United States at the 1908 Summer Olympics

The United States competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, England, United Kingdom. During the opening ceremony, American athletes did not dip their flag to the British royalty in support of the Irish boycott over Great Britain's refusal to grant Irish independence.^[1]

United States at the 1908 Summer Olympics
Flag of the United States (despite receiving the 46th star on July 4, 1908, after Oklahoma gained statehood, the 45-star flag was used in the early days of the games)
IOC code	USA
NOC	United States Olympic Committee
in London
Competitors	112
Flag bearer	Ralph Rose
Medals Ranked 2nd	Gold 23 Silver 12 Bronze 12 Total 47
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Other related appearances
1906 Intercalated Games

Medalists

Further information: 1908 Summer Olympics medal table and List of 1908 Summer Olympics medal winners

Medal	Name	Sport	Event	Date
Gold	Mel Sheppard	Athletics	Men's 800 m	July 21
			Men's 1500 m	July 14
Gold	Johnny Hayes	Athletics	Men's marathon	July 24
Gold	Forrest Smithson	Athletics	Men's 110 m hurdles	July 25
Gold	Charles Bacon	Athletics	Men's 400 m hurdles	July 22
Gold	Nathaniel Cartmell, William Hamilton, John Taylor, Mel Sheppard	Athletics	Men's medley relay	July 25
Gold	Frank Irons	Athletics	Men's long jump	July 22
Gold	Harry Porter	Athletics	Men's high jump	July 21
Gold	Edward Cook	Athletics	Men's pole vault	July 24
Gold	Alfred Carlton Gilbert
Gold	Ray Ewry	Athletics	Men's standing long jump	July 20
			Men's standing high jump	July 23
Gold	Ralph Rose	Athletics	Men's shot put	July 16
Gold	Martin Sheridan	Athletics	Men's discus throw	July 16
			Men's Greek discus	July 18
Gold	John Flanagan	Athletics	Men's hammer throw	July 14
Gold	Jay Gould II	Jeu de paume		May 23
Gold	Charles Benedict, Kellogg Casey, Ivan Eastman, William Leushner, William Martin, Charles Winder	Shooting	Men's military rifle, team	July 11
Gold	Walter W. Winans	Shooting	Men's double-shot running deer	July 10
Gold	Charles Axtell, Irving Calkins, John Dietz, James Gorman	Shooting	Men's 50 yd free pistol, team	July 11
Gold	Charles Daniels	Swimming	Men's 100 m freestyle	July 20
Gold	George Mehnert	Wrestling	Men's freestyle bantamweight	July 20
Gold	George Dole	Wrestling	Men's freestyle featherweight	July 22
Silver	James Rector	Athletics	Men's 100 m	July 22
Silver	Robert Cloughen	Athletics	Men's 200 m	July 23
Silver	John Garrels	Athletics	Men's 110 m hurdles	July 24
Silver	Harry Hillman	Athletics	Men's 400 m hurdles	July 22
Silver	George Bonhag, John Eisele, Herbert Trube	Athletics	Men's 3 miles team race	July 15
Silver	Daniel Kelly	Athletics	Men's long jump	July 22
Silver	John Biller	Athletics	Men's standing high jump	July 23
Silver	Merritt Giffin	Athletics	Men's discus throw	July 18
Silver	Matt McGrath	Athletics	Men's hammer throw	July 14
Silver	Bill Horr	Athletics	Men's Greek discus	July 18
Silver	Kellogg Casey	Shooting	Men's 1000 yd free rifle	July 9
Silver	Harry Simon	Shooting	Men's 300 m free rifle, three positions	July 11
Bronze	Henry B. Richardson	Archery	Men's double York round	July 18
Bronze	Nathaniel Cartmell	Athletics	Men's 200 metres	July 23
Bronze	Joseph Forshaw	Athletics	Men's marathon	July 24
Bronze	Arthur Shaw	Athletics	Men's 110 m hurdles	July 25
Bronze	John Eisele	Athletics	Men's 3200 m steeplechase	July 18
Bronze	Clare Jacobs	Athletics	Men's pole vault	July 24
Bronze	John Garrels	Athletics	Men's shot put	July 16
Bronze	Bill Horr	Athletics	Men's discus throw	July 16
Bronze	Martin Sheridan	Athletics	Men's standing long jump	July 20
Bronze	George Gaidzik	Diving	Men's 3 m springboard	July 18
Bronze	James Gorman	Shooting	Men's 50 yd free pistol	July 10
Bronze	Charles Daniels, Leo Goodwin, Harry Hebner, Leslie Rich	Swimming	Men's 4 × 200 m freestyle relay	July 20

Results by event

Archery

Main article: Archery at the 1908 Summer Olympics

The United States had one archer present in 1908. The 19-year-old Richardson had already won an Olympic bronze medal, in the team event at the 1904 Summer Olympics. He competed in both events open to men, taking the bronze medal in the York rounds and 15th place in the Continental style.

