The Olympics in 1908 and 1948

1
The Olympics in 1908 and 1948

• Vanessa Yasmine Birgitta Roosmets
• Viimsi Secondary School
• 10b

2
The Olympics in 1908

• Host city London
• Opening ceremony April 27
• Closing ceremony October 31
• Officially opened by - King Edward VII
• Nations participating 22
• Originally scheduled Rome
• Mount Vesuvius eruption - on April 7, 1906 -
  devastating Naples
• Funds were diverted to the reconstruction of
  Naples
• A new venue was required
• Candidates London, Berlin and Milan
• Selection London
• Seen as the start of the Fourth Olympiad
• The White City Stadium - built in a short time
  for the games, held 68,000, was considered
  technological marvel

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Controversy

• Athletes paraded under their national flags at a
  ceremony at the start of the Games.
• The games were surrounded by controversy.
• Finland - part of the Russian Empire, the Finnish
  team were expected to march under the Russian
  rather than Finnish flag - many chose to march
  without a flag at all
• The Swedish flag - had not been displayed above
  the stadium - 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,
  which is possibly the reason why the United
  States' flag bearer refused to dip the flag to
  the royal box
• Finland Russia Sweden U.S.A

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Famous incidents

• The 1908 Olympics also prompted establishment of
  standard rules for sports, and selection of
  judges from different countries rather than just
  the host. One reason was the 400 metre run in
  which the US winner was accused of interfering
  (Carpenter, in order to prevent Halswelle from
  passing him, moved progressively farther towards
  the outside of the track, forcing Halswelle to
  within 18 inches of the outside curb) 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 only
  walkover in Olympic history.
• The most famous incident of the games came at
  the end of the marathon. The first to enter the
  stadium, Dorando Pietri of Italy, collapsed
  several times and ran the wrong way. Not far from
  the finish, two 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 of the Irish
  American Athletic Club who was second, but the
  glory went to Pietri. Since he had not been
  responsible for his disqualification, Queen
  Alexandra next day awarded him a gilded silver
  cup.

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Participating nations

• The 1908 Games featured athletes representing 22
  National Olympic Committees.
• Finland, Turkey, and New Zealand (as part of the
  team from Australasia) made their first
  appearance at the Olympic Games.
• The decision to join Ireland, England, Scotland
  and Wales into one team, that of the United
  Kingdom, was upsetting to some Irish competitors,
  who felt that Ireland should compete on its own.
• Fearing an Irish boycott, the authorities changed
  the name of the team to Great Britain/Ireland,
  and in two sports, field hockey and polo, Ireland
  participated as a separate country, winning
  silver medals in both.

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The Olympics in 1948

• Host city - London, England
• Opening ceremony - July 29
• Closing ceremony - August 14
• Officially opened by - King George VI
• Nations participating - 59
• Athlete's Oath - Donald Finlay
• Olympic Torch - John Mark
• Stadium - Wembley Stadium
• After a pause of 12 years caused by World War II,
  these were the first Summer Olympics since the
  1936 Games in Berlin
• The 1940 Games had been scheduled for Tokyo, and
  then Helsinki the 1944 Games had been
  provisionally planned for London
• London was the first Olympics to have a political
  defection. Marie Provaznikova won a gold medal
  with the Czechoslovakian gymnastics team and then
  refused to return home

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Participating nations

• A total of 59 nations sent athletes.
• Fourteen made their first official appearance
  British Guiana (now Guyana), Burma (now Myanmar),
  Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Iran, Iraq, Jamaica,
  Korea (its only time as a united team), Lebanon,
  Pakistan, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Syria, Trinidad
  and Tobago, and Venezuela.
• Germany and Japan, the aggressors of World War
  II, were not invited to participate.
• Italy, although originally an Axis power,
  defected to the Allies in 1943 following Benito
  Mussolini being deposed, and was allowed to send
  athletes.

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Medal count

• This is the first 10 of the medal table of the
  1908 and 1948 Summer Olympics in London. These
  rankings sort by the number of gold medals earned
  by a country. The number of silver medals is
  taken into consideration next and then the number
  of bronze medals. If, after the above, countries
  are still tied, equal ranking is given and they
  are listed alphabetically. This follows the
  system used by the IOC, IAAF and BBC
• 1908 - There were three nations that participated
  but received no medals - Argentina, Switzerland
  and Turkey
• 1948 - Britain 12 rank (3 gold, 14 silver, 6
  bronze, 23 total)?

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New in 1908 and 1948

• 1948
• Games shown on home television.
• Starting blocks for Sprint races.
• Volunteer Programme created to help run the
  Games.
• Women's canoeing event had been contested in the
  Olympics

• 1908
• The Olympic Stadium (White City) was built
  especially for the Olympic Games.
• Athletes paraded under their national flags at a
  ceremony at the start of the Games.
• The Marathon was fixed at 42.195km (26.2 miles)
  the distance from Windsor Castle to the Royal Box
  in the Olympic Stadium. This became the official
  distance from the 1924 Games onwards.

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Used material

• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1908_Summer_Olympics
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1908_Summer_Olympics_
  medal_count
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Summer_Olympics
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Summer_Olympics_
  medal_table
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_FlameLighter
  s
• http//history1900s.about.com/od/fadsfashion/a/oly
  mpics1948.htm
• http//www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/19
  08/ATH/mens-400-metres.html
• http//www.hickoksports.com/history/ol1908.shtml
• http//www.olympic.org/uk/games/past/index_uk.asp?
  OLGT1OLGY1948
• http//www.london-2012.co.uk/1908-London-Olympic-G
  ames/
• http//www.marketingforaccountants.com/runner20in
  20starting20blocks.jpg
• http//newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44582000/jpg
  /_44582158_stadium416.jpg
• http//news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-08/08/xin_1
  520805082135796248093.jpg