Australasia at the 1908 Summer Olympics

Infobox Country Olympics
NOC=ANZ
flagcaption=Australasian Olympic Flag
games=1908 Summer
competitors=
sports=
flagbearer=Henry St Aubyn Murray
gold=1
silver=2
bronze=2
total=5
rank=11
summerappearances = 1908 • 1912• Australia 1920• New Zealand 1920

Australasia was the name of a combined team from Australia and New Zealand that competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, England. It was the fourth appearance of Australia, which had not missed any edition of the Summer Olympic Games, and the first appearance of New Zealand. The two would compete together again as Australasia at the 1912 Summer Olympics before competing separately at every edition of the Summer Games since. In 1908 there were 3 New Zealanders, Harry Kerr, Henry St Aubyn Murray and Arthur Rowland (a fourth New Zealander, hurdler Arthur Halligan, competed for Great Britain)Heidenstrom, P. (1992) "Athletes of the Century." Wellington: GP Publications] , all other competitors were Australian.

Medalists

Gold

*Rugby Union

Silver

*Reginald Baker, Boxing, Middleweight
*Frank Beaurepaire, Swimming, Men's 400m freestyle

Bronze

*Harry Kerr, Athletics, Men's 3500m walk
*Frank Beaurepaire, Swimming, Men's 1500m freestyle

Results by event

Athletics

Australasia's best athletics result, and only medal, was Harry Kerr's bronze medal in the 3500 metre walk.

hooting

wimming

Tennis

Les Poidevin and Tony Wilding (who were partners in the 1906 Davis Cup preliminary round at Newport) were nominated for the Australasian team by the Australasian Lawn Tennis Association, but their nominations failed to reach the organisers. So the pair watched the "small, impoverished and out of place" Australasian contingent alongside the "tailored splendour" of some European teams. Although many leading tennis players bypassed the Olympic tournament (which followed almost immediately after Wimbledon) and his goal had been Wimbledon, Wilding regretted the missed opportunity and endorsed his mother's summing up of the administrative bungling: "seems very careless of them & very annoying" [ "ANTHONY WILDING, A Sporting Life" by Len and Shelley Richardson, page 176 (Canterbury University Press, 2005) ISBN 1 877257 01 X ] .

External links

* [http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/photo/nz-olympic-pioneers Cover of 1908 programme]

References

ources

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