Nikolaos Georgantas

Bronze medal, September 3, 1904, Nikolaos Georgantas, discus throw. St. Louis 1904.

Nikos Georgandas traveled to St. Louis, USA, with a personal record of 35.82 (1904) in the discus throw, although he had achieved a shot of 38.03 in an unofficial competition held on a flat terrain in South Philadelphia, at the “Podoniftis” site, two years earlier. A performance that was not recognized because the competitions were not under the auspices of the Federation. In Greece, without knowing how and why, it was felt that the Greek champion should have won the gold medal, and so the news of the third place caused not only disappointment but also comments that spoke of pusillanimity. Both Georgantas and his federation, the Panhellenic GC, protested strongly afterwards. Nevertheless, our discus thrower took the bronze medal with a new Panhellenic record of 37.68. The American Martin Sheridan, holder of the world record (40.71), and his compatriot Ralph Rose were tied for first place with 39.28, and there was one more attempt to choose the winner. Whoever had the best performance would win first place. Sheridan threw 38.97 and Rose 36.74. The Panhellenic GC presented Georgantas with a gold watch engraved with the date of his competition, September 3, 1904, upon his return to Greece.

The final results: Sheridan (USA) 39.28 Rose (USA) 39.28 Georgantas (Greece) 37.68 Flanagan (USA) ) 36.14 Biller (USA) Mitchell (USA).