Event	Place	Archer	Score
Men's double York round	3rd	Henry B. Richardson	760
Men's Continental style	15th	Henry B. Richardson	171

Athletics

Main article: Athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics

American track & field athletes continued to dominate the sport, taking more than twice as many championships as the next most successful nation, host Great Britain.

Running

Event	Place	Athlete	Heats	Semifinals	Final
Men's 100 metres	2nd	James Rector	10.8 seconds (=OR) 1st, heat 15	10.8 seconds (=OR) 1st, semifinal 3	10.8 seconds (=OR)
	4th	Nate Cartmell	11.0 seconds 1st, heat 3	11.2 seconds 1st, semifinal 4	11.0 seconds
	Semi- finalist	William W. May	11.2 seconds 1st, heat 6	11.0 seconds 2nd, semifinal 1	Did not advance
		Harold Huff	11.4 seconds 1st, heat 12	11.1 seconds 2nd, semifinal 3
		Lawson Robertson	11.4 seconds 1st, heat 13	11.2 seconds 2nd, semifinal 4
		Nathaniel Sherman	11.2 seconds 1st, heat 14	11.3 seconds 2nd, semifinal 2
		Lester Stevens	11.2 seconds 1st, heat 8	Unknown 4th, semifinal 1
		Robert Cloughen	11.0 seconds 1st, heat 5	Did not start —, semifinal 1
		William Hamilton	11.2 seconds 1st, heat 11	Did not start —, semifinal 2
	Heats	Edgar Kiralfy	Unknown 4th/5th, heat 4	Did not advance
Men's 200 metres	2nd	Robert Cloughen	23.4 seconds 1st, heat 8	22.6 seconds 1st, semifinal 3	22.6 seconds
	3rd	Nate Cartmell	23.0 seconds 1st, heat 4	22.6 seconds 1st, semifinal 2	22.7 seconds
	Semi- finalist	William Hamilton	22.4 seconds 1st, heat 10	Unknown 2nd, semifinal 1	Did not advance
		Nathaniel Sherman	22.8 seconds 1st, heat 12	Unknown 2nd, semifinal 2
		Harold Huff	22.8 seconds 1st, heat 2	Unknown 3rd, semifinal 2
	Heats	Lawson Robertson	Unknown 2nd, heat 3	Did not advance
		William W. May	Unknown 2nd, heat 11
Men's 400 metres	Finalist[2]	John Taylor	50.8 seconds 1st, heat 4	49.8 seconds 1st, semifinal 3	Did not start
		William Robbins	50.4 seconds 1st, heat 7	49.0 seconds 1st, semifinal 4	Did not start
		John Carpenter	49.8 seconds 1st, heat 14	49.4 seconds 1st, semifinal 1	Disqualified
	Semi- finalist	Horace Ramey	51.0 seconds 1st, heat 9	Unknown 2nd, semifinal 3	Did not advance
		Ned Merriam	52.2 seconds 1st, heat 13	Unknown 3rd, semifinal 1
		John Atlee	50.4 seconds 1st, heat 11	Unknown 3rd, semifinal 4
		William C. Prout	50.4 seconds 1st, heat 8	Unknown 4th, semifinal 2
	Heats	Paul Pilgrim	Unknown 2nd, heat 1	Did not advance
		Frederick de Selding	Unknown 2nd, heat 15
Men's 800 metres	1st	Mel Sheppard	None held	1:58.0 1st, semifinal 2	1:52.8 (OR)
	6th	John Halstead		2:01.4 1st, semifinal 3	Unknown
	7-8	Clarke Beard		1:59.2 1st, semifinal 5	Did not finish
	Semi- finalist	Harry Coe		Unknown 2nd, semifinal 4	Did not advance
		Joseph Bromilow		Unknown 2nd, semifinal 7
		Lloyd Jones		Unknown 3rd, semifinal 4
