Despite Being Forced To Pay for Their Travel and Lodging, US Rugby Team Triumphed Their Way Into History Books at the 1924 Paris Olympics

Rugby isn’t the most popular sport in the US. Yet that didn’t stop the US Rugby team to do wonders at the 1924 Paris Olympics. Team USA won gold in rugby at the 1924 event, and it wasn’t an easy journey for them to reach there. From funding their own traveling expense to managing their own living requirements, the US rugby team rolled some sleeves to bring home glory.

Rugby returned to the Olympics in Rio 2016, 92 years after it was banned from the tournament. But the last time it was played, the US beat Romania to clinch the gold medal. Managing their own expenses was the biggest of their hurdles before reaching Paris. This was because the US Olympic Committee refused to pay for them.

The 1924 Olympics witnessed a miracle by the US Rugby team

An ESPN article covering the Olympics story reported the various adversities the US Rugby team faced during their journey to Paris and then to Olympic gold. They raised their own funds for travel to Europe and managed and paid for their stay in Paris. Before that, they took a 6-day cross-country train ride from California to New York. It was followed by a 9-day cruise trip across the Atlantic.

It was a far cry from the privileges current US Olympic teams enjoy. Even the US Rugby team for the 2016 Rio Olympics, who spent the night in Houston before taking a red-eye flight to Rio, couldn’t possibly imagine what it was like traveling back in the day, that too without any money.

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On top of their struggles, the US team in 1924 met with extreme hostility. They were ridiculed during their games and had been robbed. But none of these stopped them from fighting Romania in the finals to win the rugby gold.

The athletic ability of American athletes was proven around a century ago

Their manager Sam Goodman later wrote a report to the US Olympic Committee, explaining the greatness of their achievement. As per ESPN, he wrote, “America’s victory in rugby football at the VIII Olympiad represents what is probably the most surprising of all victories, secured in the face of severe handicaps and almost unsurmountable obstacles”. His boast about the US youth’s athletic adaptability wasn’t amiss in the note.

More than anything, Team USA won the rugby gold at a time when the sport wasn’t popular in their country. They beat the mighty French before beating Romania in the finals. 92 years later when they defended the title in Rio, rugby is still not the most popular sport in their country. However, such was the tenacity, courage, and zeal of those few young boys, that they didn’t leave their fight till the last moment and brought home victory. The rugby world cup was held in Japan in 2019, and the Olympic Stadium resurfaced in 2016 as the possible rugby world cup final venue. It was later, however, held at the Ajinomoto Stadium.

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