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TRUTHINSPORTSHISTORY
ofthemdrawnbyeighthorsesabreast.”15TefinalracewaswonbyAlcibiades,
anameborrowedbyMissAdriannafromantiquity,aswellasthenamesofall
theotherpersonsparticipatinginthegames(Agamemnon,Euripides,Alexan-
der,Aristippus,etc.).Uptothispointeverythingindicatesthatitisahumorous
essayproducedtoamusethereaders.ButwhatwouldhappenifTimothyTrett
turnedouttobetherealBritishConsulandhisfiancéMissAdriannahadreally
beentravellingasatouristinGreece?Isitimprobable?Moreover,quiterecently
ProfessorKonstantinosGeorgiadisprovedinhisfascinatingmonographonthe
earlyideasofmodernOlympisminGreece,thatGreekclephtes,semimountain-
freebootersandsemi-nationalheroes,whoopposedtheTurkishoppressorsin
awaysomewhatsimilartohistoricIrishFiana,organizedlocalgames,andeven
undertheTurkishoccupationafullypreservedconsciousnessthattheyareto
somedegreeinheritorsofgreatancientGreektraditions.16Teycertainlywere
unabletoarrangegreatchariotraceswithvehicleswithueighthorsesabreast.”
Butracesoftwo-wheeledpeasants)arbasseemmoreprobable.MissAdrianna,
whateverherrealnamewasandwhethershereallylivedornot,wrotethatuthe
gamesbeganwithboxingandwrestling,whichhadnoattractionforme.”Sim-
plecombatsportsalwaystookplaceamongordinarypeopleandthisfragment
ofherdescriptionofthegamesseemsmostprobable.
Tus,wecanbecertain,especiallyafertheconvincingevidenceprovidedby
K.Georgiadis,thatsuchgamesexistedasrecentlyasinthe18thcentury.Butif
thefuturewifeoftheBritishdiplomatreallysawsuchfolkgames,wecanrightly
assumethatjustforthepurposeofdivertingthesubscribersoftheuNewSport-
ingMagazine”
,sheover-colouredtheeventandaddedmuchfantasy,takendi-
rectlyfromancienthistory.
Towhatextentcanandshouldalltheseprinciplesbeappliedtosportshis-
tory?Ithinkinallsituations.Whoshouldemployandrespectthem?Ithinkall
ofus.Buthowmanyofusactuallydoit?
Atfirstglanceitseemsthatthebasicsportcharacteristics,itsfactsandfactors
welldocumentedbystatisticaldataratherexcludeanyfalsificationofsportshis-
tory.Tisisnotentirelytrue,however.InNaziGermanytherewereattemptsto
excludefromstatisticsandregionalandnationalrecordsthosesuccesseswhich
wereachievedbyJewishsportsmen.InCommunistcountries,ifaparticular
15meOlympicGamesbyanEyeWitness,nTeNewSportingMagazine,”1832,vol.II,no.10,p.258.
16KonstantinosGeorgiadis,DieideengeschichtlicheGrundlagederErneuerungderOlympischenSpieleim
19.JahrhundertinGriechenlandundihreUmsetzung1896Athen(IdeasandHistoricBasisofRenovation
oftheOlympicGamesin19thCenturyGreeceandmeirTransformationin1896inAthens),Kassel2000,
sub-chapterArmatolenundKlephten,pp.22-26.
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