The modern Olympic games date back to their revival in Athens,
Greece, in 1896. French historian Pierre de Coubertin was the
driving force behind their renewal. Held from April 6 to April
15, the games attracted 176 athletes from 12 different
countries. Among those athletes were 14 men from the United
States who came to compete in 43 events in track and field,
shooting, and swimming. Twelve of these American athletes won at
least one medal. Four of the Americans had ties to Princeton
University, and nine had strong ties to Massachusetts,
especially to the Boston Athletic Club. One member of the Boston
Athletic Club was William Welles Hoyt. Born in Glastonbury, CT,
on May, 7, 1875, Bill Hoyt was a student at Harvard at the time.
Bill Hoyt competed in the pole vault in Athens against three
Greeks and one other American. After the Greeks were eliminated,
Hoyt competed against Albert Tyler of Princeton for the gold.
When the bar was raised to 10 feet, Tyler made the height, but
Hoyt missed it; however, when the b