SPORT ANCIENT AND MODERN 



made an appeal through the newspapers for 

 funds to enable the British Olympic Com- 

 mittee to maintain the British reputation for 

 hospitality by arranging a series of social 

 functions, to which all competitors and officials 

 should in turn be invited ; and this was 

 so well supported by the Daily Mail and 

 the sporting and general press, that over 

 1 0,000 was subscribed for the pur- 

 pose within a week. 14 On 1 1 July the 

 athletes were officially welcomed at the Graf- 

 ton Galleries by Lord Desborough and the 

 Rev. R. S. de Courcy Laffan. 16 A series of 

 banquets, presided over by the former, was 

 given at the Holborn Restaurant to the athletes 

 of different nationalities engaged in the Games, 16 

 and on 24 July a ball took place at the same 

 place at which 700 ladies and gentlemen from 

 eighteen different countries were present. 17 

 In addition to these entertainments, the Lord 

 Mayor, on behalf of the City, gave a reception 

 at the Mansion House, which was attended by 

 the members of the International Olympic 

 Committee, the Comit d'Honneur, and the 

 British Olympic Council, and representative 

 athletes from each of the competing countries ; 18 

 and dinners in honour of the same guests were 

 given by the Government at the Grafton 

 Galleries, 19 by the Fishmongers' Company, 20 

 and by the Lyceum Club 21 during the same 

 month. The Amateur Swimming Associa- 

 tion, Amateur Athletic Association, National 

 Cycling Association, and other kindred bodies 

 also materially aided in furthering the exten- 

 sion of hospitality to the foreign compe- 

 titors ; 22 and at the close of July a series 

 of entertainments, in which Lord and Lady 

 Desborough, Lord and Lady Michelham, 

 Sir F. Crisp, and the Hon. W. F. D. Smith 

 played a prominent part, were organized in 

 connexion with the Olympic Regatta at 

 Henley. 23 



A British team to compete in the contests 

 for field and track athletics and other kindred 

 sports was, after various trials (beginning on 

 12 June), finally selected on 12 July, and for 

 this four Middlesex clubs the Finchley, 

 the Polytechnic, the Highgate Harriers and 

 the London Athletic Club supplied twenty 



" The Times, ^ z June, p. 1 6 ; Olympic Games 

 of London, 227. 



15 Ibid. 227. 



16 The Times, \ 5 July, p. 1 2 ; Olympic Games of 

 London, 227. 



" The Times, 25 July, p. 9 ; Olympic Games of 

 London, 228. 18 Ibid. 227. 



18 The Times, 25 July, p. 9. 

 "Ibid. 1 8 July, p. 1 8. 

 11 Olympic Games of London, 228. 

 " Ibid. " Ibid. 



members. 24 For this portion the most popu- 

 lar if not the most important of the Olympic 

 Games, a Stadium, with sitting accommodation 

 for 70,000, and additional standing room for 

 20,000 spectators, designed by Mr. Imre 

 Kiralfy, was erected, at a cost of between 

 60,000 and 70,000, in the grounds of the 

 Franco-British Exhibition at Shepherd'sBush. 26 

 The centre of the arena was an ellipse of turf, 

 700 ft. in length and 300 ft. in breadth, en- 

 circled by a running track, laid under the 

 superintendence of the Amateur Athletic 

 Association, which was itself encircled by a 

 cycling track; and a swimming pond, 100 

 metres long, with a deep space in the middle 

 for high diving and water polo, was also con- 

 structed along one side of the arena. 26 On 

 Monday, 13 July, this Stadium was formally 

 opened by his Majesty King Edward, 27 and 

 the Stadium events were continued day by 

 day until 25 July, when the competitions 

 in the following sports were concluded : 

 athletics, archery, bicycling, fencing, gym- 

 nastics, swimming, wrestling, and the Marathon 

 Race (26 miles, 385 yards), the course of which 

 began on the East Lawn of Windsor Castle 

 and ended in the arena of the Stadium. At 

 the close of the contests the prizes were 

 given to the successful competitors by Queen 

 Alexandra. 



The Comitd d'Honneur was twice called 

 upon to exercise its functions during the 

 progress of these competitions. In the 

 4OO-metres flat race between W. Hals- 

 welle (Great Britain), and J. C. Carpenter, 

 W. C. Robbins, and J. B. Taylor (United 

 States), Carpenter was disqualified for fouling 

 Halswelle, and the race was declared void and 

 ordered to be run again, when the two 

 Americans, Robbins and Taylor, having failed 

 to appear, Halswelle was given a run over and 

 completed the distance in 50 sec. 28 In the 

 Marathon race J. J. Hayes (United States), 

 who finished in 2 hrs. 55 min. i8| sec., was 

 declared the winner. Dorando Pietri (Italy), 

 who completed the course in 2 hrs. 54 min. 

 46^ sec., and passed the tape about 100 yds. 

 ahead of him, was disqualified on account of 

 assistance given by sympathetic spectators 

 when he fell on the track. 29 On learning of 

 Dorando Pietri's disqualification the queen 

 expressed her intention of presenting him with 



" The Times, \ June, p. 14 ; 12 June, p. n. 



15 Ibid. 22 June, p. 1 6. 



" Ibid. 



" Ibid. 14 July, p. 10. 



w Ibid. 24 June, p. 9 ; 27 July, p. 10 ; Olympic 

 Games of London, 23-8. 



19 The Times, 22 July, p. 1 1 ; 24 July, p. 9 ; 

 Olympic Games of London, 66-75. 



297 



