Locations
Five different venues were used for the Olympics:
Glen Echo Country Club. This was the first golf course constructed west of the Mississippi and open in 1901. It is still in use today.
Forest Park. This was used for diving, swimming, and water polo.
Creve Coeur Lake. This was used for rowing and became the first park of St. Louis County in 1945.
Francis Olympic Field. Located at Wash U with 10,000 seats, this was used for archery, cycling, football, gymnastics, lacrosse, tennis, tug of war, track and field, weightlifting, and wrestling. It is still used today by the university’s track and field, football, and soccer teams.
Francis Gym. Also at Wash U, this was used for boxing and fencing. While the gym was state-of-the-art at the time, it was renovated in 1985.
Events
The 1904 Olympics consisted of 15 sports and 95 events. However, only track and field events ("Athletics") were labeled as official "Olympic Games."
Athletes and Nations
In total, 648 athletes came to the 1904 Olympics. There were 642 men and 6 women. Women were only allowed to compete in archery. The athletes came from 12 countries and 4 continents. However, this was nowhere near as many as the IOC wanted. Part of this was due to tensions from the Russo-Japanese War, but another contributing factor was that St. Louis was overseas and very landlocked. Therefore, most of the athletes were from the U.S. and Canada. The nationalities of some medalists were later disputed, as many American athletes were recent immigrants to the U.S. who hadn't been granted citizenship yet.
Below are the nations that were represented along with the number of athletes from each nation:
The Opening Ceremony
The Olympics/World's Fair/Louisiana Purchase Exposition began on April 30, 1904. The opening ceremony looked much different compared to today's opening ceremonies. The first parade of athletes by nation wasn't until 1920. At the 1904 Olympics, David Francis and James Sullivan marched 75 athletes, Olympic officials, and the Secretary of State into the stadium. The Secretary of State came in lieu of President Roosevelt who refused to attend the fair until the election was over later that year. At this point in time, it was unseemly for a presidential candidate to solicit votes and didn't want his visit to the Fair to look like a campaign tour. (Roosevelt eventually did attend in November after he had won.)
The opening ceremony consisted of a band and a roaring crowd. The Olympics began with a track and field event, which was actually the Missouri High School Track and Field Championships. People were ecstatic to see the Games kick off.