Saturday 4 August 2012

London 1908


This is an old image from Getty Images but reproduced in a pack of postcards published by The Olympic Museum in the London 2012 Collection.

It shows Dorando Pietri, and Italian runner taking part in the marathon.  He was the first to enter the stadium for the final laps but went in the wrong direction.  He collapsed more than once but was eventually helped over the line by the two officials as you can see in the picture.

Sadly, for this reason he had to be disqualified although the next day Queen Alexandra presented him with a special consolation prize.

For me, this image conjures the spirit of the Olympics as much as, if not more than, any image from the modern technical and money driven Games.


A post for Sepia Saturday. A click on the button will take you to the blog.
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12 comments:

  1. These two officials should have been disqualified. You can hardly blame Dorando for being chased by these two "supporters"...

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  2. Poor man! I'm glad he got a sort of consolation prize but if only he hadn't run in the wrong direction! He must have been so disappointed.

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  3. This is a world famous picture. He must have been devastated to be disqualified.

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  4. Was he delirious from dehydration or just honestly confused? I'm glad this sad tale has a somewhat happy ending.

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  5. I agree about the true spirit.

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  6. There are other "wrong way" legends in history, though. "Wrong Way" Corrigan, 1938, took off for a transcontinental flight from New York to Los Angeles and ended up in Ireland.

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  7. Flying was not an Olympic sport, though.

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  8. While researching the 1908 Olympics, I found a video of this incident on Youtube. The poor guy was exhausted and even if he had taken the right turn, I wonder if he could have made it on his own to the finish line. While the officials thought they were being helpful, it would have been better if they had left him alone unless he asked for their assistance.

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  9. What were they thinking? They must have known the rules! I've heard this story before but it loses none of its poignancy on re-telling.

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  10. Poor guy. They should have had a better way directing runners in the right direction.

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  11. What a perfect photo to match the prompt! That is too bad that he came in the wrong way.

    Kathy M.

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  12. That was an unfortunate happening for the poor guy

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