		Francis Sheehan		Unknown 3rd, semifinal 8
		James Lightbody		Unknown 4th, semifinal 1
	—	Charles French		Did not finish —, semifinal 5
		Horace Ramey		Did not finish —, semifinal 7
Men's 1500 metres	1st	Mel Sheppard	None held	4:05.0 (OR) 1st, semifinal 2	4:03.4 (=OR)
	7-8	James P. Sullivan		4:07.6 1st, semifinal 1	Did not finish
	Semi- finalist	James Lightbody		Unknown 2nd, semifinal 1	Did not advance
		John Halstead		Unknown 2nd, semifinal 2
		Harry Coe		Unknown 2nd, semifinal 4
	—	Frank Riley		Did not finish —, semifinal 3
Men's 110 metre hurdles	1st	Forrest Smithson	15.8 seconds 1st, heat 10	15.4 seconds (OR) 1st, semifinal 2	15.0 seconds (WR)
	2nd	John Garrels	16.2 seconds 1st, heat 2	15.8 seconds 1st, semifinal 4	15.7 seconds
	3rd	Arthur Shaw	Walkover 1st, heat 14	15.6 seconds 1st, semifinal 1	15.8 seconds
	4th	William Rand	15.8 seconds 1st, heat 5	15.8 seconds 1st, semifinal 3	16.0 seconds
	Semi- finalist	Leonard Howe	15.8 seconds 1st, heat 13	Unknown 3rd, semifinal 2	Did not advance
Men's 400 metre hurdles	1st	Charles Bacon	57.0 seconds (OR) 1st, heat 3	58.8 seconds 1st, semifinal 2	55.0 seconds (OR)
	2nd	Harry Hillman	59.2 seconds 1st, heat 6	56.4 seconds (OR) 1st, semifinal 1	55.3 seconds
	Semi- finalist	Harry Coe	58.8 seconds 1st, heat 2	Unknown 2nd, semifinal 1	Did not advance
Men's 3200 metre steeplechase	3rd	John Eisele	None held	11:13.6 1st, semifinal 2	11:00.8
	Semi- finalist	Gale Dull		Unknown 2nd, semifinal 4	Did not advance
		James Lightbody		Unknown 2nd, semifinal 6
		Roger Spitzer		Unknown 3rd, semifinal 5
		Charles Hall		Unknown 4th, semifinal 5
	—	Edward Carr		Did not finish —, semifinal 1
		George Bonhag		Did not finish —, semifinal 4
Men's medley relay	1st	William Hamilton Nate Cartmell John Taylor Mel Sheppard	None held	3:27.2 1st, semifinal 3	3:29.4
Men's 3 mile team race[3]	2nd	John Eisele	None held	14:55.0 2 points, team=10	14:41.8 4 points, team=19
		George Bonhag		14:56.4 5 points, team=10	15:05.0 6 points, team=19
		Herbert Trube		14:55.0 3 points, team=10	15:11.0 9 points, team=19
	No place	Gale Dull		15:37.4 No score, team=10	15:27.0 No score, team=19
		Harvey Cohn		Did not start No score, team=10	15:40.2 No score, team=19
Men's 5 miles	8th	Frederick Bellars	None held	Unknown 2nd, semifinal 2	Unknown
	10-12	Edward Carr		Unknown 2nd, semifinal 3	Did not start
	Semi- finalist	Charles Hall		Unknown 4th, semifinal 3	Did not advance
Men's marathon	1st	Johnny Hayes	None held		2:55:18.4
	3rd	Joseph Forshaw			2:57:10.4
	4th	Alton Welton			2:59:44.4
	9th	Lewis Tewanima			3:09:15.0
	14th	Sidney Hatch			3:17:52.4
	—	Tom Morrissey			Did not finish
		Michael Ryan			Did not finish
		J. J. Lee			Did not start
		Frederick Lorz			Did not start
		W. O'Mara			Did not start
		Alexander Thibeau			Did not start
		W. Wood			Did not start

