The ship had cramped dining and sleeping quarters and reeked of formaldehyde. American team members protested loudly during their voyage, and following their arrival in Antwerp, their expectations for improved living conditions were dashed when they were moved into schoolhouses and barracks, where they slept on small, hard cots. Athletes and officials held angry meetings — with the team threatening to boycott competition — after jumper Dan Ahearn was suspended from the team for having moved to another room. Following heated exchanges, Ahearn was reinstated, and the team agreed to participate in the games, though their relatively few medals reflected their low morale.
The U.S team won nine of the thirty track-and-field events, which also featured the first Olympic appearance of nineteen-yearold Paavo Nurmi, the Flying Finn, who would have his best performance in the 1924 games. Aileen Riggins, a thirteen-year-old, won the gold medal in the.....
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