To be historically accurate, the "athletic event for savages appear to technicallly have been part of the World's Fair which hosted the Olympics in St. Louis.
Before competing in the Olympic marathon, Jan Mashiani (referred to as “Yamasani” by officials who could not pronounce his name) and Len Tau (referred to as “Lentauw”) participated in this “athletic event for savages”. Besides the stone-throwing battle, there was javelin throwing for accuracy, tree climbing, throwing the baseball, and various track and field sports including a one-mile (1.6km) race, which they ran in.
All I can say is the world was a lot different in 1904 than today.