Athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's 10 miles walk

The men's 10 miles walk race was held at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. This was the only time the event was held. The competition was held on Thursday, July 16, 1908, and on Friday, July 17, 1908. The competition was held in two rounds. There were two heats in the first round, with the top four in each heat advancing to the final. 25 race walkers from eight nations competed.[1] NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes.[2]

Men's 10 miles walk
at the Games of the IV Olympiad
VenueWhite City Stadium
DatesJuly 16 (semifinals)
July 17 (final)
Competitors25 from 8 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) George Larner  Great Britain
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Ernest Webb  Great Britain
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Edward Spencer  Great Britain

Records

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This was the Olympic debut of racewalking at this distance. The world record for the 10-mile racewalk at the time was 1:17:40 34 by E. E. Merrill.

World record   E. E. Merrill (USA) 1:17:40 34 Boston 5 October 1880 [3]
Olympic record N/A

George Larner and Ernest Webb both broke the previous world record mark in the final, with Larner setting a new world record of 1:15:57.4.

Results

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First round

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The first round heats were held on Thursday, July 16, 1908.

Heat 1

Carter, Larner, and Spencer intentionally drew even to finish in a line. Carter had been in second place, followed by Spencer and then Larner before they did so.

Place Name Nation Time
1 Ernest Webb   Great Britain 1:20:18.8
2 Fred Carter   Great Britain 1:21:25.4
Ernest Larner   Great Britain 1:21:25.4
Edward Spencer   Great Britain 1:21:25.4
5 Arthur Rowland   Australasia 1:21:57:6
6 Thomas Hammond   Great Britain 1:23:44.0
7 Paul Gunia   Germany 1:26:09.4
Jo Goetzee   Netherlands Did not finish
Arne Højme   Denmark Did not finish
Piet Soudyn   Netherlands Did not finish
Willem Winkelman   Netherlands Did not finish
Alfred Yeoumans   Great Britain Disqualified

Heat 2

Place Name Nation Time
1 George Larner   Great Britain 1:18:19.0
2 Ralph Harrison   Great Britain 1:18:21.2
3 Harry Kerr   Australasia 1:18:40.2
4 William Palmer   Great Britain 1:19:04.0
5 Godwin Withers   Great Britain 1:19:22.4
6 Sidney Schofield   Great Britain 1:21:07.4
7 Piet Ruimers   Netherlands 1:27:38.8
8 Emmerich Rath   Austria 1:30:33.8[4]
John Butler   Great Britain Did not finish
George Goulding   Canada Did not finish
Jan Huijgen   Netherlands Did not finish
Einar Rothman   Sweden Did not finish
Charles Vestergaard   Denmark Did not finish

Final

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The final was held on Friday, July 17, 1908.

Place Name Nation Time
1 George Larner   Great Britain 1:15:57.4
2 Ernest Webb   Great Britain 1:17:31.0
3 Edward Spencer   Great Britain 1:21:20.2
4 Fred Carter   Great Britain 1:21:20.2
5 Ernest Larner   Great Britain 1:24:26.2
6 William Palmer   Great Britain Unknown[5]
Ralph Harrison   Great Britain Did not start
Harry Kerr   Australasia Did not start

References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1908 London Summer Games: Men's 10 mile Walk". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  2. ^ Official report, p. 32.
  3. ^ "Spalding's official athletic almanac" (PDF). lynbrooksports.prepcaltrack.com. 1908. p. 15. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
  4. ^ The time appears on the official report as "go min. 3345 sec."
  5. ^ Listed on the official report as in sixth place, with a dash in the time column, indicating that Palmer finished in sixth place but without the time having been recorded. De Wael lists Palmer with Harrison in the "did not finish" section.

Sources

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  • Official Report of the Games of the IV Olympiad (1908).
  • De Wael, Herman. Herman's Full Olympians: "Athletics 1908". Accessed 31 March 2006. Available electronically at [1] Archived 2006-09-27 at the Wayback Machine.