![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.davidfeldman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/184969ex3_full.jpg\")
<\/a>Right, if we are going to do justice to our Olympic<\/a> auction, let\u2019s start at the very beginning, which is not to be confused with the lyrics from \u2018The Sound of Music\u2019, \u2018Do-re-mi\u2019, although there\u2019s a \u2018long way to run\u2019 given the Olympics are synonymous with the Marathon race, as you\u2019re about to find out. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nSo, the beginning is \u2018a very good place to start\u2019, which is the \u20181896 Olympic Games\u2019 that were crucially the first \u2018official\u2019 <\/em>international Olympic Games held in modern history, and as you\u2019d expect, or assumed, were held in Athens, Greece. Which is fitting in more ways than one given the Greek influence on the historical side and the running side, as well as the god-like array of Greek 1896 material we have available in this auction<\/a>. However, the semantics here are important and I said \u201cdo it properly\u201d so whilst it sounds odd, if we\u2019re talking about the Olympics and the Marathon, we better introduce two Frenchmen; Pierre de Coubertin and Michel Br\u00e9al.<\/span><\/p>\n The former because he is the founder of the International Olympic Committee, and known as the father of the modern Olympic Games, and the latter because he was the gentleman who, believe it or not, came up with the inspired idea of the running race the Marathon, which was fittingly also first held at these num\u00e9ro un official games. Monsieur Br\u00e9al of course was inspired by the Greek legendary messenger, not Hermes but Pheidippides, who apparently ran from the Greek town of \u2018Marathon\u2019 to Athens to announce the Athenian victory in the Battle of Marathon. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Now what catches the \u2018so-do\u2019 in this long long way to run is that Spiro Louis made a stop during the race at a town called Pikermi, to have a drink, no doubt learnt his lesson from his fellow countryman Pheidippides who we know had not a tea, which we know is \u2018a drink with jam and bread\u2019 on his epic run. So what liquid refreshment did our Marathon runner Spiro Louis select to quench his thirst?\u00a0 \u2018Water\u2019 <\/em>I hear you shout. No. According to Olympic folklore Spiro Louis stopped at a local inn to drink a glass of wine, which doesn\u2019t sound very sensible, although I can see the appeal. However, Spiro\u2019s act of necking of the brandy wasn\u2019t as bonkers as the chap that came in third; \u2018Spyridon Belokas\u2019, who was forever disgraced because he had adopted a slightly different tactic to Spiro Louis and rather than stopping off at Pikermi for some fortified wine, he commandeered, not a Doe, a deer, a female deer, but a carriage and completed part of the course whilst sitting back on his haunches to \u2018sing a million different tunes\u2019 and presumably \u2019a drink with jam and bread\u2019. <\/span><\/p>\n Fortunately, this \u2018fa-so-la-ti\u2019 exploit was picked up and he was disqualified. Which matters not because at these first official Olympic Games third place gets nought anyhow, they only gave out medals to the winner and runner-up, and back then it was silver and copper. Ok, later this was put to rights by the IOC who converted them to gold and silver, and added the award of bronze for third placed athletes, but that\u2019s later and our carriage loler didn\u2019t get a medal for third anyway.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=\u00a0\u00bb1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.6.1″ custom_margin=\u00a0\u00bb-1px|auto|-2px|auto||\u00a0\u00bb custom_padding=\u00a0\u00bb17px|||||\u00a0\u00bb][et_pb_column type=\u00a0\u00bb1_2″ _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.4.4″][et_pb_image src=\u00a0\u00bbhttps:\/\/www.davidfeldman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/185651ex1_full.jpg\u00a0\u00bb title_text=\u00a0\u00bb185651ex1_full\u00a0\u00bb url=\u00a0\u00bbhttps:\/\/www.davidfeldman.com\/dfsa-auctions\/2020-autumn-auction-series\/olympics\/10009\/pierre-de-coubertin-and-the-ioc-1923-handwritten-m\/?soff_session_keywords=10009&soff_session_page=1″ _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.6.1″ _module_preset=\u00a0\u00bbdefault\u00a0\u00bb custom_margin=\u00a0\u00bb||1px|||\u00a0\u00bb][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.6.1″ _module_preset=\u00a0\u00bbdefault\u00a0\u00bb hover_enabled=\u00a0\u00bb0″ sticky_enabled=\u00a0\u00bb0″]<\/p>\n Lot 10009: The one who started it, a 1923 Pierre de Coubertin handwritten message on an Comit\u00e9 International Olympique (IOC) printed postcard, signed \u201cPierre de Coubertin\u201d. [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=\u00a0\u00bb1_2″ _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.4.4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.6.1″]<\/p>\n So, if any of this historic tale is the sound of music to you, then you\u2019re in luck because our Olympic auction includes a whopping \u201857\u2019 lots devoted to this Greek do-re-mi (lots 10074 to 10131)<\/a>, and even incorporates a Spiro Louis<\/a> signed item from the 1936 Berlin Olympics (lot 10080)<\/a>. But to finish, let’s start at the very beginning again, \u2018cause without Pierre de Coubertin<\/a> there wouldn\u2019t be an \u2018A-be-see\u2019 of Olympic memorabilia let alone a long, long way to run, and so there \u2018just happen to be\u2019 material from a collection of Pierre de Coubertin and the IOC (10004-10063<\/a>) amongst the over 1\u2019100 lots which are, we promise, a very good place to start.<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.6.1″ custom_margin=\u00a0\u00bb4px|auto||auto|false|false\u00a0\u00bb custom_padding=\u00a0\u00bb36px||||false|false\u00a0\u00bb][et_pb_column type=\u00a0\u00bb4_4″ _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.4.4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.6.1″ custom_padding=\u00a0\u00bb0px|||||\u00a0\u00bb hover_enabled=\u00a0\u00bb0″ sticky_enabled=\u00a0\u00bb0″]<\/p>\n Image: 1<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Just a small part of an amazing 1896 Olympics set of 12 in mint blocks of four. Fittingly Hermes, for all you stamp messengers out there. Lot 10096<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.davidfeldman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/184737_full.jpg\")
<\/a>Sadly, Pheidippides keeled over immediately following his victory herald, no doubt exhausted and a tad dehydrated, not helped by the searing heat which as we know is from \u2018a drop of golden sun\u2019, but it is a \u2018long long way to run\u2019, without \u2018a drink\u2019 or even a tea. Now that will bring us back to what\u2019s so curious here, apart from the fact that it\u2019s two Frenchmen that come up with both the Olympics and the iconic race the Marathon, is that it was won by a Greek chap – of course – called Spyridon \u2018Spiro\u2019 Louis.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.davidfeldman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/181881_full.jpg\")
<\/a>However, hold the press and the recriminations, because this fact was later disputed by his grandson, and according to him, instead of a lovely cool slug of H2O replacing the locally fermented juice of Greek grapes, it was actually a shot of brandy!\u00a0 I know, shock-horror, surely that can\u2019t be right and even more foolhardy, but I remind you Spiro won the race. But that\u2019s not the only sensation from this first Olympic Marathon. Because Spiro Louis arrived into the stadium to much Greek excitement and upon finishing there was a tremendous amount of Greek celebration, which got even more raucous when two more Greek runners entered the stadium to finish in second and third place. Wow-weeee!<\/span><\/p>\n
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