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Sought-after bronze winner's medal awarded for tug of war at the St. Louis 1904 Olympics. Bronze, 39 mm, 33 gm, designed and minted by Dieges & Clust, New York. The front, inscribed "Olympiad, 1904," depicts a victorious athlete holding a wreath in front of an ancient Greek athlete frieze and the Acropolis. The reverse pictures a Standing Nike and bust of Zeus, engraved with the event's name within a wreath, "Tug of War." The medal's bar and ribbon are missing.
The St. Louis Games of 1904 were significant in Olympic history as the first Games where prize medals were presented in gold, silver, and bronze, to first, second, and third place winners, an enduring tradition that continues to this day. Any winner's medal from the 1904 Olympics is considered excessively rare, ranking amongst the most elusive of all Olympic prizes.
The consignor reports his belief that this example was won by German-American athlete Frank Kugler as part of Southwest Turnverein of St. Louis No. 2, a mixed team competing in the tug of war competition at the 1904 Olympics. Kugler participated in wrestling, weightlifting, and tug of war events at the Games, winning four medals in total; he remains the only competitor to win a medal in three different sports at the same Olympic Games.
