St. Louis is known as the "Gateway to the West" and in 1904 the Wild West was not so long gone. Many peculiar and rather wild events were contested in St. Louis, but most of them are absent from official records. But the outright winner for "Most Bizarre Competition in Olympic History" has to be the women's boxing event. Gender equality had apparently arrived early in Missouri.

The hazards of drug use in modern sport were not yet known during the early Olympics. In fact, the use of drugs to enhance performance was considered legitimate practice. 1904 Marathon winner American Thomas Hicks started suffering from exhaustion about ten miles from the finish line. No worries, his private doctor stepped in with an oral dose of strychnine and Hicks was once again up and running. Hicks received four more doses of the drug on his way to the finish line and Olympic victory. In the stadium, however, Hicks was surprised to see one Fred Lorz being photographed with the President Theodore Roosevelt's daughter as the winner. When confronted, Lorz was quick to admit he was pulling off a practical joke and had hitchhiked during the race.

The organizers of the St. Louis Games conducted what today would be considered a distasteful event called "The Anthropological Days". People representing a variety of indigenous ethnic groups from around the world, (including Asia, Turkey, Mexico, Patagonia, Africa and the U.S.) were gathered to compete in a series of events unfamiliar to them. The events included mud-fighting and climbing greased poles. Scientists and anthropologists were invited to take notes on their athletic performance during competition. Shamefully, many of these participants were used as exhibits at the St. Louis Exposition.

The venue for the water polo competition was less than state-of-the-art. In fact, it was a small pond used by mostly by grazing cows for drinking. The cows continued to graze and drink from the pond during the Olympic competition. The New York Athletic club beat Chicago and Missouri to win the gold medal. Unfortunately the event's setting took it's toll and three players died of typhoid fever within six months of the Games.