The 1908 Olympics in White City

Martin Belam
Written by
Published 17 May, 2005
Categories: , ,

<< previous | next >>
No comments yet
Add your comment

Another thing that happened whilst I was away from work was that the BBC's Broadcast Centre got a wall display about the 1908 Olympic Games that were held on the site.

Olympic Display on the side of the BBC's Broadcast Centre building

As I approach my office every morning I cross over a marker on the ground that shows where the finish line of the 1908 track was placed. (Sometimes, if I think nobody is looking I approach it in a faux slow-motion run whilst whistling the Vangelis theme tune from Chariots Of Fire.)

The display on the side of the building reproduces the the medal table from 1908 - Great Britain using home advantage to lead the way. It is great to see entries from places that no longer exist as a 'nation state' (namely Bohemia, two bronze medals for Fencing which included a solo award to Vilem Goppold de Lobsdorf and a team award), and the fact that 'Australasia' was present as a semi-continental entity.

In it there is also a lesson to give hope the 2012 London Olympic Bid team even if they lose out in the award of the games - the 1908 Olympics were originally due to be held in Rome, but were reassigned to London.

No comments yet
Comments are closed across the site whilst I take a break. You can still contact me directly.

Search this site

Get free updates

Email icon   RSS icon
Sign up for email updates
  

Talks & presentations


Edinburgh International Science Festival

"Journalism in the digital age"
I'll be appearing on a panel with Sarah Hartley and Iain Hepburn at the Edinburgh International Science Festival on Sunday April 11th. More details...

Posts of the moment


Day of the Triffids opening sequence

Day of the Triffids
If everyone suddenly went blind, how long would the Internet survive, and could you still publish news on it?


The Express makes a twit of itself

With professionals of this quality, who needs 'citizen journalist' enemies?
It is hard to argue that ethics and quality set the 'professional journalist' apart from the amateur blogger, if the 'professional' keeps publishing articles so wrong that they have to be deleted.