On September 12, 490 BC, the Athenians won the Persian War by repelling the invading Persian army, and the soldier Fidipitz was responsible for reporting the good news to his father and elders in his hometown.
Fidipitz kept running, and when he finally reached Athens, he waved his last bit of strength and shouted, "Joy... Le, Athenians, we... Victory. "After saying that, he fell to the ground and was martyred."
This is a well-known story about the origin of the marathon, so many people explain why the marathon is 42.195 kilometers, give a similar answer: because this is the mileage that Fedipitz ran when he sent the message.
A story from 2500 years ago, but it is measured by modern people as if they were witnessing such a precise distance? This is really strange.
In fact, the distance of Fidi Pitts is about 40 kilometers, and the zero-and-piece number of 42.195 kilometers actually originates from a century war 113 years ago.
On that day, a diminutive Italian nearly ran to his death in front of the finish line. Bad luck is bad luck on this zero.
Watching the marathon for more than 100 years, there are always some elements of comedy in its ancient model.
The first modern Olympic Games in 1896 included marathons. At that time, in the marathon, if the runners did not change the whole horse to a half horse on their own, then secretly taking a carriage on the way could also be regarded as a performance of insisting on finishing the race.
Four years later in Paris, the signs for the marathon were so chaotic that in the center of Paris many runners could be seen running in different directions, such as Arthur Newton, who eventually finished fifth, insisting that no one had surpassed him from behind from the beginning to the end, and his compatriot Richard Grant was suddenly knocked to the ground by a bicycle just as he was about to catch up with his opponent.
St. Louis in 1904 was even more of a dance: The American Fred Lotz "ran" 17.7 kilometers in a hitchhiker, and when he got out of the car and ran into the stadium first, Roosevelt's daughter was ready to award him a gold medal, the referee rushed to expose his deception.
But thomas Hicks, who won the championship, was not clean either, and with 11 km to go before the finish line, Hicks was exhausted, and then his coach gave him two temporary stimulants and poured him a glass of brandy, which made him almost walk to the finish line.
In contrast, The 9th-ranked South African Taw is at least very innocent, he is the first black athlete to participate in the Olympics, and in the process of participating in the race barefoot, he was chased by a fierce dog for several kilometers...
More than 100 years ago, people were very much looking forward to seeing a marathon at the Olympic Games that was full of moths.
So on July 24, 1908, the last day of the athletics competition at the Fourth London Olympics, the White City Stadium, which could accommodate 70,000 spectators, poured in 100,000 people, and the Guardian estimated at least 1 million more to keep out of the stadium.
But in terms of ornamentation, the marathon is actually a bit awkward: if you are in the stadium, you can see the moment when the champion crosses the line, but according to the entire mileage, you will see less than 1% of the race, but at that time, Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom valued this atmosphere of participation in the city.
The marathon began on a street outside Windsor Castle, but Her Majesty wanted the children of the royal family to see this rare event, so the starting point was moved to the door of a nursery in the castle.
In this way, the marathon that used to be 26 miles was changed to 26 miles and 385 yards on that day, which translates to the 42.195 kilometers that everyone is familiar with today.
Queen Alexandra sat in the stands, facing the finish line. The queen was waiting for the hero who crossed the line.
Daily Mail reporter Conan Doyle stood near the main entrance of the stadium and was responsible for the live coverage of the game. That's right, it was Conan Doyle, who wrote the Sherlock Holmes Detective Collection. A few years ago, under pressure from his readers, Conan Doyle finally revived Sherlock Holmes.
Conan Doyle writes: "We waited anxiously because it was so long that people started to get a little impatient. The athletes had to run in through that door, and every pair of eyes on the scene was staring at that door. By now, he should have been very close, because we heard shouts on both sides of the street outside the stadium, and the noise was getting louder. Then, he finally came. ”
If someone expects a muscular or slender man to run into the field first, he will be disappointed:
Dolando Petri, the Italian pastry chef at just 1.57 meters tall, was the first to stagger into the stadium. Conan Doyle described him as "a creature like a little boy", and it is true that Petri was 23 years old at the time, but from a distance it looked too much like a child.
Just when people thought that this marathon champion was about to be born, an accident happened - Petri ran in the opposite direction as soon as he entered the door, and then fell down without running a few steps.
Let's go back in time: At 2 p.m. on July 24, at 22 degrees Celsius, 55 runners from 16 countries and regions lined up in four rows at Windsor Castle.
Petri used a white handkerchief as his turban, which is said to be the most fashionable athlete outfit in Britain at the time. Petri was easily overwhelmed by the crowd, but was too short to be recognizable.
At 2:30, the Princess of Wales received a telegram from Queen Alexandra, who immediately ordered Lord Desboro to fire his gun: the contestants rushed down the slopes of Windsor Castle, and the game officially began.
