A unique situation occurred at the Games in Paris in 1900. Then the Olympics bore little resemblance to modern competitions. Athletes periodically did things that are unthinkable today due to the lack of strict rules and control. It was that year in the capital of France that a boy who no one remembered became the Olympic champion.
They grabbed the first guy they came across from the street
Seven teams showed up for the rowing competition. They were immediately distributed to the semi-final heats. The Dutch national team was lucky: they went to the start with three rival crews. To reach the final, it was required to bypass only one boat.
The Dutch lost a lot to the French crew, but the third team turned over. This allowed him to finish in second place. However, there was nothing to do with such speed in the final. Therefore, the athletes came up with a cunning plan.The helmsmen of the rivals were short and thin guys. The team from the Netherlands decided to follow the example of their competitors. Rowers François Brandt and Roelof Klein considered teammate Germanus Brockmann (60 kilograms) too heavy. No, he was not offered to lose weight dramatically. They were simply expelled from the squad.
There was no reserve helmsman in the team, we had to improvise. An hour before the final, Brandt and Klein ran into the streets of Paris in search of a teenager or a child. A Dutch boy with the skill to hold oars was required.
Of course, it was not possible to find a child from the Netherlands. Then the rowers in broken English and sign language turned to local children for help. One of the guys agreed. François and Rulof didn't even ask the boy's name.
The guy weighed only 33 kilograms! He had an idea about kayaks, the duties of a helmsman and easily fit into the team. However, another problem arose. The new crew member was too light, so the boat's rudder did not reach the surface of the water. I had to put a five-kilogram weight of lead.
The Dutch plan worked. They took the lead from the first meters in the final swim and held the advantage until the very end. After the finish, Brandt and Klein rushed to hug the guy who helped them become Olympic champions. The child posed with the rowers in front of photographers and received a well-deserved gold medal. Later, the boy simply disappeared, dissolving on the streets of Paris.After a stormy celebration, the athletes spent the whole day looking for the youngest member of the winning trio. In official documents, there was no data about the Olympic champion, except for the weight and a couple of photographs.
The boy was not Dutch. Klein and Brandt's gold was not added to the Netherlands national team. In the protocol the winner is «Mixed international team».
Candidate for an unnamed medal
The boy-champion was looking for for many years. Until now, the Olympic medal remains nameless. Two world records also hung. The boy appeared to be about 12 years old. This fact may make him the youngest Olympic champion in history. She won the gold medal in Lillehammer at the age of 13 years and 85 days. An unknown guy from Paris may be the youngest participant. The documented record belongs to the Greek Dimitros Laundras. During the 1896 Olympics, he was 10 years and 216 days old.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has not yet identified the winner. The 1900 Games medal belongs to an «unnamed athlete». For many years, the child was considered French, until a few years ago an article appeared by former sports official Paat Natsvlishvili.
A Georgian shared the story of an elderly woman he knew. She once mentioned that her son had won a boat race in France. Natsvlishvili remembered these words when he found out the history of the 1900 Games, and raised archival documents.
Paata believes that the Georgian Georgy Nikoladze was the same boy. From childhood he knew how to sit in a boat and sailed regularly. In 1900, together with his parents, George traveled all over Europe, including Paris. At the time of visiting France, he was only 12 years old.
Apart from the statements of the Georgian official, there is no confirmation of the identity of the champion. The IOC took note of Natsvlishvili's investigation, but made no formal changes to the protocol. The mystery has remained unsolved.