Olympic Games 1908 - London | OlympicGamesMarathon.com

Olympic Games 1908 - London

Rome had been awarded the organization of the 1908 Summer Olympics, but, after the 1906 eruption of Mount Vesuvius, had to decline and pass the honours to London.

The marathon at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London was set to measure about 25 miles (40 kilometers) and to start on The Long Walk, a magnificent avenue leading up to Windsor Castle in the grounds of Windsor Great Park. The Princess of Wales wanted her children to watch the start of the race, so the start of the race was moved to the east lawn of Windsor Castle, increasing its length to 26 miles (42 km). The race was to finish at the Great White City Stadium in Shepherd's Bush in London; however, Queen Alexandra insisted on having the best view of the finish; so, in the words of the official Olympic report, "385 yards were run on the cinder track to the finish, below the Royal Box". The length then became 42.195 kilometers (26 miles 385 yards or 26 7/32 miles).

Fifty-six racers started. The day was unusually hot by British standards and the race was started at 2:33 p.m. on July 24, 1908. The Italian Dorando Pietri began his race at a rather slow pace, but in the second half began a powerful surge moving him into second position by the 32 kilometer mark, four minutes behind South African Charles Hefferon. When he knew that Hefferon was in crisis, Pietri further increased his pace, overtaking him at the 39 kilometer mark. The effort took its toll and with only two kilometres to go, Pietri began to feel the effects of extreme fatigue and dehydration. When he entered the stadium, he took the wrong path and when umpires redirected him, he fell down for the first time. He got up with their help, in front of 75,000 trembling spectators. He fell four more times, and every time was helped up by the umpires. Not far from the finish, again two officials took him by the arms and brought him to the line. In the end, though totally exhausted, he managed to finish the race in first place. Of his total time of 2 hours 54 minutes 46 seconds, ten minutes were needed for that last 350 metres.

Second was American Johnny Hayes. The American team immediately lodged a complaint against the help Pietri received from the umpires. The complaint was accepted and Pietri was disqualified and removed from the final standings of the race. Pietri's feat touched all the spectators of the stadium. As a compensation for the missing medal, Queen Alexandra gave him a gilded silver cup: an award proposed by the writer Arthur Conan Doyle who, according to some sources, was the megaphone bearer who supported Pietri at the finish line.


Results

1°	Johnny	Hayes	United States of America	2:55:18.4
2°	Charles	Hefferon	South Africa	2:56:06.0
3°	Joseph	Forshaw	United States of America	2:57:10.4
4°	Alton	Welton	United States of America	2:59:44.4
5°	William	Wood	Canada	3:01:44.0
6°	Frederick	Simpson	Canada	3:04:28.2
7°	Harry	Lawson	Canada	3:06:47.2
8°	Johan	Svanberg	Sweden	3:07:50.8
9°	Lewis	Tewanima	United States of America	3:09:15.0
10°	Kaale	Nieminen	Finland	3:09:50.8
11°	Jack	Caffery	Canada	3:12:46.0
12°	William	Clarke	Great Britain	3:16:08.6
13°	Ernest	Barnes	Great Britain	3:17:30.8
14°	Sydney	Hatch	United States of America	3:17:52.4
15°	Frederick	Lord	Great Britain	3:19:08.8
16°	William	Goldsboro	Canada	3:20:07.0
17°	James	Beale	Great Britain	3:20:14.0
18°	Arnošt	Nejedlý	Bohemia	3:26:26.2
19°	Georg	Lind	Russia	3:26:38.8
20°	Willem	Wakker	Netherlands	3:28:49.0
21°	Gustaf	Törnros	Sweden	3:30:20.8
22°	George	Goulding	Canada	3:33:26.4
23°	Julius	Jørgensen	Denmark	3:47:44.0
24°	Arthur	Burn	Canada	3:50:17.0
25°	Emmerich	Rath	Austria	3:50:30.4
26°	Rudy	Hansen	Denmark	3:53:15.0
27°	George	Lister	Canada	4:22:45.0

Did not finish

DNF	Victor	Aitken	Australasia
DNF	Fred	Appleby	Great Britain
DNF	Henry	Barrett	Great Britain
DNF	Umberto	Blasi	Italy
DNF	Wilhelmus	Braams	Netherlands
DNF	George	Buff	Netherlands
DNF	François	Celis	Belgium
DNF	Edward	Cotter	Canada
DNF	Alexander	Duncan	Great Britain
DNF	Thomas	Jack	Great Britain
DNF	Georgios	Koulouberdas	Greece
DNF	Anastasios	Koutoulakis	Greece
DNF	Seth	Landqvist	Sweden
DNF	Johan	Lindqvist	Sweden
DNF	Tom	Longboat	Canada
DNF	Joseph	Lynch	Australasia
DNF	James	Mitchell-Baker	South Africa
DNF	Tom	Morrissey	United States of America
DNF	Frederick	Noseworthy	Canada
DNF	Jack	Price	Great Britain
DNF	Fritz	Reiser	Germany
DNF	Michael	Ryan	United States of America
DNF	John	Tait	Canada
DNF	Frederick	Thompson	Great Britain
DNF	Arie	Vosbergen	Netherlands
DNF	Albert	Wyatt	Great Britain

Did not start

DNS	Thure	Bergvall	Sweden
DNS	Augusto	Cocca	Italy
DNS	Felix	Kwieton	Austria
DNS	James J.	Lee	United States of America
DNS	Frederick	Lorz	United States of America
DNS	Ivar	Lundberg	Sweden
DNS	L.	Merenyi	Hungary
DNS	A. B.	Mole	South Africa
DNS	Hermann	Müller	Germany
DNS	Paul	Nettelbeck	Germany
DNS	James W.	O'Mara	United States of America
DNS	Georg	Peterson	Sweden
DNS	C. E.	Stevens	South Africa
DNS	Samuel	Stevenson	Great Britain
DNS	W. F.	Theunissen	Netherlands
DNS	Alexander	Thibeau	United States of America
DNS	Vincent		South Africa
DNS	W.	Wood	United States of America

Disqualified

DIS	Dorando	Pietri	Italy	2:54:46

This website is not sponsored by or affiliated with the Olympics, or the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Trademarks featured or referred to on this website are the property of their respective trademark holders and not Aerostato or www.olympicgamesmarathon.com. This website provides archived data only as a service to Olympic Games marathon enthusiasts: please visit the LOS ANGELES 2028 official website to get the latest Olympic Games news.

Advertisement

Olympic Games 1908 - London

Results 1908