Download or read book The First London Olympics 1908 written by Rebecca Jenkins and published by Piatkus. This book was released on 2011-08-25 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Showdown at Shepherd s Bush written by David Davis and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2012-06-19 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book The 1908 Olympics written by Keith Baker and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book The 1908 Olympic Games written by Bill Mallon and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2015-07-11 with total page 537 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book London Olympics written by Janie Hampton and published by Shire Publications. This book was released on 2011-07-19 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The fourth Olympic Games of the modern era, in 1908, were set to be held in Rome, but when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 1906, Italy needed all her resources to rebuild Naples. London stepped up to the plate and with only two years to prepare the British Olympic organisers pulled off a successful Olympic Games. Miraculously, they managed to do so while shunning all municipal and government assistance and using only private enterprise for the arrangements. In under a year, the White City stadium was built on the site of the forthcoming Franco-British exhibition, with a running track, cycling track, football field, swimming pool and platform for gymnastics and wrestling. Events at the 1908 Olympic Games included real tennis, tug-of-war, motor-boat racing, archery, rackets, and rugby; Olympic lacrosse also made its last appearance at these games. In 1948 the Olympics came to Britain again, and to a country still recovering from the Second World War. During this Austerity Era, food, clothing and gasoline were heavily rationed, and the Olympic organizers had to make do with what little they had at their disposal. The indomitable spirit of Londoners cheerfully overcame every obstacle, including shortages of equipment and appalling weather. British women athletes sewed their own uniforms; American competitors shared their beef steaks with the British; and the French brought a goods train full of wine and steak. Czechoslovakian Emil Zátopek, Fanny Blankers-Koen from The Netherlands and British Boy Scouts traveled together on the London Underground. Medals were awarded for art and poetry. The entire budget for the 1948 Games was £760,000, and they turned a profit of £29,000. The first two London Olympics offer food for thought in the run-up to London 2012, with its multi-billion pound budget during a global economic recession, new sporting arenas, Olympic villages, and high-speed rail links. This history of London Olympics, which concludes with a look ahead to 2012, is a timely and fascinating chronicle of the Olympic Games of another age.
Download or read book A Guide to London 1908 written by and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book The Austerity Olympics written by Janie Hampton and published by Quarto Publishing Group USA. This book was released on 2012-01-01 with total page 447 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ‘An enthralling account.’ —Independent ‘A fascinating book … researched with an awesome thoroughness.’ —Daily Telegraph ‘Hampton’s excellent book should be compulsory reading for everyone involved in the 2012 London Olympics.’ —Daily Mail Critic’s Choice The budget for the 2012 Olympic village alone is already a billion pounds short. The likelihood of corporate sponsorship recedes with every day of the credit crunch. How on earth are we going to match the opening and closing ceremonies of Beijing, let along top them? Fortunately, London has been through just such hard times before in the run-up to an Olympics, and in 1948 it showed just how to run a fantastic Games on a tiny budget – indeed, make them all the better for it. Janie Hampton’s book about the last time the Olympics came to London is a tale of female competitors sewing their own kit, teams ferried to the Games on red London buses and billeted in Spartan hostels or even army camps, and the main stadium being hastily cleared of greyhound racing to allow the athletics to take place. The total budget was £760,000, great athletes like Emil Zatopek and Fanny Blankers-Koen thrilled the crowds, and at the end a profit was turned! This is a book that becomes more relevant and ironically entertaining every day nearer to 2012.
Download or read book The 1906 Olympic Games written by Bill Mallon and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2009-03-10 with total page 251 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the early concepts of the Olympic Games was to include "intercalated" Games every four years between the normal cycle, and to hold these Games in Athens, the ancestral home of the Olympics. In 1906 the first, and only one, of these games was held. Occurring only two years after the St. Louis Games of 1904 and two years before the London Games of 1908, the Athens Games were considered by many not to be "official"; social and political forces prevented continuation of the intercalation cycle in 1910 and later. Yet these Games were surprisingly successful and helped guarantee the survival of the modern Olympics. This book, fourth in the series on the early Olympics, presents all the data on 29 nation and city-state participants in more than a dozen events in the Athens Games. Scores and descriptions are provided, and many historical errors and omissions in other sources are corrected. Appendices include the published program for the Games, the actual schedule followed during the Games, and country-by country listings of all participating athletes.
Download or read book Olympic Follies written by Graeme Kent and published by White Lion Publishing. This book was released on 2008 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: * A cautionary tale of Olympic mayhem during the 1908 Olympiad in London * A fascinating tale of rain, accusations, disqualifications, international incidents and incompetence, told with humour and a love of storytelling * A must for anyone looking forward to the London Olympic Games in 2012. * 100th Anniversary of the first London Games.
Download or read book The Olympic Games of 1908 in London 1908 written by British Olympic Association and published by Literary Licensing, LLC. This book was released on 2014-08-07 with total page 62 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Is A New Release Of The Original 1908 Edition.
