Then and Now
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Your support makes all the difference.1996, Atlanta: Government and Opposition call for urgent action following national dismay at poor performance of British athletes at the Olympics (1 gold, 6 silver, 6 bronze by 5pm yesterday).
1908, London: The IVth Olympiad, due to be held in Rome, was transferred to the newly-built White City stadium, after the eruption of Vesuvius in 1906.
1. British athletes topped the medal table with 56 gold, 50 silver, and 39 bronze (United States followed with 23, 12, and 12).
2. All the judges were British. The US lodged complaints about illegal coaching, fixed heats and general rule-breaking.
3. The US refused to dip the stars and stripes to King Edward in the march past the royal box.
4. The Finns refused to march behind the flag of Tsarist Russia.
5. Britain won gold, silver and bronze medals in the tug-of-war.
6. The 400m final had only one runner, Lieut Wyndham Halswelle of Britain, his three US fellow qualifiers all refusing to take part in the re-run called after they were accused of obstructing him.
7. Forrest Smithson (US), a theology student, won gold in the 110m metres hurdles with a world record of 15 sec, reportedly carrying a bible in protest that the event was scheduled on Sunday.
8. The marathon distance of 26 miles 385 yards was first established, being, not the distance that Pheidippides ran from Marathon to Athens, but the distance from the royal nursery at Windsor castle to the stadium.
9. First to cross the marathon line was Dorando Pietri (Italy) followed by Johnny Hayes (US). The US protested that the clerk of the course and another official, reputedly Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, had helped Pietri across the line. A picture published in the Daily Mirror next day proved this to be so. Hayes got the gold, but Queen Alexandra presented Pietri with a special gold cup.
10. Third to cross the line was Charles Hefferon (South Africa) who said "I blame myself for losing. I ought to have taken it easier and that champagne near the end finished me."
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