Post by earl on Aug 18, 2008 14:47:39 GMT
1908 ..the last time we did this well at the Olympics
The medal haul in Beijing may be impressive - but is nowhere near the British record from 1908.
The games were held in London that year and Great Britain finished at the top of the table with an incredible 146 medals.
That included a mammoth 56 golds, 51 silver and 39 bronze medals as the nation triumphed in events such as tug-of-war.
The Games were opened by King Edward VII on April 27, with 22 nations taking part in the opening ceremony at the White City Stadium.
There was controversy then too - when the Americans refused to dip their flag in recognition of the King. The US team captain Martin Sheridan declared: "This flag dips to no earthly king."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Sheridan
The 1908 Olympics also helped the move towards standard rules for sports plus selection of judges from different countries rather than just the host.
One reason was in the 400 metres the US winner was accused of interfering with the British runner.
Part of the problem was the different definition of interference under British and US rules.
The race was run again but the Americans refused to participate. Brit Wyndham Halswelle won by running around the track on his own because three of the four other runners had been American.
The decision to join Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales into one team - as the United Kingdom - upset some Irish competitors, who wanted Ireland to compete on its own.
Fearing an Irish boycott, the authorities changed the name of the team to Great Britain/Ireland.
In hockey and polo Ireland competed as a separate country, picking up silver medals in both.
The medal haul in Beijing may be impressive - but is nowhere near the British record from 1908.
The games were held in London that year and Great Britain finished at the top of the table with an incredible 146 medals.
That included a mammoth 56 golds, 51 silver and 39 bronze medals as the nation triumphed in events such as tug-of-war.
The Games were opened by King Edward VII on April 27, with 22 nations taking part in the opening ceremony at the White City Stadium.
There was controversy then too - when the Americans refused to dip their flag in recognition of the King. The US team captain Martin Sheridan declared: "This flag dips to no earthly king."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Sheridan
The 1908 Olympics also helped the move towards standard rules for sports plus selection of judges from different countries rather than just the host.
One reason was in the 400 metres the US winner was accused of interfering with the British runner.
Part of the problem was the different definition of interference under British and US rules.
The race was run again but the Americans refused to participate. Brit Wyndham Halswelle won by running around the track on his own because three of the four other runners had been American.
The decision to join Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales into one team - as the United Kingdom - upset some Irish competitors, who wanted Ireland to compete on its own.
Fearing an Irish boycott, the authorities changed the name of the team to Great Britain/Ireland.
In hockey and polo Ireland competed as a separate country, picking up silver medals in both.