On the eve of the closing of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, Sport tells about one of the most high-profile robberies in the history of the Games.
No evidence, no robber
The post-war Olympics of 1920 turned out to be historic. As was its opening: at the 35,000-seat Olympic Stadium in Antwerp, Belgium, which was built specifically for the Games, spectators not only heard the Olympic oath for the first time, but also saw the flag with five crossed rings for the first time. Yes, it was 104 years ago that the Olympic flag, designed earlier by Pierre de Coubertin, was presented to fans. The flag was raised over the arena immediately after the Belgian King Albert I declared the Olympics open.
It wasn't without problems (the stands were half empty because of the expensive tickets), but the organizers experienced a much bigger shock later. One of the commemorative banners (the most important one) disappeared from the flagpole on the third day of the competition. And it was obvious that the wind hadn't torn the flag off — it had been stolen. The ritual of handing over the flag to the representative of the country hosting the next Olympics had to be cancelled.
Solving the mystery at the turn of the century
The flag, of course, was gone without a trace. Now, in the era of the widespread use of video surveillance cameras, it is impossible to imagine something like this… But not at the beginning of the 20th century — for almost 80 years the fate of the historical canvas remained a mystery.
And in 1997, an information bomb exploded. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) held a banquet in the States, to which stars of the Games of different years were invited. Among the guests was the American diver, bronze medalist of the 1920 Olympics, Haig Priest. A journalist approached him with a standard question about what happened to the flag at those competitions. Probably, the correspondent expected to hear another version in the spirit of the works of Agatha Christie. However, Priest's answer was quite specific:
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«I can help you. It is in my suitcase.»
Some facts about the robber
- Born in 1896 in California to a family of Armenian immigrants.
- At first, he asked to be called by his English name, Harry.
- He said that he sailed to the Olympic Games on a ship with coffins that were sent to Europe to return the bodies of American soldiers who died during the First World War.
- He took part in Hollywood filming as a stuntman (he had about 25 films in his track record, including one with Charlie Chaplin). He also took part in circus performances.
- In 1996, he was a participant in the Olympic torch relay before the Games in Atlanta.
- He was only 157 centimeters tall.
- He lived to be 104 years old.
- At the time of his death, which occurred in a rehabilitation center in Camden (New Jersey), the American remained the oldest Olympic medalist.
Justice without Punishment
What prompted Priest to steal the flag? An argument with a teammate — the American skillfully climbed to the very top of the flagpole and tore off the cloth. It was apparently inconvenient to return it… And so the «Olympic rings» lay for 77 years at the bottom of the suitcase of an athlete from the USA.
However, a year before his death, Priest returned the flag. During the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, an old man in a wheelchair flew across the ocean and appeared in Australia as an elegantly dressed “lively” (his hobbies in swimming, figure skating and rhythmic gymnastics contributed to his excellent physical shape). At a solemn ceremony, he returned the relic to the head of the IOC, Juan Antonio Samaranch — now the flag with the frayed edge, which was attached to the pole, is displayed in the Olympic Museum in Lausanne. But what about the consequences? Of course, no one blamed the 103-year-old Priest. On the contrary, they thanked him: he was given a memorial plaque thanking him for the “donation” of the stolen flag.
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"I am giving it away. I will soon be gone, but I have had the flag for a long time. Many of my friends saw it. However, in such situations you should not be selfish, it will be ugly. I can't hang this on my wall — people will have a better impression of me if I return the flag.»
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