Robert Garrett was born in Maryland in 1875. He came from one of the wealthiest and most distinguished families in Maryland. At Princeton, he was a star athlete in track and field. He was competitive in both shot-put and jumping events.
When Greece revived the Olympics in 1896, Robert and some of his teammates were encouraged to compete. At the time, the discus was the premier event, and Robert prepared to compete in discus, shot-put, and 2 jumping events.
Since discus was not one of the U.S. track and field events, Robert hired a blacksmith to construct a discus. It weighed 30 pounds. Robert found it impossible to throw, so he gave up and decided to focus on other events where he was more competitive.
The U.S. had no Olympic Committee or process for selecting those who would represent the U.S. Robert paid for three of his teammates to join him. They would compete in running events and pole vault.
When Robert arrived in Greece, he discovered that the actual weight of the discus was less than five pounds. He decided to enter the discus competition as well, even though he had never trained for it.
There were three Greek competitors for the discus event since this was considered to be the event that had become the “face” of the Olympics. The Greek competitors had obviously trained for the discus throw. Their tosses were beautiful and long. Robert decided to toss the discus from a spinning move rather than the conventional discus toss. His first two attempts were flops, nearly hitting spectators. He was laughed at, and even Robert laughed at his pitiful performances. After all, this was not his primary event. On his third toss, this discus landed 7.5 inches beyond the prior best toss. He won the event. (Gold medals were not a part of the Olympics at the time.)
He later won the shot-put event and finished second in the high jump and long jump. He returned to the Olympics in 1900 and finished in third place in shot put and standing triple jump. He did not finish in the top three in the discus event.
Robert became a civic leader in Baltimore. He is given credit for bringing the Boy Scouts of America to Baltimore shortly after the scouting organization was brought to America from England. He was a devout Presbyterian and fostered religious education.
Robert pioneered the Olympic spirit in America. The Olympics have become an event where nations display their best athletes. When we think about America’s success in the Olympics, we almost certainly think of an African-American athlete like Jesse Owens, who made us proud. Unfortunately, for all the good that Robert did, he opposed racial integration in Baltimore’s public facilities. The hope that he provided for our competitive spirit didn’t extend to those who were African Americans.
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“Throwers don’t have finish lines.”–Unknown