Australasia at the 1908 Summer Olympics

Australasia at the; 1908 Summer Olympics
	Australasian Olympic Flag
IOC code	ANZ
in London
Competitors	30 in 6 sports
Flag bearer	Henry St Aubyn Murray
Medals; Ranked 11th	Gold 1 Silver 2 Bronze 2 Total 5
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
	1908; 1912;
Other related appearances
	Australia (1896–1904, 1920–); New Zealand (1920–)

Australasia was the name of a combined team from Australia and New Zealand that competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom. It was the fourth appearance of Australia, which had not missed any edition of the Summer Olympic Games, and the first appearance of New Zealand. The two would compete together again as Australasia at the 1912 Summer Olympics before competing separately at every edition of the Summer Games since. In 1908 there were three New Zealanders, Harry Kerr, Henry St Aubyn Murray and Albert Rowland (a fourth New Zealander, hurdler Arthur Halligan, competed for Great Britain);[1] all other competitors were Australian. There were 30 competitors for Australasia who competed in 20 events in six sports.[2] A further two competitors, who were to compete in tennis, did not play as their nominations failed to reach the organisers.

Medallists

Medal	Name	Sport	Event	Date
Gold	Australia national rugby union team John Barnett Phil Carmichael Daniel Carroll Bob Craig Thomas Griffen Jack Hickey Malcolm McArthur Arthur McCabe Patrick McCue Chris McKivat Charles McMurtrie Sydney Middleton Tom Richards Charles Russell Frank Smith	Rugby union		October 26
Silver	Snowy Baker	Boxing	Middleweight	October 27
Silver	Frank Beaurepaire	Swimming	Men's 400 m freestyle	July 16
Bronze	Harry Kerr	Athletics	Men's 3500 m walk	July 14
Bronze	Frank Beaurepaire	Swimming	Men's 1500 m freestyle	July 25

Results by event

Athletics

Australasia's best athletics result, and only medal, was Harry Kerr's bronze medal in the 3500 metre walk.

Event	Place	Athlete	Heats	Semifinals	Final

Men's 800 metres	Semi- finalist	Harvey Sutton	None held	Unknown 4th, semifinal 8	Did not advance

Men's 1500 metres	Semi- finalist	Joseph Lynch	Unknown 5th, semifinal 2	Did not advance
Men's 1500 metres	—	Charles Swain	Did not finish —, semifinal 3	Did not advance

Men's 110 metre hurdles	Heats	Henry St Aubyn Murray	Unknown 2nd, heat 1	Did not advance

Men's 400 metre hurdles	Heats	Henry St Aubyn Murray	Unknown 2nd, heat 3	Did not advance

Men's 5 miles	Semi- finalist	George Blake	None held	Unknown 3rd, semifinal 1	Did not advance
Men's 5 miles	—	Joseph Lynch	None held	Did not finish —, semifinal 5	Did not advance

Men's marathon	—	Victor Aitken	None held		Did not finish
		George Blake			Did not finish
		Joseph Lynch			Did not finish

Men's 3500 metre walk	3rd	Harry Kerr	None held	16:02.2 2nd, semifinal 1	15:43.4
Men's 3500 metre walk	5th	Albert Rowland	None held	16:08.6 3rd, semifinal 3	16:07.0

Men's 10 mile walk	8th	Harry Kerr	None held	1:18:40.2 3rd, semifinal 2	Did not start
Men's 10 mile walk	11th	Albert Rowland	None held	1:21:57.6 5th, semifinal 1	Did not advance

Event	Place	Athlete	Height

Men's standing high jump	19-23	Ernest Hutcheon	Unknown

Boxing

Australasia had one boxer in 1908, the middleweight Snowy Baker. He took the silver medal, and was the only non-British boxer to win a bout.

Weight class	Place	Boxer	Round of 16	Quarter- finals	Semi- finals	Final

Middleweight Up to 158 pounds	2nd	Snowy Baker	Defeated Dees KO, 2nd round	Defeated William Childs 2-0 decision	Defeated Philo KO, 1st round	Lost to Douglas 2-1 decision

Opponent nation	Wins	Losses	Percent
Great Britain	3	1	.750

Total	3	1	.750

Diving

Baker, the silver medal-winning middleweight boxer, also dove in the springboard event, placing 22nd of 23 overall.

