The first black Africans to compete in the Olympics were Tswana tribesmen Len Tau and Yamasani, who ran in the marathon at St Louis in 1904. They had been brought over as part of the Boer War exhibit in the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, held alongside the Games. Tau finished ninth and Yamasani 12th. Tau would have done better if he had not been chased in the last mile by a pack of dogs.