Dorando Pietri is famous for almost winning an Olympic marathon. What isn’t common knowledge, is that the reason he was so dehydrated was because he had consumed too much ale. He was running from Windsor, which was a rural area at the time. As he passed taverns along the route, spectators were handing him drinks to refresh himself. Naturally, the tankards contained ale, hence his collapse on the home run.
“I am not the marathon winner. Instead, as the English say, I am the one who won and lost victory”
So wrote Dorando Pietri in the Corriere della Sera of 30 July 1908.
“Such is the power of a good “story” that for every thousand people who know Dorando’s name, not even one is probably able to say who officially won the London Marathon”
So said Harold Abrahams, 100 metres Olympic champion in 1924, immortalised in the film Chariots of Fire.
On 24 July 1908, in fact, Dorando Pietri won the Olympic Marathon in London, but was disqualified due to the help he received across the finishing line.
Throughout the world, the historians of sport continue to call that “non victory” the “most famous episode in the history of the modern games”When Dorando Pietri entered the stadium at the end of the 1908 marathon, he was completely unknown. When the news of what happened in the next few minutes spread around the world, he would become an international celebrity. Dorando, as he came to be known, had run in the Intercalated Olympic Games of 1906 in Athens, but he did not finish. In 1908, Charles Hefferon of South Africa built a huge lead, but he tired dramatically and Dorando passed him one mile from the stadium. When Dorando appeared at the entrance to the track, the crowd cheered him vigourously. But immediately it became clear that something was wrong. Dazed, Dorando headed in the wrong direction. Officials directed him in the right direction, but he collapsed. Helped to his feet, he collapsed again…and again and again. Finally another runner, John Hayes of the United States, ran into the stadium. The officials lifted up Dorando and helped him across the finish line. He was disqualified for receiving outside aid, but his plucky effort made him famous. The Queen of England presented him with a special gold cup; Irving Berlin wrote a popular song in his honour; and his exploit sparked a marathon craze that spread around the world. It also greatly increased interest in the Olympics.