Thomas J. Hicks

Thomas J. Hicks (January 7, 1875 – December 2, 1963) was an American track and field athlete, winner of the Olympic marathon in 1904.

Hicks, a brass worker from Cambridge, Massachusetts who had been born in England and won a second place at the 1904 Boston Marathon, was the winner of a remarkable marathon race at the 1904 Summer Olympics, held as part of the World Fair in St. Louis, Missouri. Conditions were bad, the course being a dirt track, with large clouds of dust produced by the accompanying vehicles. Hicks was not the first to cross the finish line, trailing Fred Lorz . However, Lorz had abandoned the race after 9 miles. After covering most of the course by car, he re-entered the race shortly before the finish. This was found out by the officials, who disqualified Lorz, who claimed it had only been a joke.

Had the race been run under current rules, Hicks too would have been disqualified, as he had been given a dose of 1/60th of a grain (roughly 1 mg.) of strychnine and some brandy by his assistants as he was flagging badly during the race; the first dose of strychnine did not revive him for long, so he was given another. As a result, he collapsed after crossing the finishing line. Another dose may well have proved fatal. Both these drugs are now forbidden for athletes.