The flag of Great Britain hung all over the streets, which excited the host athletes: Thomas Jack spent only 5 minutes and 1 second in the first mile, and if he maintained this pace, the final result would probably be within 2 hours and 20 minutes.
But in fact, the Briton broke the 2-hour and 20-minute mark more than 40 years later, so you can guess that Thomas Jack, who ran too fast at the beginning, quit the race early before.
At 10km, second British Price withdrew and South Africa's Hefrene finished first, at which point Petri had slipped from the end of the first group to third, but he was 2 minutes behind Hefran.
For a long time after that, it was always Petri who followed Hefren. But by the 30-kilometer march, Hefran made a fatal mistake: because of his thirst, Heflen drank a glass of champagne handed to him by the side of the road, but it caused abdominal cramps and cramps, and Heflen's pace slowed down significantly.
Petri saw the opportunity and, less than two kilometres into the end, finally overtook Hefran. Now he was the man closest to the stadium, and behind him, American John Hayes had also caught up.
The road that connects the stadium gate is a deliberately designed downhill, and Petri, with the last inertia, runs into the gate in a tsunami of tens of thousands of people.
Finish on the right and Petri to the left.
The queen stood up in a hurry. Just when the audience could not help shouting "reverse, reverse", and an official was about to go forward to show the way, Petri suddenly fell on the cinder runway with both legs.
Dr. Michael Barger of the Irish Amateur Sports Association and several aides rushed to the rescue, and jack Andrew, the head of the game at the scene, also rushed over with a large loudspeaker: Andrew's intention was to stop the doctor.
50 years later, When Andrew's daughter was sorting through her father's belongings, she found that her father had recorded the scene in detail:
Dorando Petri staggered in and fell within a few steps. Dr. Barger wanted to help him, and I warned him that if you did, Petri would be disqualified, but the doctor replied: "You should listen to me at this moment." ”
"I listened to the doctor, so every time Petrie fell, I went to hold his leg and the doctor massaged him so that his heart could continue to beat. Every time he got back up, I would put my arms across his body, but I didn't touch him, I did this to prevent him from hitting the ground. Finally when he reached the finish line, he literally fell on my arm. ”
The distance from the stadium gate to the finish line was only a few hundred meters, and if it were not for the Queen's desire to let the children of Windsor Castle join in the fun, Petri would not have had to run this last bit.
The 1908 Olympics were only Petri's third marathon, and this time it was clearly longer than the previous two.
Petri was on his toes like a drunk, and after falling to the ground for a few seconds, he slowly opened his eyes, and the applause from the audience did not stop, and Petri got back on his feet under the encouragement of 100,000 people, and then collapsed to the ground.
The Times described the scene this way: "A weary man, dizzy, confused, almost unconscious. He was wearing red shorts, a white tank top, and his hair had turned white from the dust on the ground. He staggered and ran, and he was the Italian Dolando Petri. He looked around, unable to figure out where he was. ”
In contrast, the expression of the great writer Conan Doyle is more deadly: "In order to accomplish that set goal, he dragged the exhausted skeleton to the death, and the feeling was terrible and fascinating." ”
"Is he going to let the gold medal slip away from his fingers?" We glanced at the dark passage, and no one had caught up yet. People couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. I don't think anyone else on the scene would want someone else to steal the gold medal from this brave Italian baby. He's already won the race and he deserves the gold medal. ”
Thank God, he stood up again, and the little red leg was still moving forward intermittently. When he fell again, people erupted in sighs, and when he stood up again, people boiled again. It was an intoxicating scene, and after a few desperate steps, he fell again, and a friendly hand saved him from the heavy fall. ”
"He was already surrounded by people, but I caught a glimpse of that haggard, yellow face, and that dull look, and he was sure he was finished now, and he couldn't get up again."
Conan Doyle was unfortunate enough to fall, it was Petrie's fifth fall, and the place where he fell was only 15 meters from the finish line. This time, he never got up again.
Olympic officials gave an impersonal comment on this final scene: "It is impossible to just leave him there, otherwise he may die in front of the Queen, and this kind of thing will ruin the Queen's interest in the day." ”
In the end, it was Andrew and another official who supported Petri and helped him to the finish line.
Conan Doyle gave the final comment: "Will he fall again?" No, he had reached the finish line and fell into the friendly embrace of the staff. He has reached the limits of human endurance. No mighty Roman could have lasted longer than Petri at the 1908 Olympics, and the great lineage of the Romans had not yet gone extinct. ”
Seven years later, Petri recalled those last few hundred meters in Sports Illustrated: "When I entered the stadium, my legs and lungs hurt unbearably. It was like a huge hand was clamping tightly around my throat, getting tighter and tighter. By the end, willpower didn't matter anymore, and if it wasn't for the bad situation, I wouldn't have fallen in the door. ”
I involuntarily stood up and took a few steps forward. I can't even be sure if I'm moving towards my goal or going in the opposite direction. They told me that I had fallen five or six more times and looked like a paralyzed man, staggering toward his wheelchair. I don't remember anything else, my memory is stuck in the last fall. ”
Petri's final result was 2 hours 54 minutes and 46 seconds, while in the final 350 meters, he spent 10 minutes.
