Welcome to the second installment of Olympic Wednesday! It’s time for the Paris Summer Olympics of 1900: this was a unique moment as the athletic competitions were spread out over months to augment the World’s Fair, also being held in Paris during the year. Participation increased to 1,239 athletes from 27 countries, competing in 43 disciplines for 314 medals overall—and women were competing, too, this time.

Editor’s Note: The host country won the medal count with 111 overall, easily outdistancing the United States (48). In third place, Great Britain (38) made a decent showing. Only Belgium (18) and Switzerland (10) also finished in double digits. The French had scheduled a lot of events on Sunday, which alienated U.S. athletes who did not want to compete on that day of the week for religious reasons. Overall, this general circumstance caused issues for many Oympiads to come.

Most Outstanding Male Athlete: Al Kraenzlein, United States

The only athlete to win 4 gold medals was American Al Kraenzlein, competing in track and field events. He also won all his golds in individual events: 60m, 110m hurdles, 200m hurdles, and the long jump. No one else has ever achieved this feat, through the 2020/2021 Summer Games. That alone should hand this award designation to him. But we should at least cover other options, right? Nah. Unbroken records are a big deal.

Most Outstanding Female Athlete: Margaret Abbott, United States & Charlotte Cooper, Great Britain (tie)

Officially, due to a lot of confusion with the World’s Fair events, only two official Olympic medals were awarded to women: one in golf and one in tennis. So both winners tie for our honor here. American Margaret Abbott won the golf event, and Briton Charlotte Cooper emerged victorious in the tennis competition. This is an easy analysis to present, obviously, so we will say no more about it.

Most Outstanding Male Team: Switzerland Shooting

The Swiss men’s shooting team won two team competitions, the 50m Free Pistol and the 300m Free Rifle Three Positions. No other men’s team in any discipline won more than a single gold, so that makes this an easy award analysis to conclude. Ironic, of course, that a nation known for its neutrality in war would end up being so proficient at shooting, though. Clearly Switzerland would be capable of defending itself!