London's First Olympics

<p>After Mount Vesuvius erupted - and original hosts Rome pulled out - the British Olympic council sent a letter, dated 19th November, 1906, agreeing to host the fourth modern Olympic games.</p><br><p>With just two years to go, the event was put together hastily, and on a paltry budget; a stadium erected at the White City home of the Franco-British exhibition, and the chosen events ones that British athletes excelled at, including polo, lacrosse, tug of war, deer-shooting, and duelling.</p><br><p>In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal what a ‘flip-flap’ was; consider the calculation done to establish the length of the modern-day marathon; and establish how a small swig of champagne contributed to one of the Games' greatest ever controversies...</p><br><p><strong>Further Reading:</strong></p><ul><li>‘The 08 Olympics... 1908, that is’ (BBC News Magazine, 2008): <a href="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7544392.stm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7544392.stm</a></li><li>‘Why Is a Marathon 26.2 Miles?’ (HISTORY, 2014): <a href="https://www.history.com/news/why-is-a-marathon-26-2-miles" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.history.com/news/why-is-a-marathon-26-2-miles</a></li></ul><p>• ‘The 1908 London Olympics - extracts from surviving footage of Track & Field and Marathon events’ (BFI, 2012): <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IqE2KEqZJI" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IqE2KEqZJI</a></p><br><p><strong>For bonus material and to support the show, visit</strong><a href="https://create.acast.com/episodes/ca1f94a1-0921-446a-ae00-4d4bfd2ba3ef/Patreon.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong> </strong></a><a href="http://patreon.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Patreon.com/Retrospectors</strong></a></p><p><strong>We'll be back on Monday! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts:</strong><a href="https://create.acast.com/episodes/ca1f94a1-0921-446a-ae00-4d4bfd2ba3ef/podfollow.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong> </strong></a><a href="http://podfollow.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>podfollow.com/Retrospectors</strong></a></p><br><p><em>The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.</em></p><p><em>Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham.</em></p><p><em>Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021.</em> </p><br><p>#1900s #Sport #UK</p><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

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