1912 Summer Olympics / Athletics - Cross Country (Men)
sport | athletics | ||||||||
discipline | Cross-country run (individual and team) | ||||||||
gender | Men | ||||||||
Attendees | 45 athletes from 9 countries | ||||||||
Competition location |
Stockholm Olympic Stadium (start and finish) |
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Competition phase | July 15, 1912 | ||||||||
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discipline | Cross-country team competition | ||||||||
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The men's cross-country race at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm was held on July 15, 1912. 45 athletes took part. The start and finish was the Olympic Stadium . It was the first time that a cross-country race was performed at the Olympic Games. In this race, not only was the individual winner determined, there was also a team classification. The discipline was on the Olympic program up to and including 1924 and was then canceled again.
The Olympic champion was Hannes Kolehmainen from Finland, ahead of the two Swedes Hjalmar Andersson and John Eke . In the team competition, Sweden won ahead of Finland and Great Britain.
Route length
The length of the course of Stockholm is given in many sources as about 8000 meters. However, this seems difficult to understand due to the times achieved, because then the participants would have to sneak across the route rather than run. A comparison with the times achieved at the Olympic Games in 1920 also makes it clear that the route here in Stockholm must have been considerably longer. This assumption is also consistent with the route description, which shows that the sum of two sections outside the stadium alone is 8,000 meters.
Conducting the competition
The race started in the Olympic Stadium . The runners covered a quarter of a lap and then ran north. This was followed by a 4000 meter long cross-country course, then it was back to the stadium. Here the runners covered one lap of the stadium and ran the course a second time. After arriving at the stadium, another round of the stadium had to be run.
Individual evaluation
Date: July 15, 1912
First there was the duel between Hannes Kolehmainen and Jean Bouin like over 5000 meters . The Frenchman suddenly lost contact on the track, although he was actually considered a specialist in such races. I.a. he had won the Cross of Nations in 1911 and 1912. Then Bouin gave up and Kolehmainen won by more than half a minute.
In this race, Hannes Kolehmainen won his third gold medal at the 1912 Games. In addition, there was the silver medal in the team classification. This made him the second most successful participant in these games behind the Swedish marksman Vilhelm Carlberg .
Team ranking
space | nation | occupation | Points |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Sweden |
Hjalmar Andersson (2nd - 45: 44.8) John Eke (3rd - 46: 37.6) Josef Ternström (5th - 47: 07.1) |
10 |
2 | Grand Duchy of Finland |
Hannes Kolehmainen (1st - 45: 11.6) Jalmari Eskola (4th - 46: 54.8) Albin Stenroos (6th - 47: 23.4) |
11 |
3 | Great Britain |
Frederick Hibbins (15th - 49: 18.2) Ernest Glover (16th 49: 53.7) Thomas Humphreys (18th - 50: 28.0) |
49 |
4th | Norway |
Olaf Hovdenak (19th - 50: 40.8) Parelius Finnerud (20th - 51: 16.2) Johannes Andersen (22nd - 51: 47.4) |
61 |
5 | Denmark |
Lauritz Christiansen (14 - 49: 06.4) Viggo Pedersen (23 - 53: 00.8) Gerhard Topp (26 - 54: 24.9) |
63 |
As in the 3,000-meter team race, the pure placement of the top three in each country was rated. These placements were added up and the order resulted from the lowest sums. The team with the fewest points became Olympic champions.
A total of five teams - Denmark, Finland, Great Britain, Norway and Sweden - were included in the ranking. They had the required minimum number of three runners at the finish. Germany, France, Austria and South Africa with one starter each could not be considered.
Picture gallery
literature
- Ekkehard zur Megede , The History of Olympic Athletics, Volume 1: 1896-1936, Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 2nd edition 1970, p. 108f
Web links
- SportsReference Cross Race Singles , accessed on August 27, 2017
- SportsReference Cross Country Team , accessed August 27, 2017
Individual evidence
- ↑ Course description in the official report, pages 378 - 379 (English) ( Memento of the original from February 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.