Australasia at the 1908 Summer Olympics

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 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.

Australasia at the
1908 Summer Olympics
Australasian Olympic Flag
IOC codeANZ
in London, United Kingdom
27 April – 31 October 1908
Competitors30 in 6 sports
Flag bearerHenry St Aubyn Murray
Medals
Ranked 11th
Gold
1
Silver
2
Bronze
2
Total
5
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
Other related appearances
 Australia (1896–1904, 1920–)
 New Zealand (1920–)

Medallists

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Medal Name Sport Event Date
  Gold Australia national rugby union team
Rugby union October 26
  Silver Snowy Baker (AUS) Boxing Middleweight October 27
  Silver Frank Beaurepaire (AUS) Swimming Men's 400 m freestyle July 16
  Bronze Harry Kerr (NZL) Athletics Men's 3500 m walk July 14
  Bronze Frank Beaurepaire (AUS) Swimming Men's 1500 m freestyle July 25

Athletics

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Track & road events

Athlete Event Heat Semifinal Final
Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank
Harvey Sutton 800 m 2:00.0 3 did not advance
Joseph Lynch 1500 m Unknown 5 did not advance
Charles Swain did not finish did not advance
George Blake 5 miles Unknown 3 did not advance
Joseph Lynch did not finish did not advance
Henry Murray 110 m hurdles 16.3 2 did not advance
Henry Murray 400 m hurdles 59.8 2 did not advance
Victor Aitken Marathon did not finish
George Blake did not finish
Joseph Lynch did not finish
Harry Kerr 3500 m walk 16:02.2 2 Q 15:43.4  
Albert Rowland 16:08.6 3 Q 16:07.0 5
Harry Kerr 10 miles walk 1:18:40.2 3 Q did not start
Albert Rowland 1:21:57.6 5 did not advance

Field events

Athlete Event Final
Distance Position
Ernest Hutcheon Men's standing high jump Unknown 19-23

Boxing

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Athlete Event Round of 16 Quarterfinals Semifinals Final
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Rank
Snowy Baker Middleweight   Dees (GBR)
W KO
  Child (GBR)
W
  Philo (GBR)
W
  Douglas (GBR)
L 1-2
 

Diving

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Athlete Event Preliminary Round Semifinal Final
Points Rank Points Rank Points Rank
Snowy Baker 3 m springboard 61.3 6 did not advance

Rugby

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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

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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

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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
Edward Cooke Unknown
3–4, heat 6
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
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

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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

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  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.
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Sources

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  • 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.