For the visually impaired:

In the marathon at the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis…

• The initial winner actually dropped out after nine miles, rode in a car to the 19th mile, and only ran back to get his pants, where he was briefly named champion
• The actual winner nearly died after finishing as his trainers had been giving him rat poison mixed with brandy
• The fourth place finisher ate some rotten apples during the race, which made him sick so he stopped for a while to nap
• The ninth place finisher was chased about a mile off the course by aggressive dogs

So reel back the hyperbole when talking about unbelievable sporting events, OK?

[via Surviving the World]