1908: London's First Games Trivia Quiz

Answer: The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 1906

At a 1904 meeting of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in London, Rome had been chosen as the host of the 1908 Olympic Games, but with the devastation caused by the April 1906 eruption of Mount Vesuvius, the Italian government found itself overwhelmed by the financial burden, and petitioned the IOC to release them from hosting the Games.
After the disappointment of the St Louis Games in 1904, the IOC turned to the only country that they, and their founder Baron de Coubertin, believed capable of producing a worldwide sporting event at such short notice. It was Great Britain. They approached Lord Desborough of Taplow, a competitor in the fencing at the 1906 Intercalated Games in Athens, and friend of Baron de Coubertin, to suggest the possibility of London as the hosts of the 1908 Games. In him, they found a determined and passionate sportsman and administrator who was prepared to undertake the challenge of staging the Games on behalf of his country.
In an article in the "National Review" in 1908, Desborough stated, "Upon my return to England I addressed a letter to the great athletic and sporting associations in England, asking whether they would approve of holding the games in England and give their assistance. The answers received was entirely favourable."

Answer: White City

One of the factors that allowed the London organisers to successfully arrange the Games was that there was due to be a Franco-British exhibition held on a large site in Shepherd's Bush, West London in 1908. The British Olympic Council (BOC) approached the exhibition's organisers who were only too happy to fund the building of a stadium within the exhibition grounds. This was for a share of the profits, the extra publicity, and anticipated increase in visitor numbers.
With the development of the exhibition site, the area soon became known as "White City" due to the preponderance of white buildings erected on the site. The jewel in the crown amongst them was the gigantic White City Stadium. Unlike modern Olympic stadia, White City was built to host not just the track and field events, but also the swimming (in a 100 metre long pool), diving, cycling, and team sports. It had room for 70,000 seated customers with a further 80,000 standing.
The stadium remained in use in some form until 1983 when it was closed after its last speedway race. It was demolished two years later to be replaced by a new complex (fittingly built in white) for the British Broadcasting Corporation.

Answer: The athletes were told they would be competing for the British team

Ireland was governed by the United Kingdom at the time of the 1908 Games, but there was a strong political movement towards independence and a free Ireland. So, when the Irish athletes chosen to compete in the Games were informed on the eve of competition that any victories they achieved would be counted as British victories in the medal table, there was uproar, prompting a mass withdrawal.

In an attempt to ameliorate some of the ill will, the BOC renamed the team as "Great Britain and Ireland" which possibly prevented further withdrawals. Those athletes who chose to compete despite this, displayed their displeasure during the opening ceremony by parading at a distance from the rest of the British team so as not to appear to be marching behind the Union Jack.

Answer: He refused to dip the U.S. flag in honour of King Edward VII

Ralph Rose was not initially chosen to be the U.S. flag-bearer at the athlete's parade. The team captain, Martin Sheridan, was the original choice but a last minute change, for reasons unknown, brought the honour Rose's way. The late change may well have contributed to the supposed disrespect of his actions. Though the quote that is commonly attached to the incident, "This flag dips to no earthly king", attributed to Sheridan but disputed, suggests it was a deliberate act. Rose claimed that it was merely an error as he "was never told what to do" (Mallon and Buchanan, "The 1908 Olympic Games"). Regardless of the intent, Rose's failure to dip the flag to the host's head of state has provided a precedent that has been followed by almost every American flag-bearer at subsequent Olympic Games, the 1924 Summer Games and the 1932 Winter Olympics being the exceptions.

It also marked the beginning of hostility between the host nation and the U.S. team that was to be prevalent throughout the Games.

Answer: Ulrich Salchow

Figure skating debuted in London in 1908 at a time when there was no separation between Summer Games and Winter Games, as there is in modern day Olympiads. The events of the 4th Olympiad were spread over a period of six months from April to October, with the winter events which included team sports such as rugby and hockey. They took place in the autumn months.
Salchow was a huge name in the sport even before his innovative jump confirmed his name would remain on the lips of commentators for decades to come. At the time of his London triumph, the jump had yet to make its debut (its first appearance in competition would come one year later), but Salchow was already a six-time World champion and a six-time European champion before he claimed the first ever Olympic gold for figure skating.
Axel Paulsen gave his name to the axel jump; a forward, one and a half rotation jump first performed in 1882. Alois Lutz performed his eponymous jump for the first time in 1913, a full turn from back outside edge to back outside edge. Nate Walley gives his name to the Walley jump, a full turn from back inside edge to back outside edge, although there is dispute over whether he was the first to perform it.

Answer: Cricket

The British had wanted to include cricket, which had made its Olympic debut at the 1900 Games in Paris, but the IOC refused to allow its entry as it was not played in enough competing countries.
Gymnastics had been included in the Games from the first modern Games in Athens in 1896, but it was not until 1908 that women were allowed to compete. Even then women's gymnastics was only included as a demonstration sport. Motor boating made its one and only appearance at the Olympics in London 1908.

