1908 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 3200 m obstacle (men)

sport	athletics
discipline	3200 meter obstacle course
gender	Men
place	White City Stadium
Attendees	24 athletes from 6 countries
Competition phase	17./18. July 1908
Medalist
gold	Arthur Russell ( GBR )
silver	Arthur Robertson ( GBR )
bronze	John Eisele ( USA )

The men's 3200 meter obstacle course at the 1908 Olympic Games in London was decided on July 18, 1908 at the White City Stadium . The day before, the finalists were determined in six preliminary runs. The route ran over 3200 meters.

The obstacle course has been on the Olympic program since 1900 with different route lengths and various obstacles, but the length of 3000 meters that is common today was only introduced as standard in 1920 . In London, the race ran for the first and last time over a distance of 3200 meters, which roughly corresponded to the 2-mile races customary in Great Britain at the time.

The British Arthur Russell was the Olympic champion ahead of his compatriot Arthur Robertson . The American John Eisele won the bronze medal,

Records

World record	10: 49.8 min	Great Britain	Arthur Russell	1908

Remarks:

• In the obstacle course there were no world records until 1953 because of the not yet standardized rules for the obstacles , only world best performances. In 1908, both world records and world best performances in all disciplines were still unofficial.
• Since the competition in this form had not previously been part of the Olympic program, there was still no Olympic record .

The following records were broken or set at these Olympic Games over 3200 meters obstacle:

WR

10: 47.8 min

Great Britain

Arthur Russell

Final, July 18th

Results

Prelim (July 17th)

The finalists were determined in six preliminary runs. Only the respective preliminary winners qualified for the finals.

1. Forward

space	athlete	country	Time (min)
1	Arthur Russell	Great Britain	10: 56.2
2	Massimo Cartasegna	Italy	11: 15.0
	Gaston Ragueneau	France	DNF
	Edward Carr	United States
	Thomas Downing	Great Britain	DSQ

Russell confirmed his favorite position with the fastest run-up and was already quite close to his world best time.

2. Forward

space	athlete	country	Time (min)
1	John Eisele	United States	11: 13.6
	Antal Lovas	Hungary	DNF
	Louis Bonniot de Fleurac	France
	Frank Buckley	Great Britain
	Joseph English	Great Britain

3. Forward

space	athlete	country	Time (min)
1	William Galbraith	Canada	11: 12.4
	Henry Barker	Great Britain	DNF

4. Forward

space	athlete	country	Time (min)
1	Arthur Robertson	Great Britain	11: 10.0
2	Gayle Dull	United States	k. A.
	George Bonhag	United States	DNF
	Richard Yorke	Great Britain	DSQ

Dull was 220 yards  behind at the finish. His time was estimated at 11:50 minutes.

5. Forward

space	athlete	country	Time (min)
1	Guy Holdaway	Great Britain	11: 18.8
2	Joseph Kinchin	Great Britain	k. A.
3	Roland Spitzer	United States
4th	Charles Hall	United States

Kinchin was 100 yards behind at the finish. His time was estimated at 11:44 min.

6. Forward

space	athlete	country	Time (min)
1	Harry Sewell	Great Britain	11: 30.2
2	James Lightbody	United States	11: 41.0
	John Fitzgerald	Canada	DNF
	Billy Grantham	Great Britain

1904 Olympic gold medalist James Lightbody was beaten 10 yards.

Final (July 18)

space	athlete	country	Time (min)
1	Arthur Russell	Great Britain	10: 47.8 WBL
2	Arthur Robertson	Great Britain	10: 48.8
3	John Eisele	United States	11: 00.8
4th	Guy Holdaway	Great Britain	k. A.
5	Harry Sewell	Great Britain
6th	William Galbraith	Canada

At the beginning of the last round, the three later medalists were still together. Half a lap later Arthur Robertson, nicknamed "Archie", took the lead and John Eisele lost the connection, but later claimed third place. Arthur Russell passed Robertson at the moat and held a lead of two yards. He won with a new world record, and Robertson also stayed below Russell's previous record.

• 

  The obstacle course crossing the moat during the London Games

• 

  The Olympic runner-up Arthur Robertson from Great Britain

• 

  The US three-time Olympic champion from 1904 , James Lightbody, also retired in this discipline in his preliminary run

• 

  Training of the US runners on the ship during the crossing to London, in leading position Gayle Dull, second in the 4th heat over 3200 meters obstacle

• 

  The US-American George Bonhag - successful middle distance athlete and winner of the walking competition at the Athens Intermediate Games in 1906 - gave up the race in his preliminary run.

• 

  The Frenchman Louis Bonniot de Fleurac - here with the number 3 in the team of the Racing Club de France in 1902 - could not finish his preliminary run

• 

  The Frenchman Gaston Ragueneau gave up the race in his preliminary run

literature

• Volker Kluge , Olympic Summer Games - The Chronicle I, Berlin 1997 ( ISBN 3-328-00715-6 )
• Ekkehard zur Megede , The history of Olympic athletics, Volume 1: 1896–1936, Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 2nd edition 1970

Web links

• Sports-Reference, Athletics at the 1908 London Summer Games: Men's 3,200 meters Steeplechase , accessed August 28, 2018
• Olympic Games London 1908, Athletics , IOC page on athletics at the 1908 Olympic Games at olympic.org, English, accessed 28 August 2018

Individual evidence

1. ↑ IAAF records. 3000 m obstacle men , accessed on August 28, 2018