as the 1912 baseball games featuring even more US track and field athletes.