Just as Petri had been carried off a stretcher and the Italian delegation was preparing to celebrate victory, the American Hayes crossed the finish line.
The Americans were already holding their stomachs on fire at that Olympics: at the opening ceremony, they looked around the stadium and didn't see their flag.
The British organizers explained that the American flag could not be found, and this prevarication made Americans feel humiliated.
Just as the eyes of the audience were focused on the little Italian man, Hayes also entered the stadium. The British could not tolerate such a grand game, and it was eventually an American who won the gold medal.
The men, women and children in the stands were probably willing to do a good job of lifting Petry across the finish line, but that was the reason americans could appeal.
The American protest was successful, Petri's results were canceled, and he was 15 meters away from the gold medal.
But for Petri, who struggled on the death line for two and a half hours, it was lucky to be alive: "I was actually a dead man by then. My heart had been half an inch off its normal position due to the intense race, and I was running entirely by instinct. Later they massaged my heart and I came back to life. ”
The next day, at the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games, Queen Alexandra personally presented Petri with a silver trophy. "When I was called to see Her Majesty, I was shaking all over my body, and it felt like I was about to fall again."
Petri remembers that throughout the awards process, the Queen had a kind smile on her face, Petrie did not know English, but he heard the Queen say "very good", and the Queen's smile convinced him that the words were "very good".
When the little Italian man took the trophy and waved his hat to thank the audience, the cheers in the stands completely drowned out the voices of the announcers. Even the gymnasts on the lawn paused for a glimpse of the failed hero.
When Conan Doyle learned that Petri hadn't even scraped up enough money to pay for his way home, he launched a fundraiser for readers through the Daily Mail, which eventually raised £300.
Two weeks later, Petri set out for his home country, and a large group of Londoners gathered at Charing Cross station, who spontaneously came to see the Italian off, and in Turin another group was ready to welcome Petry home.
Less than three weeks after returning home, the great Italian wrestler Giovanni Larsevic once rode a little Petri on a bicycle and accidentally dropped him off the car. Yes, it was another fall, and this time Petri broke her leg.
Petri was in a bit of a hurry because he had promised a heads-up in the United States.
Two months later, Petri boarded a ship bound for New York from Southampton, and Hayes, the American who had won the gold medal, was waiting for him in Madison Square Park.
Petri has not participated in any training since the Olympics, and he originally wanted to postpone the single challenge, but the other side refused.
This time, the pomp and circumstance was not inferior to the Olympic Games, with 20,000 spectators crowding the stadium and 10,000 people outside waiting for the results. On the dusty runway, Petri and Hayes had to run 262 laps.
The New York Times described the race as "the most spectacular running race Ever in New York," and in the end Petri won by half a lap. In March of the following year, the two played again, and Petri still won.
This time, Petri conquered even the Americans.
A young man based on Petri's story wrote his first complete song about an Italian who sold his barbershop and staked all the money on Petri's match.
The man, Owen Berlin, was paid $25 for the song "Dolando." Owen Berlin lived to be 101 years old and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Petri last competed in Gothenburg in October 1911, when he had run 46 games in his three-year career and earned £200,000. Petri later opened a hotel with his brother in his hometown of Kalpi, and in 1942 Petri died at the age of 56.
On July 24, 2008, the centenary of Petri's participation in the Olympic Games, a huge statue was unveiled in the center of Kalpi, named "Winner Dolando".
The British, too, have not forgotten him. The original site of the White City Stadium, near the current BBC Television Centre, is a tall monument erected in the Media Village compound with the medal table and the names of the winners of the 1908 London Olympic Games. Of course, you can't possibly find Dolando Petri on this list.
On the black floor tiles of the sidewalk is a line of white paint inscription: "This is where the finish line of the White City Stadium, which hosted the 1908 Olympic Games, is located." ”
More than 100 years ago, Dolando Petri, who had lost consciousness, was carried across this finish line.
If you revisit the place, then until the floor tiles here, it seems that everything is still irrelevant to Petri. But when you walk out of the Media Village, you come to a path that separates office and residential areas, and then look up at the sign , "Dorando Close." Countless people will walk comfortably on this road, the one described by Conan Doyle as "the most powerful Roman", who has left a proud stubbornness with the most primitive vitality.
(Source: Out-of-Bounds Editorial Department)