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

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

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]

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.