Die Trying- Olympic Edition

Large8/06/2021 6:00 PM

As this year's Olympic Games fade into history, I just recorded the Twisted History of The Olympic Games in order to stay "topical."

Once I started to dig into the background of the even, I was astounded by how little I knew about it. And with the tidbits I learned, I could've easily spoken with Vibbs for hours.

I will probably squeeze 1 or 2 more blogs out of my research, but I will spend this one telling you primarily about 2 things I didn't know.

1) The Olympics had a considerable hiatus- And I don't mean the years that the games took a breather while multiple countries were fighting one of two World Wars... I mean the Olympics took a loooooong break before their revival right around the turn of the 20th century.

History points out that the festivities started originally in 776 BC and ran relatively uninterrupted in one form or another for 1,000 years. But the last time the ancient Greeks threw together their big Olympic games was probably around 393 A.D., after which the Roman Emperor, Theodosius I, abolished the games claiming they were an obscene pagan event.

Giphy Images.

Then they disappeared.

Giphy Images.

Outside of a couple of small tournaments held in England in the 1600s, the true revival of what would become the Modern Olympic Games did not occur until April 6, 1896. That year, the games were held in (sensibly enough) Athens, Greece, and 14 nations competed, including the United States, France, and Germany… All winners were presented with an olive branch and a silver medal.

So outside of some smaller games, the Olympics had a 1,500-year hiatus between 393 and 1896… And that was news to me.

After 1896, the games moved to Paris in 1900… It was the LAST time cricket was featured in the Olympics (good riddance) and the first time Women competed (Welcome aboard!).

Giphy Images.

Then it moved to St Louis in 1904… That was the year gold, silver, and bronze medals were introduced as awards.

London was up next in 1908, and on top of being the first host city to build a stadium for the games, 1908 was the first year figure skating was introduced as an Olympic sport.

(The Downhill In-Line Strip Relay)

Then came 1912 in Stockholm… It was the first time that athletes from all 5 continents completed (they combined the Americas and ignored Antarctica, so that is why I said 'all 5' instead of 'all 7' continents), the Pentathlon and Decathlon were introduced for the first time, AND Portuguese athlete Francisco Lázaro was the first athlete to die during an event (the marathon).

And this is the last point I will make… For now.

How’d did Francisco Lázaro, the first AND one of only two men in the history of the Olympics to die while competing actually die while competing?

Well, at first his death was ruled a result of dehydration due to high temps during the race, and that is a perfectly reasonable reason… Just running a marathon puts a strain on your body, but running it in the heat is especially damaging and dangerous.

However, later it was discovered that Lázaro had covered large portions of his body with suet (which is the raw, hard fat of beef, lamb, or mutton found around the loins and kidneys)… He slathered that shit on to prevent sunburn and to help with speed and lightness while running. But eventually, the waxy fat restricted Fran's natural perspiration, leading to a fatal body fluid electrolytic imbalance.

Before the race, Francisco had supposedly said, "Either I win or I die.”… And he was dead right… Much like the zoftig model posted above, he covered himself in fat, but unlike Rebecca (hopefully), Francisco died.

There is a ton more of shit neither you nor I ever knew about the Olympics on his week's edition of Twisted History… Give it a listen.

Take a report.

-Large

Twisted History is lucky enough to have 3Chi as a presenting sponsor, and their Delta8 products have helped make these Summer Games exponentially more enjoyable to watch.