The 1904 World’s Fair is remembered as one of the most bizarre and racially egregious events in St. Louis’ history, but even more so were the Olympic games that occurred alongside the fair on what’s now Washington University’s campus. Anyone from professional athletes to the “natives” corralled in so-called villages for fairgoers to marvel at could participate in the games, and despite all the craziness that followed — as well as the Olympics’ general disorganization — the story of how St. Louis scored the first Olympics held on U.S. soil is the stuff of legend.