WHEN Mount Vesuvius erupted in 1906, the problems that beset the 1908 Olympic Games had begun. Rome, the intended host city for the games, was forced to withdraw and London stepped in with an offer to take over. A 68,000-seat stadium in White City, completed Athens-style at the eleventh hour, became the location for the fourth modern games.
The games set certain modern-day standards. London 1908 was
the first Olympics with a marathon run at 26 miles and 385 yards
(the distance between Windsor Castle and the crowd in W12) and the
first with a highly-organised opening ceremony. However, and not
for the last time, they were to be marred by political controversy
and nationalism.
The endless arguments between British officials and other
countries that became known as The Battle of Shepherd's Bush began
with the boycott of many Irish athletes following Britain's recent
refusal to grant independence to Ireland. Then, at the opening
ceremony, the United States delegation noticed the absence of the
Stars and Stripes among the array of stadium flags fluttering in
the dreadful weather. The American flag-bearer refused to dip the
flag to Edward VII. "This flag dips to no earthly king," he said,
and it hasn't since. The Finns, equally defiant, were told to carry
the flag of their then-rulers, Russia. They marched empty-handed
instead.
Owing to constant rain, the 1908 games were also probably the
wettest in history - but presumably that would not have bothered
Thomas H. Thould, a member of the victorious English water-polo
team.
Memories of Thould's happy 1908 Olympic experience were revived at
the quarterly fine sale conducted at Clevedon Salerooms near
Bristol on June 17-18. Descendants of the Weston-super-Mare athlete
entered his collection of memorabilia from the fourth games. The
archive included a gold-trimmed navy blue England swimming costume
with an embroidered crowned lion and Olympic badge, two similar
England costumes, a team cap with an embroidered Union Jack,
various velvet gold-trimmed caps, and other ephemera relating to
the 1908 games. Military medals were also included from Thould's
service in both world wars.
The one-off collection, pictured right, had been stored for 50
years in a long narrow glass case that sat on top of a wardrobe in
a house in Weston-super-Mare. Estimated at £500-£700, the
historically significant store of Olympic history sold to a North
Country bidder on the telephone for £3300 (plus 15 per cent buyer's
premium).
Thould's medal was not part of the collection, a shame especially
as the 1908 games were the first ever to give genuine gold medals
to the winning athletes. Its whereabouts, in the words of Marc
Burridge of Clevedon Salerooms, "is just one of life's unknown
mysteries".
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