The 1908 Olympics

An Olympic sports stadium

Plan of the 1908 stadium
Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies

Although the 1908 Olympic Games had originally been awarded to Rome, the catastrophic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in April 1906 meant that money intended to finance the Italian games had to be diverted to Naples instead. Great Britain stepped into the breach and the Games were consequently reassigned to London.  

A technological marvel

  White City Stadium, with seating for 68,000 and an overall capacity for 100,000, was built especially for the Olympics as part of the Franco-British Exhibition complex. The stadium was officially opened on 27 April 1908 and was considered by many to be a technological marvel for its time, its construction being completed in just 10 months by the construction company of George Wimpey. It included a running track that was 24ft wide and a distance the equivalent of 3 laps to the mile. Around the outside of it was a 35ft wide, 660yd long concrete cycling track, whilst on the inside there was a football field, a swimming pool with a collapsible tower for high-diving, and a platform for gymnastics and wrestling.

This page was added on 23/07/2009.

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