It was an impressive show of London’s powerhouse world standing which noticed British athletes activate the model.
Within the 1908 Olympic Video games, home-grown rivals romped dwelling with a surprising haul of 146 medals – greater than thrice the variety of the second-placed US.
Our swimmers have been notably profitable, with athletes within the pool bringing dwelling 4 gold medals.
The feats of Henry Taylor, Frederick Holman and the members of the freestyle relay staff solely got here near being matched this week on the Tokyo Video games, the place Britain’s swimmers have gained three golds to date.
However the 1908 Olympic Video games have been imagined to be held in Rome – till a dramatic eruption of the notorious Mount Vesuvius two years earlier noticed Britain step in as host.
But regardless of the brief discover, the London Video games have been very properly organised, thanks partially to the British Olympic Affiliation’s aristocrat chief Lord Desborough.
Inside simply 12 months, the world’s first purpose-built Olympic stadium was in-built Shepherd’s Bush, West London, with Desborough persuading the organisers of the neighbouring Franco-British exhibition to foot the £60,000 invoice.
It was an impressive show of London’s powerhouse world standing which noticed British athletes activate the model. Within the 1908 Olympic Video games, home-grown rivals romped dwelling with a surprising haul of 146 medals – greater than thrice the variety of the second-placed US. Our swimmers have been notably profitable, with athletes within the pool bringing dwelling 4 gold medals. Above: Henry Taylor, who gained a gold medal within the 400-metre race
The feats of Henry Taylor, Frederick Holman and the members of the freestyle relay staff solely got here near being matched this week on the Tokyo Video games, the place Britain’s swimmers have gained three golds to date. Above: Three of Britain’s swimmers pose with their gold medals following their victory within the males’s 4x200metre freestyle relay in Tokyo
The world the place the 70,000-seat stadium – which was demolished in 1985 to make approach for the BBC’s studios – was situated quickly grew to become often known as White Metropolis due to the marble cladding which was used on the Franco-British exhibition pavilions.
The shiny new advanced included working and cycle tracks, a pitch for soccer, rugby, hockey and lacrosse and an open-air pool. 4 years earlier in Paris, swimmers had needed to take care of sewage within the River Seine.
Working from April 27 to October 31, the video games have been the longest ever and concerned greater than 2,000 rivals from a document 22 nations.
The Video games have been the primary through which gold, silver and bronze medals have been awarded. Remarkably, Nice Britain gained 56 golds, twice the variety of the US and 7 occasions the haul of third-placed Sweden.
British athletes additionally gained 51 silver and 39 bronze medals. Nonetheless, there have been 676 home rivals, in comparison with solely 112 from the US.
The London Video games have been additionally the primary to incorporate winter occasions, which included determine skating. The competitors needed to happen in chilly October, months in any case different competitions had completed.
Only a few girls competed on the Video games, with simply 37 collaborating. Their participation was opposed by Pierre de Coubertin, the founding father of the Worldwide Olympic Committee.
The 1908 Olympic Video games have been imagined to be held in Rome – till a dramatic eruption of the notorious Mount Vesuvius two years earlier noticed Britain step in as host
But regardless of the brief discover, the London Video games have been very properly organised, thanks partially to the British Olympic Affiliation’s aristocrat chief Lord Desborough. Inside simply 12 months, the world’s first purpose-built Olympic stadium was in-built Shepherd’s Bush, West London, with Desborough persuading the organisers of the neighbouring Franco-British exhibition to foot the £60,000 invoice
Feminine archers collaborating on the 1908 London Olympics. The self-discipline was gained by Nice Britain’s Sybil ‘Queenie’ Newall
The programme for the Video games, held on the ‘Nice Stadium’, confirmed a muscled hurdler. Proper: One other poster from the time
The world the place the 70,000-seat stadium – which was demolished in 1985 to make approach for the BBC’s studios – was situated quickly grew to become often known as White Metropolis due to the marble cladding which was used on the Franco-British exhibition pavilions
Different sports activities which additionally made their debut included diving, area hockey and, much less efficiently, powerboat racing and tug-of-war.