Download or read book Britain and the Olympic Games 1908 1920 written by Luke J. Harris and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-04-29 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Understanding the Olympics written by John Horne and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-04-08 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How did the Olympics evolve into a multi-national phenomenon? How can the Olympics help us to understand the relationship between sport and society? What will be the impact and legacy of the Olympics after Tokyo in 2020? Understanding the Olympics answers all these questions by exploring the social, cultural, political, historical, and economic context of the Games. This thoroughly revised and updated edition discusses recent attempts at future proofing by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in the face of growing global anti-Olympic activism, the changing geo-political context within which the Olympics take place, and the Olympic histories of the next three cities to host the Games – Tokyo (2020), Paris (2024), and Los Angeles (2028) – as well as the legacy of the London (2012) Olympics. For the first time, this new edition introduces the reader to the emergence of ‘other Games’ associated with the IOC – the Winter Olympics, the Paralympics, and the Youth Olympics. It also features a full Olympic history timeline, many new photographs, refreshed suggestions for further reading, and revised illustrations. The most up-to-date and authoritative textbook available on the Olympic Games, Understanding the Olympics is essential reading for anybody with an interest in the Olympics or the wider relationship between sport and society.
Download or read book The Complete Book of the Winter Olympics written by David Wallechinsky and published by Amazon Difital Services LLC - Kdp Print Us. This book was released on 2014 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Published in anticipation of the 2014 Sochi Games, The Complete Book of the Winter Olympics has been expanded to include the rules and scoring for all the upcoming events. The book also looks at the history of each Olympic event from inception to the present day, including discontinued events and the four skating events first featured, before the creation of the Winter Olympics, in the 1908 London Summer Olympics. From speed skating to snowboarding, bobsled to ice hockey, the book gives the medals tables, timings, distances, and scores. But much more than a statistical compendium, the book also offers an abundance of Winter Olympic history, anecdotes, and lore, as authors David Wallechinsky and Jaime Loucky bring alive the most dramatic moments from the Games and celebrating the many extraordinary individuals who have competed."--Publisher's description.
Download or read book The Rise and Fall of Olympic Amateurism written by Matthew P Llewellyn and published by University of Illinois Press. This book was released on 2016-08-15 with total page 371 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For decades, amateurism defined the ideals undergirding the Olympic movement. No more. Today's Games present athletes who enjoy open corporate sponsorship and unabashedly compete for lucrative commercial endorsements. Matthew P. Llewellyn and John Gleaves analyze how this astonishing transformation took place. Drawing on Olympic archives and a wealth of research across media, the authors examine how an elite--white, wealthy, often Anglo-Saxon--controlled and shaped an enormously powerful myth of amateurism. The myth assumed an air of naturalness that made it seem unassailable and, not incidentally, served those in power. Llewellyn and Gleaves trace professionalism's inroads into the Olympics from tragic figures like Jim Thorpe through the shamateur era of under-the-table cash and state-supported athletes. As they show, the increasing acceptability of professionals went hand-in-hand with the Games becoming a for-profit international spectacle. Yet the myth of amateurism's purity remained a potent force, influencing how people around the globe imagined and understood sport. Timely and vivid with details, The Rise and Fall of Olympic Amateurism is the first book-length examination of the movement's foundational ideal.
Download or read book Olympic Games of London 1908 written by Olympic Games and published by . This book was released on 1908* with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Irish Whales written by Kevin Martin and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2020-09-01 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the early 1900s, the Olympic Games track and field throwing events were dominated by a group of Irish-born weight throwers representing the United States. Of immense size and with a larger-than-life presence, these athletes came to be known as the “Irish Whales.” In The Irish Whales: Olympians of Old New York, Kevin Martin shares the untold story of these Irish American athletes who competed with unparalleled distinction for the United States. James Mitchell, John Flanagan, Martin Sheridan, Pat McDonald, Paddy Ryan, and Con Walsh won a total of eighteen medals in the Olympic Games between 1900 and 1924 and completely dominated the world stage in their chosen athletic disciplines. They were lionized in the American and Irish press and became folk heroes among Irish-American immigrant communities. Almost all of these men were further distinguished by their membership in the fabled Irish American Athletic Club of New York and careers with the New York Police Department. The story of the Irish Whales is the very embodiment of the American Dream and exemplifies the triumph of many Irish emigrants in the New World. Featuring a wonderful collection of original photographs, The Irish Whales tells the dramatic stories of these international athletes and their extraordinary sporting successes.
Download or read book The Games A Global History of the Olympics written by David Goldblatt and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2016-07-26 with total page 755 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A people’s history of the Olympics.”—New York Times Book Review A Boston Globe Best Book of the Year A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of the Year The Games is best-selling sportswriter David Goldblatt’s sweeping, definitive history of the modern Olympics. Goldblatt brilliantly traces their history from the reinvention of the Games in Athens in 1896 to Rio in 2016, revealing how the Olympics developed into a global colossus and highlighting how they have been buffeted by (and affected by) domestic and international conflicts. Along the way, Goldblatt reveals the origins of beloved Olympic traditions (winners’ medals, the torch relay, the eternal flame) and popular events (gymnastics, alpine skiing, the marathon). And he delivers memorable portraits of Olympic icons from Jesse Owens to Nadia Comaneci, the Dream Team to Usain Bolt.
