tug of war at the 1904 Summer Olympics

A tug of war competition was held August 31 and September 1 at Francis Field in St. Louis, Missouri, as part of the 1904 Summer Olympics. Thirty athletes participated from six teams across three countries, and six games were played. Four American teams took the top four places, followed by Greek and South African teams unplaced. Background Tug of war was first held during the 1900 Olympics, when it was won by a mixed team from Scandinavia, featuring three Danish and three Swedish athletes. For the 1904 games in St. Louis, six teams entered. Four of the teams were representing the host nation, the United States, while there were also teams from Greece and South Africa. For the United States, the Milwaukee Athletic Club entered a team, the Southwest Turnverein of St. Louis entered two teams, and the New York Athletic Club were the final entrant. A team from the Pan-Hellenic Athletic Club represented Greece, while South Africa was represented by the Boer Team. The contests were held on turf ground with no shoes on, over a period of five minutes. If within that five minutes, a team succeeded in pulling the other team across a line from their starting position, they were deemed to win. Otherwise, the team that had pulled their opponents closest to the line after five minutes would be the winner. Three local judges were selected to officiate in the competition; Clark Hetherington of the University of Missouri, and John Meyers and Myles McDonough, both of St. Louis. Results August 30 was the first day of the tug of war competition. The two quarterfinal matches and the first semifinal match (between the two teams who had had byes in the quarterfinals) were held. The rest of the competition was conducted on 1 September.