Solid Foundations: Athens 1906–London 1908

Abstract

Only a year after its foundation, the BOA successfully despatched the first official Great Britain team to the ‘Intercalated’ Olympics in Athens in 1906. Desborough impressed IOC President de Coubertin to such an extent that London was asked to host the 1908 Games when Italy withdrew in the wake of the Mount Vesuvius volcano disaster. Whereas London 2012 was more than a decade in gestation and relied on massive government investment, the 1908 Olympics were planned, prepared and delivered by a voluntary body in some 18 months. Heated disputes over officiating led journalists to refer to ‘the Battle of Shepherd’s Bush’. Yet the BOA could still claim credit for staging the largest and most successful modern Olympics thus far, with some 20,000 competitors in attendance.