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Friday 25 March 2011
Thursday 24 March 2011
On your marks, get set, GO!!!!
As tickets for the 2012 Olympics go on sale, we at Treasure Hunt Towers (being keen fans of all things active and outdoorsy) thought it might be an idea to find out what the Gateway has to offer in the matter of things Olympian
First port of call is the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (accessed via the Biography page on the Westminster Libraries Gateway) Apparently the British used to be quite good at sport once and to prove it, there’s a list of Olympic Title Holders in the ODNB (see under Themes). Among the notable gold medallists listed are Eric Liddell, Harold Abrahams and Lord Burghley of Chariots of Fire fame, John Pius Boland who won a tennis gold at the very first modern Olympics in 1896 and the splendidly named Wyndham Halswelle who won a somewhat controversial gold medal in the first London Olympics in 1908. Let the ODNB take up the tale…
“There was fine running in all four heats of the semi-finals, each of which was run in under 50 seconds. Halswelle recorded the fastest time and, having set a new Olympic record in the second round, was the favourite for the final on 23 July 1908.
The three other finalists—W. C. Robbins, T. C. Carpenter, and J. B. Taylor—were all American, and the race reflected the intense competition between the British and American track teams at the London games. The final was not run in lanes and ‘consequently something of a free-for-all developed’, with Halswelle being baulked by Robbins in the first 50 metres (Watman, 43). Coming to the 300 metres mark Robbins led from Carpenter by about a yard, with Halswelle well placed to strike off the final bend, as he had done in the earlier rounds. But as Halswelle made his move to pass Carpenter in the straight the American began to run wide, forcing him to within 18 inches of the outside of the track. Halswelle later recalled:
Carpenter's elbow undoubtedly touched my chest, for as I moved outwards to pass him he did likewise, keeping his right arm in front of me. In this manner he bored me across quite two-thirds of the track, and entirely stopped my running.
The interference appeared so obvious to the judges that they broke the tape while the race was still being run and declared the result void. That evening they disqualified Carpenter and ordered the race to be rerun in lanes (or ‘strings’ as they were then known) two days later.
It seemed to The Times that the American tactics were part of ‘a definite and carefully thought-out plan’ which in America would have been considered part and parcel of the race, but which in Britain was ‘contrary alike to the rules that govern sport and to our notions of what is fair play’ (The Times, 24 July 1908). Robbins and Taylor boycotted the final in protest at Carpenter's disqualification and Halswelle was left with a ‘walkover’ to the Olympic title. He made known his reluctance to run in such circumstances, but the AAA gave him no option. He received a warm reception from the capacity White City crowd during his 50.2 second lap.”
Also worth noting is the biography of Ran Laurie, father of actor Hugh Laurie who won a gold medal for rowing in the last London Olympics in 1948.
If this spurs you to want to look at some contemporary records of past Games, your next port of call should be the News & Magazines section of the Gateway. If you choose Picture Post and Browse by Date you can pick 1948 and the August 7th issue for some fascinating photojournalism about the London Olympics, including a fine picture of track legend Fanny Blankers-Koen who won 4 individual gold medals at the Games and another of Emil Zatopek, who won his first gold medal in London who went on to win 3 more in 1952 in Helsinki.
If you feel like going further back in history, why not try the Illustrated London News. Used the Advanced Search feature to browse by date and the 1st August 1908 has coverage of some of the first London Games (which ran all summer) including the most famous marathon race of all time, when the Italian, Dorando Petri was helped across the finishing line by race officials (one of whom was Arthur Conan Doyle) and subsequently disqualified.
Pictures are all very well – how about some film. If you go to the History section of the Gateway, you can check out the British Pathe site for some film of the 1908 Olympics, including open-air gymnastics (not very impressive by today’s standards), the tug-of-war (in which Great Britain, rather impressively came first, second and third), a rather peculiar sort of leapfrog, women’s archery (with compulsory silly hats) and the famous marathon.
Having read about all this Olympic history, don’t forget to go to the London 2012 site to order tickets for the next time the Games visit London.
