The , officially known as the '''Games of the IV Olympiad''', were held in
1908 in
London ,
England . These games were originally scheduled to be held in
Rome . At the time they were the fifth modern
Olympic Games , following on from the
Athens Games Of 1906 . However, these have since been
Retroactively Downgraded by the
International Olympic Committee and thus the 1908 Games are seen as the start of the
Fourth Olympiad , in keeping with the
Now-accepted four-year cycle.
Italian authorities were preparing infrastructure for the games when
Mount Vesuvius erupted on
April 7 ,
1906 , devastating the nearby city of
Naples . Funds that were to have gone to the Olympics were diverted to the reconstruction of Naples, so a new venue was required. London was selected, and the games were held in
White City alongside the
Franco-British Exhibition , which at the time was the more noteworthy event.
The
White City Stadium , built in very short time especially for the games, held 68,000 people and was considered by some to be a technological marvel for the time. The distance from the start of the
Marathon to the finish at the stadium was established at this games; 42.195 km (26 miles 385 yards). The starting line was moved to allow the Royal Family a good view.
The games were surrounded by controversy. On opening day, following the practice introduced at the
Intercalated Games Of 1906 , the teams paraded behind their
National Flag s. However, the arrangement caused several complications:
- The Finnish team were expected to march under the Russian flag rather than the Finnish flag, so chose to march without a flag at all.
- Irish athletes were compelled to compete for the British team, so many of them withdrew.
- The Swedish flag had not been displayed above the stadium, so the members of the Swedish team decided not to take part in the ceremony.
- The United States flag had also not been displayed above the stadium before the opening so the United States' flag bearer refused to dip the flag to the royal box. Though the flag was later dipped in the collective greeting of the royal family, one of his teammates later gave the explanation that "This flag dips to no earthly King ." Despite international customs that encourage dipping the flag as a sign of respect to heads of state, since 1908 US flag bearers have followed a tradition of not doing so.
The 1908 Olympics also prompted the establishment of standard rules for sports, and the selection of judges from different countries, rather than just the host. One of the reasons for this was the 400 metre run in which the US winner was accused of interfering with the British runner. Part of the problem was the different definition of interference under British and US rules. The race was re-run, but the Americans refused to participate. The British runner,
Wyndham Halswelle , won by running around the track on his own because three of the four original runners had been American.
The most famous incident of the games came at the end of the
Marathon . It occurred when the first runner to enter the stadium,
Dorando Pietri of Italy, collapsed several times and ran the wrong way. Not far from the finish-line, two of the officials took him by the arms, and brought him to the line. As a consequence, after crossing the line he was disqualified. The medal went to American
Johnny Hayes who was second over the line, but the glory went to Pietri. Since he himself had not been responsible for his disqualification
Queen Alexandra the next day awarded him a gold cup in recognition of his achievement.
These Games were the first to include Winter events, such as had originally been proposed for the Games. There were four figure skating events contested. However, the on-ice events occurred months separated from most of the other events.
The 1908 Games featured the following
National Olympic Committee s.
(''Host nation in .'')
