Longest Marathon: Son of Burgundian winegrowers, Albert Corey was falsely declared American when he won silver at the 1904 Olympic Games in Saint Louis (Missouri). 117 years later, a municipal councilor from his native village has the injustice repaired. In the worn photo, with faded blacks and whites, he looks really amateurish in his oversized jacket, his crumpled shorts and his lace-up leather shoes. It is however the money that Corey will win at the marathon of the Olympic Games of 1904. “A beautiful story”, marvels Clément Genty, engineer and amateur historian. “I learned of its existence in a newspaper and I did some research,” explains the municipal councilor of Meursault, where Albert Corey was born in 1878.
That same year, phylloxera ravaged the vines of this small village, which is not yet a prestigious appellation. For Étienne Corey, winemaker and father of Albert, it is the exodus in the Parisian suburbs. For Albert, it will be the army, where he enlisted in 1896. Corey discovers there a predisposition for endurance, notably beating the record of 160 km in 1899. The runner in uniform becomes a showcase for the army, which finances its exploits. But on January 2, 1903, he was missed. We find him a year later a strike breaker in the huge slaughterhouses of Chicago. At the same time, he tries to break into the world of athletics. Not easy with his more than approximate English and his “tramp” look, as the Washington Times will say of him. So, he goes to the gall and, when he learns that the Olympics will be held on American soil, he says he ran the Paris marathon in 1900. It’s true, but he plays on the confusion with the Olympic marathon of the same year to make believe in this much more prestigious participation. The ploy works and the Chicago Athletic Association (CAA) sends it to Saint Louis.
Fate in the form of a car
The press is then moved by the “success story” of this “Frenchman”, an “employee of the slaughterhouses”, who became the “new star for marathon”. Corey is also the only French at these Games, too far away and therefore too expensive for France to send athletes. On August 30, 1904, he set off under oppressive heat and with the handicap of only one water supply: the organizers had the curious idea of wanting to test the effects of dehydration. More than half of the thirty or so participants will drop out. Corey, him, boastful by completing the 40 km (the distance of the test had not yet been set at 42.195 km): “I could have done one more lap. »He finished 3rd, but the 1st was disqualified: he had made part of the journey by car.
The “Frenchman” should therefore have worn the first French silver medal, the gold-silver-bronze reward system having been invented during these Olympic Games. “But he belonged to an American club. He was therefore considered American, following the rules of the time, ”explains Clément Genty. The city councilor does not hear it that way, especially since Corey won a second silver medal at the same Olympics, this time in the international team race. He then moves heaven and earth, to finally succeed: “Mr. Corey is the only participant and medalist of French nationality at this edition of the Games,” admitted the Olympic Studies Center of the IOC (International Olympic Committee) in a letter. of January 25. The posthumous reward is all the more deserved as Albert Corey’s sporting career did not go much further than the 1904 Games: in 1909, he was hit by a car and never returned to his previous level. He returned to France in the summer of 1910 and resumed a military career. He died in 1926 in Paris, probably of tuberculosis.
We didn’t know …
“It’s a funny story”, sums up his great-grandson Serge Canaud, 69, still in shock to have learned of his ancestor’s unknown past, thanks to a phone call from Clément Genty. “I fell from the clouds,” he says from the small Jura village of Moirans-en-Montagne where he is retiring. “Never in our family had we talked about that, America and the Games. We didn’t know anything about it, ”he says.
Thus, with the restoration of the French nationality of Albert Corey, France should win two trophies. But changing the nationality of a medal is an obstacle course. Clément Genty has certainly succeeded in restoring the French nationality of Albert Corey, but he despairs of changing that of his two silver medals. “In accordance with the rules in force at the time, the medals obtained by the athlete are credited to the country of the club which registered him”, ruled the Olympic Studies Center. He therefore accepts to recognize Corey’s nationality, but not that of his medals. As the Paris 2024 Olympics approach, some cry out against sporting injustice and promise to take the case to court.
With two more medals, France would have 842 trophies and places of honor at the Olympic Games and would become the only nation, along with Great Britain, to have been medalist at all of the Summer Olympic Games. However, on the side of the IOC, one does not seem very inclined to listen to reason: “It is not a question here of changing the country to which these medals are awarded”, indicated its press service. The Burgundian marathoner would probably have wanted his medals recognized as French. Because his American dream was cut short: in 1908, France offered him a place at the London Games, but Corey gave priority to the United States. However, the latter rejected his candidacy at the last minute. In revenge, Corey wears a blue-white-red jersey at the Chicago marathon in 1908. He will then finish 1st in the race.
Source: AFP
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Longest Marathon: Son of Burgundian winegrowers, Albert Corey was falsely declared American when he won silver at the 1904 Olympic Games in Saint Louis (Missouri). 117 years later, a municipal councilor from his native village has the injustice repaired. On the worn photo, with faded blacks and whites, he looks really amateurish in his oversized marcel, …