Within the boat race, rivals have been blasted by gales on the Solent course, which attracted 5 British boats and one French. Nonetheless, the within the first race – which was a battle between the Duke of Westminster and Lord Howard de Walden – each boats needed to withdraw as a result of danger of sinking.
The tug-of-war was dominated by British police groups, who gained the gold, silver and bronze medals.
In the end, neither powerboat racing nor tug-of-war have appeared at any Olympics since.
Within the marathon, which was held on the ultimate day of the competitors, rivals ran 26.1miles – greater than the 24.85-mile route used at earlier Olympics.
The extra 640feet was added on in order that athletes might end in entrance of the Royal Field.
The shiny new advanced included working and cycle tracks, a pitch for soccer, rugby, hockey and lacrosse and an open-air pool. 4 years earlier in Paris, swimmers had needed to take care of sewage within the River Seine. Above: Spectators watch the cyclists compete
Only a few girls competed on the Video games, with simply 37 collaborating. Their participation was opposed by Pierre de Coubertin, the founding father of the Worldwide Olympic Committee. Above: Danish gymnasts are seen performing
Within the marathon, which was held on the ultimate day of the competitors, rivals ran 26.1miles – greater than the 24.85-mile route used at earlier Olympics. The extra 640feet was added on in order that athletes might end in entrance of the Royal Field. The route ran from Windsor Fortress and went via areas together with Ruislip and Wormwood Scrubs. Above: The runners in Windsor
The additional yards led to Italian pastry chef Dorando Pietri profitable in comical circumstances. As a consequence of exhaustion, he had develop into confused by the point he arrived on the stadium and so initially headed the improper approach around the venue. He collapsed a number of occasions and needed to be helped by race officers to cross the road, that means he ended up being disqualified
The route ran from Windsor Fortress and went via areas together with Ruislip and Wormwood Scrubs.
The additional yards led to Italian pastry chef Dorando Pietri profitable in comical circumstances. As a consequence of exhaustion, he had develop into confused by the point he arrived on the stadium and so initially headed the improper approach around the venue.
He collapsed a number of occasions and needed to be helped by race officers to cross the road, that means he ended up being disqualified. Nonetheless, the gap stays the marathon size to this present day.
As a consequence of public assist for the robbed Pietri, Queen Alexandra introduced him with a gold cup instead of his medal.
There was additionally political controversy, with issues starting within the opening ceremony.
The British staff did notably properly in boxing, the place out of a attainable 15 medals throughout all 5 weight lessons, they gained all however one – the silver within the middleweight. Left: Johnny Douglas, the gold medallist within the middleweight. Proper: Heavyweight champion Albert Oldham
William Knightsmith, the Metropolis Toastmaster utilizing a megaphone to make bulletins on the Shepherd’s Bush stadium
M. Achilles and A. Auffray within the 2,000metre tandem race, through which they gained gold. They’re seen being noticed by a gaggle of fascinated spectators
A feminine excessive jumper is seen competing. At the moment’s athletes have much more aerodynamic costumes than their predecessors
The British Olympic Group carry their flag through the procession within the opening ceremony on the Shepherd’s Bush stadium
Norwegian and Swedish rivals are seen marching previous the Royal Field through the opening ceremony
The US staff – angered when the celebs and stripes have been mistakenly not displayed above the stadium – refused to dip their flag to the watching King Edward VII
Explicit success was achieved by the British staff within the boxing occasions, the place out of a attainable fifteen medals throughout the 5 weight lessons, they gained all however the middleweight silver medal
With these Video games being the primary the place athletes paraded their nation’s flag, the Finnish athletes refused to hold one once they have been advised they must show the usual of Tsarist Russia.
The US staff – angered when the celebs and stripes have been mistakenly not displayed above the stadium – refused to dip their flag to the watching King Edward VII.
The Individuals additionally complained about biased judging as a result of all of the judges and timekeepers have been British.
However, regardless of the upset, the 1908 Video games did set up the blueprint for the trendy Olympics, establishing it as a world phenomenon.
Improvements which we now take as customary, resembling the usage of worldwide slightly than native judges, have been imposed due to the London Video games 113 years in the past.
Remarkably, the video games ended with a small revenue for the organisers and marked the one time which Group GB topped the medal desk.
