The 1908 Olympics: The First London Games

by Keith Baker

The 1908 London Olympics can claim to be the first ‘modern’ sporting event which pitted nation against nation. There were rows between the British and Americans; a one-man walkover in the 400 metres when the US runners boycotted the event; a dispute over the shoes worn by one of the British tug of war teams and when the American team failed to dip their flag in front of King Edward VII it was taken as a massive snub. The best known incident came in the marathon when Italy’s Dorando Pietri was disqualified for being helped over the finish line. But Queen Alexandra gave him a special gold cup. This book celebrates the first London Olympics, examines all the disputes and reveals what happened to the stars of the Games in later life.

Informative and entertaining, Keith Baker’s well researched book is aimed at everyone interested in sport and social history.

Genres: History, British Literature

182 pages, Paperback

First published February 7, 2008

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Please see: Keith Baker


Keith Baker is the author of a book on the 1908 London Olympics and a biography of the chemist and philosopher, Joseph Priestley. A former senior civil servant and by temperament an historian and sports devotee, Keith was educated at Aberystwyth University and the LSE. He lives in Sheffield, home of Britain's oldest football club, Sheffield FC.

Reviews

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the British context, mention of sport in the Edwardian era tends to conjure up an image of extravagantly moustachioed men using expressions like “Play Up, Chaps!” and adhering to the importance of sportsmanship over winning. Keith Baker’s enormously entertaining book on the 1908 Olympics in London challenges that image, with an account of bitter rivalry between the British and American teams.

The London Games of 1908 were by far the largest sporting occasion in world history up to that point, and established the Olympics as the world’s most important multi-sports event. The series of disputes between the British and Americans really arose from two factors. Firstly, the IOC left British officials in charge of the scoring and adjudication of all events. They didn’t foresee a problem with this because of “the English love of fair play”, but of course it did become a problem, and the American team persistently accused the officials of favouring British athletes. The second factor was the leader of the American delegation, John. E. Sullivan, by all accounts an exceedingly abrasive character. He never missed an opportunity to pick a fight with the officials and always sought to inflame rather than calm an argument.

The bad blood started at the opening ceremony. As the parading athletes passed the Royal Box, they were supposed to dip their flag as a mark of respect to the King, but the Americans did not. The crowd noticed and took it as a deliberate snub. After being eliminated from the Tug of War, the Americans lodged a protest about the footwear worn by their British opponents, but the fur really flew over the 400m final, contested by 3 Americans and one British athlete. The runners were not in lanes and officials ordered the race re-run after one of the Americans allegedly obstructed the British runner at the final bend. The Americans refused to take part in the re-run, leaving the Briton, Wyndham Halswelle, to be awarded the gold medal in a walkover.

The 1908 Marathon became one of the most famous events in Olympic history when the front runner, Dorando Pietri of Italy, collapsed several times during the last few hundred yards to the finish line, in front of 90,000 spectators who were desperate for him to get up and finish. The last collapse took place just a few yards from the finish, but Pietri lay face down and apparently unable to rise again. At this point the second runner entered the stadium, Jonny Hayes – an American! The crowd were beside themselves with agitation and it was too much for the officials, who basically picked Pietri up and shoved him over the line in the scene captured in the cover photo. Pietri was disqualified after an American protest, though the Americans were furious that he had initially been declared the winner. Interestingly the book quotes a British competitor who says that in the last few miles Pietri gulped down large glasses of brandy given to him by spectators, and that his problem was less that he was exhausted than that he was drunk. After reading other descriptions I decided this probably wasn’t true, but it’s an appealing thought.

The book finishes with chapters covering the careers of a number of the leading competitors. Several of the British and Dominion athletes were killed or wounded during WW1, and two of the leading Americans died young from infectious diseases, even though they were at the peak of physical health.

This book isn’t the most comprehensive history of the 1908 games, but it must surely be one of the most enjoyable, and the author is fair to both sides in discussing the British-American rivalry.

[Paul Dickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good survey of the 1908 Olympics

[Malcolm · Rating 1 out of 5]

There is not a lot that is new or insightful here – and brisk read and potted outline of some of the major events around the 1908 olympic games – focusing on the three major disputes: the US resentment of the British, the 400 metre race (closely linked to that resentment), and the Marathon. There are some potted biographies of some significant figures – apart from Dorando Pietri all English speaking – and the Tom Longboat biography (the only athlete here I know much about) seemed both weak and trite, if that's not a tautology. The illustrations seem odd, and unconnected to the text – there is a photo of Swedish skater Ulrich Salchow, but he does not seem to be even mentioned in the text. I expect that in the lead up to the 2012 olympic games there will be more about London's previous two olympic outings (I have two more in my to-read pile now) and hope for much better.

[Robin Fox]

a good, but rather brief history