The 1908 Olympic Games, the Great Stadium and the Marathon PDF Download

Author: Bob Wilcock
Publisher: Young Writers
ISBN: 9780955823602
Category : Olympic Games
Languages : en
Pages : 124

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Author: David Davis
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 0312641001
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
The epic clash of an Irish-American, Italian, and Onondaga-Canadian that jump-started the first marathon mania and heralded the modern age in sports The eyes of the world watched as three runners—dirt poor Johnny Hayes, who used to run barefoot through the streets of New York City; candymaker Dorando Pietri; and the famed Tom Longboat—converged for an epic battle at the 1908 London Olympics. The incredible finish was contested the world over when Pietri, who initially ran the wrong way upon entering the stadium at Shepherd's Bush, finished first but was disqualified for receiving aid from officials after collapsing just shy of the finish line, thus giving the title to runner-up Hayes. In the midst of anti-American sentiment, Queen Alexandra awarded a special cup to Pietri, who became an international celebrity and inspired one of Irving Berlin's first songs. In Showdown at Shepherd's Bush, David Davis recalls a time when runners braved injurious roads with slips of leather for shoes and when marathon mania became a worldwide obsession. Standing next to Cait Murphy's Crazy '08 as an invaluable look at a bygone sporting era, Showdown at Shepherd's Bush is a dramatic narrative aimed at the recordsetting number of marathon participants in the United States (more than 500,000 in 2010!) and other running enthusiasts, and timed nicely for the return of the Olympics to London in 2012.

Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 15

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Author: Bill Mallon
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476609527
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 537

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Book Description
The 1908 Olympic Games were controversial. There was almost constant bickering among the American team and the British officials. Because of the controversies, the 1908 Olympics have been termed "The Battle of Shepherd's Bush," referring to the site of the Olympic Stadium. Reports of the 1908 Olympics have been rare and do not for instance contain full results for archery, track and field athletics, football (soccer), gymnastics, motorboating and shooting. A great deal of new information has been discovered by the authors, and this work gives complete results for all events. The information presented is based primarily on 1908 sources. For the first time, definitive word on the sites, dates, events, competitors, and nations as well as the event results are available for all of the 1908 Olympic events, including boxing, cycling, diving, fencing, field hockey, lacrosse, polo, raquets, swimming, lawn tennis, tug-of-war, weightlifting, wrestling and yachting, among other sports. A series of appendices include rarely seen information about the many controversies surrounding the Games.

Author: Rebecca Jenkins
Publisher: Piatkus
ISBN: 0748131388
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 265

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Book Description
In the summer that saw the first successful flight of the Zeppelin, a 140 acre site of scrubland in West London was transformed into the White City, which housed the 1908 Franco-British Exhibition - and a state-of-the-art stadium built to house the first London Olympics. The Olympics were organised by volunteers in just 18 months and at a fraction of the cost of the modern Olympics and yet, just as today, the sport was overshadowed by doping scandals and caused international uproar. The ferocious competitiveness of a US team dominated by New York Irish Americans led to a succession of 'scandals' culminating in the historic marathon when Italian confectioner baker Dorando Pietri's heroic efforts at the limits of exhaustion so entranced on-lookers that track officials helped him across the finish line. Coinciding with the 100th Anniversary of the first London Olympics, this delightful social and sporting history - illustrated with over 70 contemporary images - provides a thought-provoking contrast to the forthcoming 2012 Olympic Games.

Author: Sandy Nairne
Publisher: Unbound Publishing
ISBN: 1800182805
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 341

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William Grenfell, Lord Desborough, was, for many, the epitome of the perfect English gentleman: an exceptional sportsman, a dedicated public servant and a devoted husband and father. Grenfell’s astounding sporting achievements, from climbing mountains to swimming the basin of the Niagara Falls twice, from rowing the English Channel and winning the Amateur Punting Championship for three years consecutively, to representing Great Britain in fencing, produced his deep-rooted belief in the importance of sport. It wasn’t surprising therefore that he became the driving force behind the 1908 London Olympic Games, an enormous success despite being staged with only two years’ notice. A surprisingly modern public figure, Grenfell was elected as an MP before going on to hold a prodigious array of local, national and international roles: mayor of Maidenhead, leading the London Chamber of Commerce, promoting aviation, establishing modern policing, and serving as chairman of the Thames Conservancy. Although Grenfell’s public life was successful, his family was struck by tragedy, aged six he lost his father and he and his wife Ettie suffered the loss of two sons in the First World War and their third in a motor accident. Despite this, their home, Taplow Court, was a place for entertaining and had been a focal point for the Souls, including notable politicians such as A. J. Balfour and the young Winston Churchill, as well as writers like H. G. Wells and Henry James. In Titan of the Thames, Nairne and Williams disentangle the myths surrounding this fascinating man who spans the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and have pieced together a compelling biography of a figure whose story should have been told many years ago.

Author: Keith Baker
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781899807611
Category : Athletes
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Details the first London Olympics when the Games were awarded to the UK after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 1906 stopped them going to Rome, as funds for building Olympic facilities were diverted to Naples to help rebuild the city. Author Keith Baker concentrates on the important controversies, especially those with the Americans, notably the 400m, the Tug of War and the Marathon. He also highlights the lives of some of the great competitors and personalities who made the event unique. Will appeal to all serious sports fans as well as British history students.

Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781844917877
Category : London (England)
Languages : en
Pages : 146

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Book Description
With the Games of London 2012 almost upon us, the book permits armchair time travel at its very best - not only in exploring the streets and historic buildings of Edwardian London, but also the opportunity to reflect on the many innovations of the 1908 Games that we now take for granted - the presence of national teams; the use of international rather than local judges; the construction of first -class facilities and much more. The first part presents the Atlas and Gazetteer of London 1908, with its 38,000 streets and places index, along with the clear and colourful map plates of London's famous districts. The official programme presents all of the events staged at the 1908 Olympic Games with the sports diary revealing even more fascinating detail. This is just one of many artefacts from the scrapbook of William Barnard, timekeeper at the 1908 Games that are featured in the second part of the book. One of the greatest pieces of Sporting History to occur at the 1908 Games was the establishment of the Marathon Race distance at 26 miles 385 yards - and that being down to the passionate, supportive and keen interest of Royal Family. This section of the book presents the epic story of London's first marathon when the decision to disqualify the winner, Italy's Dorando Pietri, leading to him being immortalised in history as a legendry sporting hero. The controversial finish, and the headline pictures and flickering film of the drama, stamped on this race for decades its image as a "man-killer" event. After the struggle of 1908, the marathon story was far too good to end at the tape. This intriguing section of the book also contains a plan of the original marathon route, the complete 1908 marathon programme including full list of competitors and route schedule, along with iconic sporting pictures of this iconic event. The book is a historic tribute to the early pioneers of the great games and the legacy that they bestowed on many generations throughout the World.

Author: Luke J. Harris
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137498625
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 301

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Book Description
Britain and the Olympic Games, 1908-1920 focuses upon the presentation and descriptions of identity that are presented through the depictions of the Olympics in the national press. This book breaks Britain down into its four nations and presents the debates that were present within their national press.

Author: Haydn Middleton
Publisher: Heinemann-Raintree Library
ISBN: 9781403446701
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 52

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Book Description
The Making of a Champion series looks at what people need to succeed in their sport - from learning basic skills as a young person to the talent, training, and dedication necessary to become a champion. Book jacket.