Jumping

Event	Place	Athlete	Height/ Distance
Men's high jump	1st	Harry Porter	1.90 metres
	5th	Herbert Gidney	1.85 metres
		Tom Moffitt	1.85 metres
	7th	Neil Patterson	1.83 metres
Men's long jump	1st	Frank Irons	7.48 metres
	2nd	Daniel Kelly	7.09 metres
	4th	Edward Cook	6.97 metres
	5th	John Brennan	6.86 metres
	7th	Frank Mount Pleasant	6.82 metres
	12th	Sam Bellah	6.64 metres
	21-32	John O'Connell	Unknown
Men's triple jump	5th	Platt Adams	14.07 metres
	6th	Frank Mount Pleasant	13.97 metres
	8th	John Brennan	13.59 metres
	9th	Martin Sheridan	13.42 metres
	16th	Frank Irons	12.67 metres
	17th	Sam Bellah	12.55 metres
	18-20	Nathaniel Sherman	Unknown
Men's pole vault	1st	Edward Cook	3.71 metres
		Alfred Carlton Gilbert	3.71 metres
	3rd	Clare Jacobs	3.58 metres
	6th	Sam Bellah	3.50 metres
	12th	Thomas Jackson	3.05 metres
Men's standing high jump	1st	Ray Ewry	1.57 metres
	2nd	John Biller	1.55 metres
	4th	Leroy Holmes	1.52 metres
	5th	Platt Adams	1.47 metres
	8th	Frank Irons	1.42 metres
	16th	Martin Sheridan	1.37 metres
	19-23	Lawson Robertson	Unknown
Men's standing long jump	1st	Ray Ewry	3.33 metres
	3rd	Martin Sheridan	3.23 metres
	4th	John Biller	3.21 metres
	6th	Platt Adams	3.11 metres
		Leroy Holmes	3.11 metres
	8-25	Frank Irons	Unknown
		Sigmund Muenz	Unknown

Throwing

Event	Place	Athlete	Distance
Men's shot put	1st	Ralph Rose	14.21 metres
	3rd	John Garrels	13.18 metres
	4th	Wesley Coe	13.07 metres
	6th	Bill Horr	12.83 metres
	8th	Lee Talbott	11.63 metres
	9-25	Wilbur Burroughs	Unknown
		Martin Sheridan	Unknown
Men's discus throw	1st	Martin Sheridan	40.89 metres
	2nd	Merritt Giffin	40.70 metres
	3rd	Bill Horr	39.45 metres
	5th	Arthur Dearborn	38.52 metres
	6th	Lee Talbott	38.40 metres
	9th	John Flanagan	37.80 metres
	10th	Wilbur Burroughs	37.43 metres
	12-42	Platt Adams	Unknown
		John Garrells	Unknown
		Simon Gillis	Unknown
Men's hammer throw	1st	John Flanagan	51.92 metres
	2nd	Matthew McGrath	51.18 metres
	5th	Lee Talbott	47.86 metres
	6th	Bill Horr	46.97 metres
	7th	Simon Gillis	45.59 metres
	10-19	Benjamin Sherman	Unknown
Men's Greek discus	1st	Martin Sheridan	37.99 metres
	2nd	Bill Horr	37.32 metres
	4th	Arthur Dearborn	35.65 metres
	8th	Wilbur Burroughs	32.81 metres
	11-23	Platt Adams	Unknown
		John Garrels	Unknown

Cycling

Main article: Cycling at the 1908 Summer Olympics

Event	Place	Cyclist	Heats	Semifinals	Final
Men's 660 yards	Semi- finalist	George Cameron	1:05.2 1st, heat 15	Unknown 3rd, semifinal 3	Did not advance
Men's 20 kilometres	4th	Louis Weintz	None held	33:39.8 1st, semifinal 3	Unknown
	Semi- finalist	George Cameron		33:39.2 2nd, semifinal 4	Did not advance
Men's 100 kilometres	—	Louis Weintz	None held	Did not finish —, semifinal 2	Did not advance
Men's sprint	Semi- finalist	George Cameron	1:29.4 1st, heat 8	Unknown 2-4, semifinal 2	Did not advance
	Heats	Louis Weintz	Unknown 3rd, heat 13	Did not advance
Men's team pursuit	—	Unknown	Did not start —, heat 2	Did not advance

Diving

Main article: Diving at the 1908 Summer Olympics

The Americans sent two divers in 1908. Gaidzik made it to the finals in both diving events, after a successful protest in the platform competition. He won a bronze medal in the springboard after tying with the third-place German diver.

Event	Place	Diver	Preliminary groups	Semi- finals	Final
Men's 10 metre platform	5th	George Gaidzik	81.80 points 1st, group 1	61.0 points 3rd, semifinal 2	56.30 points
	18th	Harold Grote	62.80 points 3rd, group 5	Did not advance
Men's 3 metre springboard	3rd	George Gaidzik	82.80 points 1st, group 1	85.60 points 1st, semifinal 2	80.80 points
	9th	Harold Grote	79.50 points 2nd, group 5	74.50 points 5th, semifinal 2	Did not advance

Figure skating

Main article: Figure skating at the 1908 Summer Olympics

Event	Place	Skater	Score
Men's individual	6th	Irving Brokaw	232.0

Jeu de paume

Main article: Jeu de paume at the 1908 Summer Olympics

In the jeu de paume competition, Gould won the gold medal while Sands was eliminated in the first round by the eventual silver medallist.

