#1908 olympics

[edwardianaesthetics]

A poster advertising the 1908 summer Olympic Games in London, England.

The Olympics were originally scheduled to be held in Rome; however, Mount Vesuvius erupted on 7 April 1906. The natural disaster caused a financial strain on the Italian government.

[mostly-history]

The final for the 10-mile walk at the London Olympics (July 17th, 1908).

The race was won by George Larner (GBR), who had also won the 3,500-metre walk three days earlier.  This was the only time either event was contested at the Olympics.

The six men who competed in the final were all British (Harry Kerr, representing Australasia, made the final but did not compete in it; neither did Ralph Harrison, also from Britain).

There were two heats, with the top four in each advancing to the final.  Ernest Webb won his heat, and the next three British competitors conspired to cross the finish line exactly at the same time.  Webb placed second in the final, with Edward Spencer coming in third.

[i12bent]

It’s not everyday we can celebrate the birthday of a person who is both a pre-eminent mathematician and an Olympic medalist...

But one such was Harald Bohr (brother of much more famous physicist, Niels), b. April 22, 1887 (d. 1951) who worked in Mathematical analysis, founding the field of almost periodic functions, co-creating the Bohr–Landau theorem, and co-editing the journal Acta Mathematlca...

His sports career included winning a sliver medal for Denmark at the 1908 London Olympics in football. Denmark lost the final to Great Britain, but prior to that we creamed France A and France B, 17-1 and 9-0, respectively. Harald Bohr scored two goals against France B. The famous semifinal victory over France A included 10 goals by star striker Sophus “Curly Legs” Nielsen, and their defeat shocked the French so much that they refused to play in the bronze match...

Harald Bohr would have likely won a gold medal at the 1906 Intercalated Olympic Games in Athens where the Danish squad went undefeated, but he elected to stay at home to help his brother Niels prepare for his doctoral defense!

Photo: The 1908 Olympic football squad - Harald Bohr is the short guy in the back row, next to “Curly Legs” - the blond, short man in the middle...

[1122deactivated2211]

Italian gymnast Alberto Braglia. 1908 Olympic Champion. X

[mostly-history]

Duelling pistols at the 1906 Intercalated Games (Athens).

Participants didn't actually duel each other, but shot at plaster dummies dressed in frock coats, from a distance of 20 or 30 metres. The 20-metre event was won by Léon Moreaux (FRA), and the 30-metre event by Konstantinos Skarlatos (GRE).

Duelling was as demonstration sport in the 1908 Olympics, but never featured at another Olympic Games.  An Australian poll held before the Sydney Games found that 32% wanted to see the sport in the Olympics again.

[mostly-history]

Live pigeon shooting at the Paris Olympics (August 1900).

This was the only Games at which animals were killed on purpose. Animal rights campaigns were carried out to prevent live shooting, and in the US in 1902, bans were introduced that led to the use of clay pigeons.  The 1908 London Games featured running deer shooting events, but cardboard cut-outs of deer were used.

There were three events for live pigeon shooting, but none of the results are included in the IOC Olympic results list, so they are counted as “non-Olympic events”.  Birds were released one at a time from traps in front of the competitors, and the winners were decided by who shot the most birds out of the sky.  Anyone who missed two birds was eliminated.

Léon de Lunden (BEL), who won the 200 franc entrance fee event with 21 kills.

[mostly-history]

Parade of Olympic athletes at City Hall (New York, August 29th, 1908):

12th Regiment in the parade.

Reception of athletes, entering City Hall from Broadway.

At City Hall.

McGowan decorating Olympic athletes.

Olympic athletes at City Hall.

Olympic athletes at City Hall.

[mostly-history]

Oscar Swahn aims at a target during the single-shot running deer at the London Olympics (July 9th, 1908).  Swahn (SWE) was the oldest Olympian, oldest Olympic gold medallist, and oldest Olympic medallist of any colour.

At the 1908 Games, he won gold in the running deer event and team single-shot event (his son Alfred was also on the team), and bronze in the double-shot event.  Joshua Millner (GBR) was the oldest gold medallist at these Games (in the 1,000-yard rifle), but Swahn took that record at the 1912 Olympics, where he won gold in the double-shot team event.

Swahn competed in the 1920 Games for a third and final time, winning a silver medal in the double-shot team event at the age of 72 years old.  It was at these Games that he took the record of oldest Olympian and oldest Olympic medallist.