Australia Disputes US' Medals Awarded 105 Years Ago

Australia is claiming four Olympic medals that were awarded 105 years ago to the United States. According to a report, the Australian Olympic Committee said in a statement Friday that Francis Gailey, who won four swimming medals at the 1904 Games in St. Louis, was Australian and not American at the time.

Francis Gailey finished second in the 220-, 440- and 880-yard races and third in the one-mile freestyle.

AOC official historian Harry Gordon says Gailey was Australian, a student at Brisbane Grammar School and age 22 when he swam in the St. Louis Olympics. He came home to Australia after the Olympics, but emigrated to the United States in 1906. He later became a naturalized U.S. citizen and settled in California, where he died in 1972.

The committee said Gailey’s medals, when credited to Australia, increased the country’s total at the Summer Games to 449: 135 gold, 144 silver and 170 bronze.

Credits: Sports.yahoo.com