Incredible Pictures From Early Years Of The Olympics (22 pics)

Among the events it was possible to medal in in those days were the Arts (The “Pentathlon of the Muses” awarded medals for literature, architecture, sculpture, music and painting.), horse vaulting (jumping over horses), live pigeon shooting, swimming obstacle course, tug-of-war, pole archery (shooting at moving targets hung from a pole), croquet, and motorboating (no, not that kind).
And until London 1908 the marathon was just 40 km (25 mi) but Queen Alexandra requested that the race start on the lawn of Windsor Castle (allegedly so the littlest royals could watch from the window of their nursery) and finish in front of the royal box at the Olympic stadium—a distance that happened to be 26.2 miles (42.2 km)