Best of 1896-1908 Gallery
Close InspectionLondon 1908: A referee closely watches the final of the light heavyweight Greco-Roman wrestling event. Verner Weckman of Finland won the gold medal beating fellow countryman Yrjo Saarela.
Archery's National RoundLondon 1908: Women archers participating in the national round (60 yards-50 yards), which was won by Sybil 'Queenie' Newall of Great Britain.
Tug!London 1908: Great Britain taking on Ireland in the tug-of-war event.
Taylor & Co.London 1908: British swimmer Henry Taylor, who won the 400m race, with his trainer.
Snowy BakerLondon 1908: One of Australia's greatest athletes, Reginald "Snowy" Baker competed in the boxing, swimming and diving, winning a silver medal in the middleweight boxing division.
Tied For FirstLondon 1908: Edward Cooke of the USA in action during the pole vault event. He came joint first with team mate Alfred Gilbert, with an Olympic Record of 3.71 metres.
London's Olympic StadiumLondon 1908: The stadium at Shephard's Bush where the Olympic Games were held.
First And LastLondon 1908: Motor boats in action during competition when the sport was included for the first and last time. The races were held round the Isle of Wight off the south coast of Britain. The races were delayed a couple of months in order to await the return from New York of the Duke of Westminster's crack boat Wolseley Siddeley (a commercial name which would not now be permitted). However while this craft was certainly fast and led by a long way (there were only three competitors), His Grace apparently - in trying to cut a fine course - ran aground on a sandbank and became stuck. Emile Thubron of France in Camille came from a long way back to pass the Duke and win the gold medal.
Royal BeginningsLondon 1908: The start of the marathon at Windsor Castle which finished at the Olympic stadium in Shepherds Bush, London.
Official WinnerLondon 1908: John Hayes of the USA in action during the marathon. Hayes won the gold medal in this event after the disqualification of Italian Dorando Pietri.
Exhaustive MarathonLondon 1908: Dorando Pietri of Italy, on the verge of collapse, is helped across the finish line in the marathon event. He was subsequently disqualified and the title was given to John Hayes of the USA.
Standing High jumpLondon 1908: Ray Ewry of the USA in action during a practice for the standing high jump where he won the gold medal. He also won the gold medal for the standing long jump. He dominated these discontinued events and the discontinued standing triple jump, winning eight Olympic gold medals between 1900 and 1908, and two more at the 'Intercalated' Olympics of 1906.
Gold Winning High JumpLondon 1908: Harry Porter of the USA in mid-jump during the high jump event where he won the gold medal setting an Olympic record of 1.905m.
The Original 4000m London 1908: The British cycling pursuit team who won the gold medal over a distance of 1810.5m (later to become 4000m), (left to right) Leonard Meredith, Ernest Payne, Charles Kingsbury, Benjamin Jones.
Australia's Olympic Team for LondonLondon 1908: The Australian team
Disqualified WinLondon 1908: American athlete John Carpenter crosses the finishing line of the 400m final but officials had already disqualified him for preventing his English competitor, Wyndham Halswelle, from overtaking during the race. The race was later re-run with Halswelle as the sole participant.
Sheppard's Golden Finish London 1908: Melvin Sheppard of the USA crosses the finish line to win the final of the 1500m from Harold Wilson of Great Britain, with an Olympic Record time of 4 minutes 3.4 seconds. Sheppard also won the 800m a week later with a world record 1 minute 52.8 seconds.
Reginald's GoldLondon 1908: Reginald Walker of South Africa (right) crosses the finish line to win the 100m final, equalling the Olympic Record of 10.8 seconds. Next to him in second place is James Rector of the USA, in third place Robert Kerr of Canada (left), and in fourth place Nathaniel Cartmell of the USA.