Event	Place	Player	Round of 16	Quarter- finals	Semi- finals	Final/ Bronze match
Jeu de paume	1st	Jay Gould	Bye	Defeated Pennell 6-3, 6-3, 6-2	Defeated Page 6-1, 6-0, 6-0	Defeated Miles 6-5, 6-4, 6-4
	9th	Charles Sands	Lost to Miles 6-3, 6-3, 6-3	Did not advance

Opponent nation	Wins	Losses	Percent
Great Britain	3	1	.750
Total	3	1	.750

Shooting

Event	Place	Shooter	Score
Men's 1000 yard free rifle	2nd	Kellogg Casey	93
	11th	William Leuschner	89
	13th	Charles Benedict	88
		Ivan Eastman	88
		Charles Jeffers	88
	16th	Charles Winder	87
	19th	Harry Simon	86
	24th	Edward Greene	84
		John Hessian	84
Men's 300 metre free rifle	2nd	Harry Simon	887
	16th	Edward Greene	792
	29th	John Hessian	746
Men's team military rifle	1st	William Leuschner William Martin Charles Winder Kellogg Casey Ivan Eastman Charles Benedict	2537
Men's moving target small-bore rifle	10th	Walter Winans	13
Men's disappearing target small-bore rifle	19th	Walter Winans	30
Men's single-shot running deer	6th	Walter Winans	21
Men's double-shot running deer	1st	Walter Winans	46
Men's individual pistol	3rd	James Gorman (sport shooter)	485
	4th	Charles Axtell	480
	8th	Irving Calkins	457
	9th	John Dietz	455
	19th	Thomas LeBoutillier	436
	21st	Reginald Sayre	430
	38th	Walter Winans	368
Men's team pistol	1st	James Gorman Irving Calkins John Dietz Charles Axtell	1914

Swimming

Main article: Swimming at the 1908 Summer Olympics

Event	Place	Swimmer	Heats	Semifinals	Final
Men's 100 metre freestyle	1st	Charles Daniels	1:05.8 1st, heat 5	1:10.2 1st, semifinal 2	1:05.6
	4th	Leslie Rich	1:14.6 1st, heat 9	1:10.8 2nd, semifinal 2	Unknown
	Semi- finalist	Harry Hebner	1:11.0 1st, heat 6	1:11.8 3rd, semifinal 1	Did not advance
	Heats	Conrad Trubenbach	Unknown 3-5, heat 2	Did not advance
		Robert Foster	Unknown 3-4, heat 4
Men's 400 metre freestyle	Heats	Budd Goodwin	Unknown 3rd, heat 1	Did not advance
		Conrad Trubenbach	Unknown 3rd, heat 4
Men's 1500 metre freestyle	Heats	James Greene	28:09.0 2nd, heat 5	Did not advance
Men's 100 metre backstroke	Heats	Augustus Goessling	1:29.0 2nd, heat 6	Did not advance
Men's 200 metre breaststroke	Heats	Augustus Goessling	Unknown 3rd, heat 2	Did not advance
Men's 4x200 metre freestyle relay	3rd	Harry Hebner Budd Goodwin Charles Daniels Leslie Rich	None held	11:01.4 2nd, semifinal 2	11:02.8

Tug of war

Main article: Tug of war at the 1908 Summer Olympics

Event	Place	Athletes	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final
Tug of war	5th	Wilbur Burroughs, Wesley Coe, Arthur Dearborn, John Flanagan, Bill Horr, Matthew McGrath, Ralph Rose, Lee Talbott	Lost to Great Britain Liverpool Police	Did not advance

Wrestling

Main article: Wrestling at the 1908 Summer Olympics

Event	Place	Wrestler	Round of 16	Quarter- finals	Semi- finals	Final
Freestyle bantamweight	1st	George Mehnert	Bye	Defeated Sprenger	Defeated Côté	Defeated Press
Freestyle featherweight	1st	George Dole	Defeated Cockings	Defeated Webster	Defeated McKie	Defeated Slim
Freestyle lightweight	5th	John Krug	Defeated Hoy	Lost to Wood	Did not advance
Freestyle middleweight	5th	John Craige	Bye	Lost to Andersson	Did not advance
		Frederico Narganes	Bye	Lost to Beck
Freestyle heavyweight	9th	Lee Talbott	Lost to O'Kelly	Did not advance

Opponent nation	Wins	Losses	Percent
Canada	1	0	1.000
Great Britain	7	3	.700
Sweden	0	1	.000
Total	8	4	.667