SOME FORGOTTEN MEMORIES OF OLYMPICS GAMES.

1896: The first Olympic Games of the modern era, an initiative of French educator and historian Pierre de Coubertin, were held from 06th-15th April, 1896 in Athens, Greece. Despite women not being allowed to compete, one woman, Greece's Stamata Revithi, ran the marathon course. Revithi finished the marathon in about five hours and thirty minutes, and had to ask witnesses to sign their names and verify the starting and finishing times.
1900: The second modern Olympic Games were held in Paris and it was the first time women competed in an Olympic event. Of a total of 997 athletes, 22 women competed in five sports: tennis, sailing, croquet, equestrianism and golf. Sailor Helene de Pourtales became the first female Olympic champion.
1904: Cuba's Andarin Carvajal travelled to the United States to participate in the marathon event at the 1904 Olympics in Missouri. After losing all of his money in Lousiana, Carvajal was forced to hitchhike and walk the rest of the way. He arrived for the event dressed in street clothes and cut his trousers around the legs to make them look like shorts. Despite various intervals, he stopped in between  to chat with spectators, snatched peaches from a spectator's car, plucked apples from an apple tree, stopped for a nap, he managed to finish fourth. 
1908: Italian long-distance runner Dorando Pietri fell five times while covering a distance of 42 kms. in the marathon event at London's Olympics. In the end, he managed to finish the race in the first place. Of his total time of 2 hours 54 minutes 46 seconds, ten minutes were needed for the last 350 metres. Second placed Johnny Hayes lodged a complaint against the help Pietri received from the umpires. As a result, Pietri was disqualified and removed from the final standings.
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