The Fourth Olympiad London 1908 (extracts)

59 M. W. heppard was 26 years old, born in New Jersey, U.S.A. He was 5 ft. 8~ in. high, and weighed 10 st. 8 lb., and had never done such fast time before. E. Lunghi, a remarkable runner, was an Italian naval student from Genoa, aged 2 r, 5 ft. to~ in. high, and weighing 11 st. He had never approached this pace before, and was not suppo e<l to have trained with particular severity for these Game.. V.-FIFTEEN HUNDRED METRES FLAT (1,640 yards). FIRST ROUND. Heat r.-J. P. Sullivan, United tates, 1 ; J. D. Lightbody, United States 2; F. Meadows, Canada, 3 ; F. . Knott, United Kingdom, 4. Also ran :- J. l\I. Smith, United Kingdom; L. . de L. Bonniot de Fleurac, France; N. Dahl, Norway; 0. odor, Hungary; and J. de Key er, Holland. This was the first race decided in the London Stadium during the Olympic Games of 1908. Meadows led the field for three-quarters of a lap. Entering on the second lap, De Fleurac was in posse sion. At the bell, Smith took the lead. Three hundred yards from home Lightbody rushed to the front, followed by Sullivan and Knott. Sullivan won by a good 6 yard . Time, 4 min. 7; sec. Heat 2.-1\I. \V. Sheppard, Unit.eel States, I ; ]. P. Halstead, United States, 2; G. Butterfield, United Kingdom, 3; ]. \V. Lee, United Kingdom, 4. Also ran:– J. 1\1. Lynch, Australasia; A. Hesse, Germany; and K. eilsen, Denmark. Sheppard at once ran inside. Positions did not change very materially nn til the bell, when t.he order was Lee, Butterfield, Sheppard, Halstead. But entering t.he straight the mericans beat the Englishmen off, and a splendid finish between the former saw Sheppard win by a bare yard. Time, 4 min. 5 sec. The winner thus beat the Olympic record of 4 min. 5~ sec., done by Lightbody at St. Louis in 1904, the second man tieing with the previously best figures. Heat 3.-N. F. Hallows, United Kingdom, 1; E. Lunghi, Italy, 2. Also ran:- M. Cartasegna, Italy ; F. H. Riley, United States ; and E. Bjorn, Norway. Cartasegna at once went to the front, but was soon displaced by Lunghi, who led at the bell. Then Hallows, two hundred and fifty yards from home, forced his way to the front, with Lunghi a yard behind. The pair struggled right up to the tape, Hallows eventually winning by 2 yards. Time, 4 min. 3t sec. Lunghi's time was 4 min. 3} sec. The record set up by Sheppard in the previous heat was thus easily broken, Lunghi also being well in ide the figures which were destined to stand for so short a time. Heat 4.-E. V. Loney, United Kingdom, 1 ; lI. L. Coe, United State , 2 ; J. McGough, United Kingdom, 3 ; S. Demetriou, Greece, 4. Also ran :– G. Dreher, France. McGough, whose left ankle was bandaged, set a lively pace until just before the bell. Then Loney shot by. For two hundred yards the others ran stride for stride. But running with grim determination, Loney refused to allow his opponent to get by, and as a result he won by z yards. Time, 4 min. 8?, sec. Heat 5.- ]. Tait, Canada, I ; J. agy, Hungary, 2; F. Svanstrom, Finland, 3. Also ran :-A. G. Ragueneau, France. The Canadian was in front, until the bell. One hundred yards further on Ragueneau attempted to go up, but :finding himself easily held by Tait, he retired, and Tait won easily by 50 yard . Time, 4 min. 12} sec. Heat 6.- J. E. Deakin, United Kingdom, 1 ; A. Breynck, Germany, z ; A. C. H. Vosbergen, Holland, 3. Deakin was always in front, and won l>y 5 yards. Time, 4 min. I 3~ sec.