Event	Place	Diver	Preliminary groups	Semi- finals

Men's 3 metre springboard	22nd	Snowy Baker	61.30 points 6th, group 4	Did not advance

Rugby

Australasia won the only rugby union match played in 1908 against Great Britain, earning the gold medal. The Australasian representative was the Australia national team.

1908 Olympic Gold Final: Australasia v Great Britain

Event	Place	Players	Final

Men's rugby union	1st	Phil Carmichael, Charles Russell, Daniel Carroll, John Hickey, Francis Bede-Smith, Chris McKivat, Arthur McCabe, Thomas Griffen, John "Jumbo" Barnett, Patrick McCue, Sydney Middleton, Tom Richards, Malcolm McArthur, Charles McMurtrie, Bob Craig	Won vs. Great Britain 32-3

Shooting

Event	Place	Shooter	Score

Men's stationary target small-bore rifle	16th	William Hill	354

Men's moving target small-bore rifle	—	William Hill	Did not finish

Men's disappearing target small-bore rifle	18th	William Hill	36

Swimming

Event	Place	Swimmer	Heats	Semifinals	Final

Men's 100 metre freestyle	Semi- finalist	Frank Beaurepaire	1:11.6 1st, heat 3	Unknown 4th, semifinal 1	Did not advance
	Heats	Theo Tartakover	Unknown 2nd, heat 1	Did not advance
	Heats	Edward Cooke	Unknown 3-4, heat 6	Did not advance

Men's 400 metre freestyle	2nd	Frank Beaurepaire	5:49.2 1st, heat 4	5:44.0 1st, semifinal 1	5:44.2
	Semi- finalist	Theo Tartakover	6:35.0 1st, heat 3	Did not start —, semifinal 1	Did not advance
	Heats	Frank Springfield	5:57.4 2nd, heat 6	Did not advance

Men's 1500 metre freestyle	3rd	Frank Beaurepaire	23:45.8 1st, heat 2	23:25.4 2nd, semifinal 1	22:56.2
Men's 1500 metre freestyle	Heats	Frederick Springfield	24:52.4 2nd, heat 4	Did not advance

Men's 200 metre breaststroke	—	Edward Cooke	Did not finish —, heat 5	Did not advance

Men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay	4th	Frank Beaurepaire Frederick Springfield Snowy Baker Theo Tartakover	None held	11:35.0 1st, semifinal 1	Unknown

Tennis

Les Poidevin and Anthony Wilding (who were partners in the 1906 Davis Cup preliminary round at Newport) were nominated for the Australasian team by the Australasian Lawn Tennis Association, but their nominations failed to reach the organisers. So the pair watched the "small, impoverished and out of place" Australasian contingent alongside the "tailored splendour" of some European teams. Although many leading tennis players bypassed the Olympic tournament (which followed almost immediately after Wimbledon) and his goal had been Wimbledon, Wilding regretted the missed opportunity and endorsed his mother's summing up of the administrative bungling: "seems very careless of them & very annoying".[3]

References

Heidenstrom, P. (1992) Athletes of the Century. Wellington: GP Publications
Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Australasia at the 1908 London Summer Games". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
Richardson, Len; Richardson, Shelley (2005). Anthony Wilding, A Sporting Life. Canterbury: Canterbury University Press. p. 176. ISBN 978-1-877257-01-8.

External links

Cover of 1908 programme

Sources

Cook, Theodore Andrea (1908). The Fourth Olympiad, Being the Official Report. London: British Olympic Association.
De Wael, Herman (2001). "Top London 1908 Olympians". Herman's Full Olympians. Archived from the original on 12 July 2006. Retrieved 7 June 2006.

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[Heidenstrom-1] Heidenstrom, P. (1992) Athletes of the Century. Wellington: GP Publications

[2] Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Australasia at the 1908 London Summer Games". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2017.

[3] Richardson, Len; Richardson, Shelley (2005). Anthony Wilding, A Sporting Life. Canterbury: Canterbury University Press. p. 176. ISBN 978-1-877257-01-8.