Olympic athletes competing for gold medals in a world reeling from a pandemic? A century before the Tokyo Games were postponed because of coronavirus, the Olympics were held in the Belgian city of Antwerp following the Spanish flu pandemic. Riggin first took up competitive swimming after becoming sick with the Spanish flu, and she went on a tour of a …
When the Olympic Games resumed after World War I, the event was not designed to escape the horrors of war. On their way into Antwerp’s Beerschot Stadium attendees walked past a statue of a Belgian soldier throwing a grenade, then heard artillery salutes punctuate the ceremony. In Antwerp, Lenglen didn’t drop a game in her first three singles matches and …
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