About Web Treasure Hunt
The big idea is to suggest a couple of websites (usually from the Libraries Gateway to websites) which you might find interesting or helpful.
First port of call is the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (accessed via the Biography page on the Westminster Libraries Gateway) Apparently the British used to be quite good at sport once and to prove it, there’s a list of Olympic Title Holders in the ODNB (see under Themes). Among the notable gold medallists listed are Eric Liddell, Harold Abrahams and Lord Burghley of Chariots of Fire fame, John Pius Boland who won a tennis gold at the very first modern Olympics in 1896 and the splendidly named Wyndham Halswelle who won a somewhat controversial gold medal in the first London Olympics in 1908. Let the ODNB take up the tale…
“There was fine running in all four heats of the semi-finals, each of which was run in under 50 seconds. Halswelle recorded the fastest time and, having set a new Olympic record in the second round, was the favourite for the final on 23 July 1908.
The three other finalists—W. C. Robbins, T. C. Carpenter, and J. B. Taylor—were all American, and the race reflected the intense competition between the British and American track teams at the London games. The final was not run in lanes and ‘consequently something of a free-for-all developed’, with Halswelle being baulked by Robbins in the first 50 metres (Watman, 43). Coming to the 300 metres mark Robbins led from Carpenter by about a yard, with Halswelle well placed to strike off the final bend, as he had done in the earlier rounds. But as Halswelle made his move to pass Carpenter in the straight the American began to run wide, forcing him to within 18 inches of the outside of the track. Halswelle later recalled:
Carpenter's elbow undoubtedly touched my chest, for as I moved outwards to pass him he did likewise, keeping his right arm in front of me. In this manner he bored me across quite two-thirds of the track, and entirely stopped my running.
The interference appeared so obvious to the judges that they broke the tape while the race was still being run and declared the result void. That evening they disqualified Carpenter and ordered the race to be rerun in lanes (or ‘strings’ as they were then known) two days later.
It seemed to The Times that the American tactics were part of ‘a definite and carefully thought-out plan’ which in America would have been considered part and parcel of the race, but which in Britain was ‘contrary alike to the rules that govern sport and to our notions of what is fair play’ (The Times, 24 July 1908). Robbins and Taylor boycotted the final in protest at Carpenter's disqualification and Halswelle was left with a ‘walkover’ to the Olympic title. He made known his reluctance to run in such circumstances, but the AAA gave him no option. He received a warm reception from the capacity White City crowd during his 50.2 second lap.”
Also worth noting is the biography of Ran Laurie, father of actor Hugh Laurie who won a gold medal for rowing in the last London Olympics in 1948.
If this spurs you to want to look at some contemporary records of past Games, your next port of call should be the News & Magazines section of the Gateway. If you choose Picture Post and Browse by Date you can pick 1948 and the August 7th issue for some fascinating photojournalism about the London Olympics, including a fine picture of track legend Fanny Blankers-Koen who won 4 individual gold medals at the Games and another of Emil Zatopek, who won his first gold medal in London who went on to win 3 more in 1952 in Helsinki.
If you feel like going further back in history, why not try the Illustrated London News. Used the Advanced Search feature to browse by date and the 1st August 1908 has coverage of some of the first London Games (which ran all summer) including the most famous marathon race of all time, when the Italian, Dorando Petri was helped across the finishing line by race officials (one of whom was Arthur Conan Doyle) and subsequently disqualified.
Pictures are all very well – how about some film. If you go to the History section of the Gateway, you can check out the British Pathe site for some film of the 1908 Olympics, including open-air gymnastics (not very impressive by today’s standards), the tug-of-war (in which Great Britain, rather impressively came first, second and third), a rather peculiar sort of leapfrog, women’s archery (with compulsory silly hats) and the famous marathon.
Having read about all this Olympic history, don’t forget to go to the London 2012 site to order tickets for the next time the Games visit London.
About Web Treasure Hunt
The big idea is to suggest a couple of websites (usually from the Libraries Gateway to websites) which you might find interesting or helpful.
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