Transcript THE SUMMER OLYMPICS OF 1908 IN LONDON

THE SUMMER
OLYMPICS OF
1908 IN LONDON
Heidi Raimla
Saaremaa Co-educational Gymnasium
FORM 10 A
2009
Games of IV Olympiad




Italy refused to host the
fourth Olympic Games and
in 1907 London got the
right to organize the
Games.
Ithe Games took place
from 27th April to 29th
October 1908.
The president of the IOC
was William Henry
Grenfell.
22 countries participated.
White City Stadium




Built specially for the
Olympic Games and cost
£60,000.
The stadium was situated
in the burgh called
Sheperd's Bush in West
London.
It had about 70,000 seats.
The track was 536.45
meters long but he
original distance was
changed to be longer so
the race would finish in
front of the king.
London – The Olympic Town

White City was to host
athletics, cycling and
swimming competitions.




Most other events took
place around London.
As had happened in the two
previous games, the
programme spanned several
months.
Although the main events
were held in July.
At the Olympics in 1908 a
winter sport - figure skating
- was taken into the
program.
22 events were contested

Athletics

Football

Rowing

Fencing

Swimming

Diving

Water polo

Boxing

Wrestling

Sailing

Cycling

Figure skating

Water motor sports

Shooting

Jeu de paume

Lacrosse

Polo

Archery

Rugby

Hockey

Rackets

Tennis

Gymnastic

" The most important thing in the
Olympic Games is not to win but to take
part.
"
Great Britain had the biggest
American swimmer John

number of athletes – 2059,
including 36 women.
Taylor was the first
African-American athlete
to win a gold medal.


60 year old Oscar Swahn
from Sweden, who won
the gold medal for deer
shooting, became the
oldest champion of all
times.
Estonians did not
participate in the
Olympics that year.
The most dramatic incident





The marathon was coming
down to end.
The first to enter the stadium
was Dorando Pietri from Italy
who due to a very hot day
collapsed several times.
Not far from the finish two
officials took him by arm and
brought him to the line.
Americans protested and as a
consequence Pietri was
disqualified.
The gold medal went to the
second place owner but Pietri
got the glory. People greeted
him as the real winner.
The designer of the medal was B.
Mackennal

These are the first Olympic
Games were the winners
got medals made of pure
gold.

The 1908 Olympics are the
first and the only time
when Britain has won more
medals than any other
nation.
The war of flags




On opening day for the first
time teams were supposed
to parade of nations.
Finland was part of the
Russian Empire and was
expected to march under the
Russian flag. So they
decided to go without a flag.
The Swedish and the United
State's banner had not been
displayed above the
stadium.
Americans refused to dip
the colours in front of the
king and that irritated the
Englishmen. The UK and
the USA had conflicts
during the entire Olympic
Games.
Great Britain
Greece
Switzerland Sweden
South Africa
United States
Russia
Norway
Netherlands
Italy
Hungary
Turkey
Germany
France
Finland
Denmark
Canada
Bohemia
Belgium
Austria
22 countries in the Olympic.
Australasia
Argentina
Donations - the main source of
earnings





The budget showed a cost
of £15,000.
Over 1/3 was labelled as an
“entertainment expense”.
Ticket sales gave only 28%
of the income.
Total profit was claimed to
be £21,377.
£60,000 paid by the
government to build the
White Stadium was not
included.

With less than two years to
get ready it is said that
these Games were perhaps
the best organised to date.
References

http://en.wikipedia.org

http://www.eok.ee

http://www.olympics.org.uk
Thank you!