Duke Kahanamoku, age 22, won the gold in 100m freestyle at the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm. During subsequent Olympics, he would win gold for the freestyle and the relay, and was a member of the men’s water polo team.
Oh yes, this Hawaiian native also popularized surfing.
Submitted by Zach
From submitter Hillary:
Alvin C. Kraenzlein, age 24, competed in the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris.
He won four medals, in the 200-meter and 100-meter hurdles as well as the 60-meter dash and the broad jump. He’s credited with inventing the modern straight-leg hurdling style.
Jim Thorpe, age 24, at the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm.
Born on Indian territory to parents of mixed ancestry, Thorpe won gold in the pentathlon and the decathlon, dominating eight of the fifteen events.
He was later was stripped of both medals when it was revealed that he had played professional baseball before the Olympics. After the games, he played professional football, baseball, and basketball until the age of 41, when the Great Depression ended his athletic career.
boepple writes:
“Someone had stolen his shoes just before he won his gold. He found a mismatched pair in a trash bin and wore extra socks because one shoe was too big.”
Submitted by boepple
Submit your Olympic Boyfriends: 1896-1936 
We’re obsessed with the Olympics here at MDB, especially the Olympics of days gone by. This post on the 1912 Olympics has reminded us just how much we enjoy the athletes of yesteryear, which is why we’re asking you, for the next two weeks, to submit your favorite boyfriends from the 1896-1936 Olympics.
Don’t forget to tell us who they are, the sport they played, and just how glorious they are!
Josef Waitzer, age 28. German track-and-field athlete competing in the 1912 Olympics. (via Slate)
![tuesday-johnson:
ca. 1850’s, [daguerreotype portrait of three shop workers wearing aprons]
via the Daguerreian Society, Matthew R. Isenburg Collection](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m1q2meqRQK1qa51rdo1_1280.jpg)
ca. 1850’s, [daguerreotype portrait of three shop workers wearing aprons]
Boxer Jimmy Clabby (c. 1910) is prepared to defend your honor.
Submitted by jonimakesstuff
Unknown man, daguerreotype by Robert Cornelius, c. 1839.
Submitted by 50s60sand70s
Louis Napoléon, Prince Imperial c. 1879, age 22.
The only child of Emperor Napoleon III and Eugénie, young Napoléon grew up in Britain after his father was overthrown in 1870. He was intended to marry Queen Victoria’s youngest daughter, Princess Beatrice, but he was killed in 1879 while serving in the British Army in the Anglo-Zulu War. When his body was recovered with 18 spear wounds and returned to his mother in London.
Submitted by lingertilldawndear
Daguerreotype of a Civil War soldier
Submitted by charles116
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