Athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's 5 miles

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Men's 5 miles
at the Games of the IV Olympiad
Venue White City Stadium
DatesJuly 15, 1908 (semifinals)
July 18, 1908 (final)
Competitors36 from 14 nations
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Emil Voigt Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain
Silver medal icon.svg Edward Owen Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain
Bronze medal icon.svg John Svanberg Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden

The men's 5 miles race was held at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. It was discontinued after that in favour of the metric races of 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres. The competition was held on July 15, 1908, and July 18, 1908. 36 runners from 14 nations competed; seven from Great Britain, five from Sweden, four each from the United States, Canada and the Netherlands, two each from Denmark, France and Australasia, and one each from Hungary, South Africa, Greece, Germany, Bohemia and Italy. There were six preliminary heats, with the winner and the four runners-up with the best time advancing to the final. [1] NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes. [2]

Records

These are the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1908 Summer Olympics. The 5 miles (8.0 km) race was only held twice at the Olympics, in 1906 and 1908.

World Record24:33.2 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Alfred Shrubb Stamford Bridge (GBR)May 1904
Olympic Record26:11.8 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Henry Hawtrey Athens (GRE)1906

Results

First round

All first round heats were held on July 15, 1908.

Heat 1

Ragueneau retired in the first quarter-mile. Coales dropped out after about four miles (6 km). Hefferon led for about half the race before Svanberg passed him.

Intermediate times: 1 mile 4:52.0, 2 miles 10:02.8, 3 miles 15:10.4, 4 miles 20:29.4

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 John Svanberg Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 25:46.2Q
2 Charles Hefferon Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  South Africa 26:05.0q
3 George Blake Flag of Australasian team for Olympic games.svg  Australasia Unknown
William Coales Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain DNF
Gaston Ragueneau Flag of France.svg  France DNF

Heat 2

Voigt broke away from the pack at about four miles (6 km).

Intermediate times: 1 mile 5:06.2, 2 miles 10:40.0, 3 miles 16:06.0, 4 miles 21:16.0

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Emil Voigt Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 26:13.4Q
2 Frederick Bellars US flag 45 stars.svg  United States 26:45.0q
3 Pericle Pagliani Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg  Italy 26:56.4
4 Kjeld Nielsen Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 27:04.8
Willem Wakker Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands DNF
Nikolaos KouloumberdasFlag of Greece (1828-1978).svg  Greece DNF
Edward Dahl Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden DNF

Heat 3

Landqvist led the entire way, gradually pulling away from the rest of the runners.

Intermediate times: 1 mile 5:07.6, 2 miles 10:32.6, 3 miles 15:53.4, 4 miles 21:26.2

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Seth Landqvist Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 27:00.2Q
2 Edward Carr US flag 45 stars.svg  United States 27:24.4
3 Julius Jørgensen Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 28:08.8
4Charles HallUS flag 45 stars.svg  United States 28:24.0
5 Paul Nettelbeck Flag of the German Empire.svg  Germany 28:31.6
Wilhelmus BraamsFlag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands DNF

Heat 4

Intermediate times: 1 mile 4:49.6, 2 miles 9:59.8, 3 miles 15:12.4, 4 miles 20:31.4

Murphy was in the lead for the entirety of the race.

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 James Murphy Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 25:59.2Q
2 Frederick Meadows Flag of Canada (1868-1921).svg  Canada 26:16.2q
3Georg PetersonFlag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 26:50.4
4 Paul Lizandier Flag of France.svg  France 27:10.8
Joe Deakin Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain DNF
John Tait Flag of Canada (1868-1921).svg  Canada DNF
Jacques Keyser Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands DNF

Heat 5

Fitzgerald, Robertson, and Stevenson were close together for the first mile, then Robertson broke away. This left Fitzgerald and Stevenson to fight over second place.

Intermediate times: 1 mile 4:52.8, 2 miles 10:02.6, 3 miles 15:18.4, 4 miles 20:37.4

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Arthur Robertson Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 25:50.2Q
2 James Fitzgerald Flag of Canada (1868-1921).svg  Canada 26:05.8q
3 Samuel Stevenson Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 26:17.0
Axel WiegandtFlag of Sweden.svg  Sweden DNF
Joseph Lynch Flag of Australasian team for Olympic games.svg  Australasia DNF
Arie Vosbergen Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands DNF
Herbert Trube US flag 45 stars.svg  United States DNF

Heat 6

Owen had the largest margin of victory in the preliminary heats, defeating Galbraith by a full lap of the track.

Intermediate times: 1 mile 4:46.8, 2 miles 9:56.0, 3 miles 15:19.2, 4 miles 20:51.0

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Edward Owen Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 26:12.0Q
2 William Galbraith Flag of Canada (1868-1921).svg  Canada 27:23.3
3 Arnošt Nejedlý Flag of Bohemia.svg  Bohemia 28:29.8
Antal LovasFlag of Hungary (1867-1918).svg  Hungary DNF

Final

The final was held on July 18, 1908.

Fitzgerald, Murphy, Owen, Svanberg, Hefferon, and Voigt led at various times during the final. Owen led after one mile (1.6 km) reached in 4:46.2, with Hefferon leading at the two and three mile (5 km) marks, with times of 9:54.2 and 15:05.6. After four miles (6 km), Svanberg was in front, with a time of 20:19.2. In the last two laps, Voigt sprinted to the lead which he kept until the end of the contest. He won the race setting a new Olympic record. As the competition has been discontinued, his Olympic record still stands.

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
Gold medal icon.svg Emil Voigt Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 25:11.2 OR
Silver medal icon.svg Edward Owen Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 25:24.0
Bronze medal icon.svg John Svanberg Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 25:37.2
4 Charles Hefferon Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  South Africa 25:44.0
5 Arthur Robertson Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 26:13.0
6 Frederick Meadows Flag of Canada (1868-1921).svg  Canada 26:16.2
7 James Fitzgerald Flag of Canada (1868-1921).svg  Canada Unknown
8 Frederick Bellars US flag 45 stars.svg  United States Unknown
9 Seth Landqvist Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden Unknown
James Murphy Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain DNF

References

  1. "Athletics at the 1908 London Games: Men's 5 Mile". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
  2. Official report, p. 32.

Sources