Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

did not send a team to the 1904 Summer Olympics in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Numerous events were contested, of which only some were later recognised by the IOC as official Olympic events. Within these, three athletes representing

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

participated, winning one gold and one silver medal; since Ireland was part of the United Kingdom at the time, the IOC accordingly classifies these athletes as British. With this classification, it should be mentioned that

Tom Kiely Thomas "Tom" Francis Kiely (25 August 1869 – 6 November 1951) was an Irish athlete. Kiely won gold in the all-round at the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, Missouri, making him the first multi-event track and field champion of the Modern ...

, who won gold in the all-around athletics event, refused offers of a free trip and reimbursement of travel expenses from British and American officials, paid his own way, and was insistent that he represented

. The disputed nationality of Kiely has historic importance in British Olympicism because it is his gold medal that allows Great Britain to claim to be the only nation to have won at least one gold at every Summer Games. John Holloway had emigrated from

Bansha Bansha () is a village in County Tipperary in Ireland. The village is part of the parish of "Bansha and Kilmoyler" (united in 1858) in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly. It is in the historical barony of Clanwilliam. Bansha i ...

to the U.S. some years previously and, like Kiely, wore a green singlet with a shamrock while competing. Holloway is counted as British by some statistics, whereas the

Irish Whales The Irish Whales or "The Whales" was a nickname given to a group of Irish, Irish-American and Irish-Canadian athletes who dominated weight-throwing events in the first two decades of the 20th century. "This group dominated the field events, par ...

(who represented U.S. clubs) are counted as American.

Medallists

Results by event

Athletics

References

LucasSpalding
Nations at the 1904 Summer Olympics

1904 Events January * January 7 – The distress signal ''CQD'' is established, only to be replaced 2 years later by ''SOS''. * January 8 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library syst ...

Olympics Olympics {{UK-sport-stub