Answer: He won the final by walkover

The circumstances that led to the only Olympic gold medal won by walkover in the 20th century were, as so many were in the 1908 Games, the result of a dispute between the British officials and the U.S. athletes. The first running of the 400m final saw Halswelle line up against three American athletes. They were JC Carpenter, WC Robbins, and John Taylor leading some British newspapers to speculate on the Americans using team tactics to prevent Halswelle, the favourite, from claiming victory.
Given this speculation, there were extra officials laid on at trackside to officiate on any disputes that may arise during the race. It was perhaps inevitable, therefore, that a major dispute did arise.
In 1908, the 400m races were not run in lanes, as they would be today, so jostling and obstruction was often an issue. As the final race reached the last bend, three racers were in contention. They were Carpenter, Robbins, and Halswelle, with Carpenter leading. In the words of Dr Roscoe Badger, vice-president of the AAA (Amateur Athletic Association), given to the appeal hearing; "Robbins and Carpenter were in such a position as to compel Halswelle to run very wide all round the bend, and as they swung into the straight Halswelle made a big effort and was gaining hard; but running up the straight the further they went the wider Carpenter went out from the verge, keeping his right shoulder sufficiently in front of Mr. Halswelle to prevent his passing. When they had run 30 yards up the straight Carpenter was about 18 inches off the outside edge of the track. I at once ran up the track, waving my hands to the judges to break the worsted." (1908 London Olympic Games Official Report).
With the breaking of the tape, the officials declared "no race". The Americans protested the decision but it was the opinion of many of the judges that Carpenter wilfully obstructed Halswelle, and was therefore disqualified. After an inquiry which heard testimony from the race officials and Halswelle, but not the Americans, the re-run of the race was scheduled for the following Saturday, and it was decided that it should be run "in strings" (lanes).
The two remaining Americans were told by the team leaders to boycott the race and duly obliged, leaving Halswelle to run around the track on his own in 50 seconds (slower than the Olympic record he had set in the semi-finals) to claim gold.
Taylor was to gain some recompense later in the competition when the US claimed the relay title, making Taylor the first ever black athlete to win an Olympic gold medal.

Answer: 100 years

Henry Taylor's three gold medals came in the 1500m freestyle, 400m freestyle, and the 4x200m freestyle relay. He added two bronze medals in the same relay event at the 1912 and 1920 Games for a total of five career medals.
It was not until August 2008 in Beijing that Taylor's three golds at a single games were matched by another Briton. Cyclist Chris Hoy, soon to become Sir Chris, took gold in the keirin, the team sprint, and the individual sprint to add to his gold medal in the 1km time trial at the 2004 Games in Athens. Thus, becoming the most successful cyclist in the history of the Games to that point.
Whilst Taylor had the greatest individual haul at the 1908 Games, matched by American middle distance runner Mel Sheppard, an even greater achievement was completed by Ray Ewry of the United States. In winning the standing broad jump and the standing long jump, Ewry took his career haul of Olympic golds to eight, all in individual events. This feat was unmatched by any other athlete in the 20th century.

Answer: He was helped over the line after collapsing in the stadium

The picture of Dorando Pietri struggling through the tape with a trackside official holding him up is one of the most iconic images in the history of the Olympics, and made the marathon a hugely popular event worldwide.
The 1908 Olympic marathon was the race that set the current distance for the race at 26 miles, 385 yards (adopted officially by the IAAF in 1921). Contrary to the commonly held belief, the extra yards were not added at the request of the British royal family so that they could watch the start from Windsor Castle. The 385 yards were added at the end of the race, being the distance from the entrance to the stadium to the finish line in front of the royal box.
Pietri had run an excellent race prior to arriving at the Olympic stadium. He had overtaken Charles Hefferon of South Africa a few miles back and had opened up a large lead over Johnny Hayes in second place. But, the race had taken a significant toll on Pietri's body. Most of the 1908 Games had been conducted in typically poor British summer conditions; cool and damp, but the day of the marathon was a hot and humid day.
Because of the heat, drinks were eagerly snapped up by the competitors, even if those being proferred along the route were not always appropriate. Many of the spectators, treating the event as a party, handed glasses of beer and champagne to the runners. Hefferon was believed to have partaken of one such drink and, whilst not against the rules, its effect on his stomach stopped him in his tracks allowing Pietri to take the lead.
Shortly before entering the stadium, Pietri collapsed to the ground with exhaustion. He resumed running and managed to enter the stadium still in the lead. His distress was immediately obvious to all the spectators as he set off around the track in the wrong direction. Officials quickly pointed him in the right direction but he collapsed again within a few yards.
With the crowd cheering their support, Pietri staggered on, finally collapsing for the fourth time 30 yards from the line, apparently unable to carry on. At this point, Johnny Hayes entered the stadium in second place and two officials, Mr Andrews and Dr Bulger, made the fateful decision that Pietri had to be helped across the line.
Though he was disqualified after an American protest, Queen Alexandra, who had been present to witness the end of the race, insisted on presenting Pietri with a special replica cup, identical to that given to Hayes, at the Games' closing ceremony.

Answer: Great Britain

Probably not a great surprise given that the Great Britain and Ireland team was three times larger than its next biggest opponent. In addition, they provided the only entrants to certain events. Nevertheless, the eventual haul of 56 Gold medals, 51 Silver, and 38 Bronze was impressive.
The United States took second place in the table with 23 golds, with Sweden third with eight.