Olympic Triumph and Controversy
When Louis approached the Panathenaic Stadium, where the finish of the marathon took place, the pandemonium that followed from 80,000 local fans can’t be described any better than by the remaining official reports of the event,
Here the Olympic Victor was received with full honor; the King rose from his seat and congratulated him most warmly on his success. Some of the King’s aides-de-camp, and several members of the Committee went so far as to kiss and embrace the victor, who finally was carried in triumph to the retiring room under the vaulted entrance. The scene witnessed then inside the Stadium cannot be easily described, and even foreigners were carried away by the general enthusiasm.
It is also reported that the then king of Greece, George I, was so thrilled with excitement and pride that offered Louis any gift or prize he desired and the only thing Louis asked for was a donkey-drawn carriage to help him and his father in their water-carrying business.
France, Australia, and the USA, heavily insulted and embarrassed by the fact that their well-trained athletes had lost to a water carrier from Athens, protested against Louis’s victory by accusing him of covering part of the course by carriage. Of course, these accusations were found to be false since it was bronze medalist Spiridon Belokas who was found cheating, not Louis.
As a result, Belokas was disqualified and the bronze medal went to Hungarian athlete Gyula Kellner. The finishing time for Louis was 2 hours, 58 minutes, and 50 seconds, almost 55 minutes more than the current world record, but during the race he stopped several times for unbelievable reasons such as having a chat with people he knew and to drink a glass of cognac with his father-in-law. More amazing, while the rest of the competitors were fueled by juices and water (just like modern athletes), Louis was fueled along the way by wine, cognac, milk, beer, an Easter egg(!) and some orange juice near the end.
Interestingly, many modern running experts have suggested that if Louis had taken running seriously and trained like a seasoned athlete he could have achieved times pretty close to those of modern athletes. Research at the University of Athens showed that even with the poor preparation he had before the Olympic Games, if he had stayed focused during the race and didn’t lose so much time talking or drinking with people he met while running, he could have achieved a time under 2 hours and 30 minutes, a phenomenal world record for his time.
Furthermore, along with the medal he received, Louis was also awarded a silver cup that was sold for $860,000 in London on April 18, 2012, breaking at the time the auction record for Olympic memorabilia. The buyer was the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, whose owner is one of Greece’s most famous billionaires, and the foundation stated at the time that it plans to build a major cultural center in Athens, where the Olympic cup will go on display beginning in 2016, just like it actually happened. Meanwhile, the silver cup was displayed at the Acropolis Museum in Athens.