The 1900 Games took place in Paris, which was also hosting the World Fair that year. Organizational confusion was severe and the facilities were makeshift. Proper hurdles were unavailable, for example, so the competitors had to improvise hurdles from available materials. What did they use?
A) Sawn off soccer goal posts B) Desks from a nearby school C) Broken telephone poles ü D) Road construction signs
The French government’s preparation for the Olympics had been so casual that only a last-ditch organizing effort by Baron de Coubertin himself allowed many events to be conducted at all. Track and field events were held on an uneven wet grassy area, and hurdlers had to leap telephone poles laid across the track. Swimming races were held in the Seine, while the discus and hammer events were conducted in facilities so cramped that throws sailed into the trees. Many participants were unaware until later that the meet in which they had competed was in fact the Olympic Games. These were the first Games in which women took part, and the first to include competitions in tug-of-war, golf and cricket.
