u/Giantsgiants

Context

Robert Garrett was an American undergraduate student studying at Princeton University who had an interest in Greek culture and history. One of his professors, William Milligan Sloane, suggested that Garrett compete in discus at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. The duo constructed a homemade discus based on those from Ancient Greece but ended up weighing nearly 30 pounds and was impossible to throw. Garrett initially gave up on the idea but competed in the Games anyway. There, he discovered that a modern discus only weighed five pounds and decided once again to compete in the discus throw. Garrett ended up taking the gold medal, upsetting the heavily favored Greek athletes he competed against.