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You might want to make a distinction between myth versus fact for George Tragos. Tragos was not part of the Greece Olympic team. He was already living in the US by 1910, living in Chicago. There is coverage in the 1916 & 1918 Chicago Daily Tribune of Tragos wrestling in tournaments at the "Greek Athletic Club". I suspect that has been conflated over the years into his being on the Greek Olympic team and is most likely where the photo is from.
That’s great help, Jason. thank you. I am working on some things this morning, I’ll do that. I appreciate having you on my team, you always provide so much value to what I do and our friendship. Are you ready to do “The Wrestling History of Alabama” episode with me yet?
I think I'm ready. My cold from a few weeks ago is cleared up and the usual nagging cough is finally at a minimum.
Also, on my Google Drive, I've added a George Tragos folder under _misc-research and am piling in some of the early, amateur clippings I can find. The 1920 YMCA/AAU national tournament was in Birmingham that year and there is a photo of Tragos on the Gary, Indiana, YMCA team. Tragos was the 1919 AAU national champion, but he didn't repeat in 1920.
Happy to help. I've learned to be very wary of the accomplishments put on wrestlers prior to 1950, especially in their obituaries. Even in 1922, in the ballyhoo for one one of Tragos' earliest pro matches in St. Louis, he was claimed to have represented Greece in the 1912 Olympic Games, which would have made him like 15 or 16 years old at the time. I've found claims of wrestlers representing their countries in years there were no Olympics and in games held in the wrong countries. It was so much easier for them to make those claims when they knew there were very little chance anyone at the time would do the research to verify them.
Surprisingly there doesn't seem to be a resource anywhere that has methodically compiled the actual participants of the earlier Olympic Games, beyond the medal winners in each category. It is a chore to dig out the team members from the sparse newspaper coverage. So even still, it is difficult to dispute that someone participated, if they didn't win unless you can find coverage of them being somewhere else at the time.
You might want to make a distinction between myth versus fact for George Tragos. Tragos was not part of the Greece Olympic team. He was already living in the US by 1910, living in Chicago. There is coverage in the 1916 & 1918 Chicago Daily Tribune of Tragos wrestling in tournaments at the "Greek Athletic Club". I suspect that has been conflated over the years into his being on the Greek Olympic team and is most likely where the photo is from.
Are you coming to Waterloo, Jason?
Planning to!
That’s great help, Jason. thank you. I am working on some things this morning, I’ll do that. I appreciate having you on my team, you always provide so much value to what I do and our friendship. Are you ready to do “The Wrestling History of Alabama” episode with me yet?
I think I'm ready. My cold from a few weeks ago is cleared up and the usual nagging cough is finally at a minimum.
Also, on my Google Drive, I've added a George Tragos folder under _misc-research and am piling in some of the early, amateur clippings I can find. The 1920 YMCA/AAU national tournament was in Birmingham that year and there is a photo of Tragos on the Gary, Indiana, YMCA team. Tragos was the 1919 AAU national champion, but he didn't repeat in 1920.
Perfect. Thank you, I’ve made the change and added a footnote in the feature crediting you, my friend.
Happy to help. I've learned to be very wary of the accomplishments put on wrestlers prior to 1950, especially in their obituaries. Even in 1922, in the ballyhoo for one one of Tragos' earliest pro matches in St. Louis, he was claimed to have represented Greece in the 1912 Olympic Games, which would have made him like 15 or 16 years old at the time. I've found claims of wrestlers representing their countries in years there were no Olympics and in games held in the wrong countries. It was so much easier for them to make those claims when they knew there were very little chance anyone at the time would do the research to verify them.
Surprisingly there doesn't seem to be a resource anywhere that has methodically compiled the actual participants of the earlier Olympic Games, beyond the medal winners in each category. It is a chore to dig out the team members from the sparse newspaper coverage. So even still, it is difficult to dispute that someone participated, if they didn't win unless you can find coverage of them being somewhere else at the time.