Athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's freestyle javelin throw

The men's freestyle javelin throw was one of six throwing events on the Athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics programme in London. The javelin could be held anywhere, as opposed to the standard javelin throw which required the javelin to be held by a grip in the middle. This was the only time such a "freestyle" event was held at the Olympics. The competition was held on 15 July 1908. 33 throwers from nine nations competed.[1] NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes.[2]

Men's freestyle javelin throw
at the Games of the IV Olympiad
VenueWhite City Stadium
Date15 July
Competitors33 from 9 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Eric Lemming  Sweden
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Michalis Dorizas  Greece
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Arne Halse  Norway

Records edit

This was the modern Olympic debut of the javelin throw, discounting the 1906 Intercalated Games which are no longer considered part of the Olympics.

World record   Eric Lemming (SWE) 53.90(*) Athens 26 April 1906 [3]
Olympic record N/A

(*) unofficial

Eric Lemming set a new world and Olympic record throwing in the standard manner in the freestyle event. Two days later in the standard javelin throw event, Lemming improved his own world and Olympic record set in this event with 54.83 m.

Results edit

Eric Lemming set a new world and Olympic record with 54.44 metres. He threw the javelin in a conventional manner.

Rank Athlete Nation Distance Notes
  Eric Lemming   Sweden 54.44 WR
  Michalis Dorizas   Greece 51.36
  Arne Halse   Norway 49.73
4 Charalambos Zouras   Greece 48.61
5 Hugo Wieslander   Sweden 47.56
6 Armas Pesonen   Finland 46.04
7 Imre Mudin   Hungary 45.96
8 Jalmari Sauli   Finland 43.30
9 Juho Halme   Finland 39.88
10–33 Ferenc Jesina   Hungary 36.82
Edward Barrett   Great Britain Unknown
Emilio Brambilla   Italy Unknown
Conrad Carlsrud   Norway Unknown
Alfred Flaxman   Great Britain Unknown
Nikolaos Georgantas   Greece Unknown
György Luntzer   Hungary Unknown
Walter Henderson   Great Britain Unknown
István Mudin   Hungary Unknown
Evert Jakobsson   Finland Unknown
Jarl Jakobsson   Finland Unknown
Verner Järvinen   Finland Unknown
John Johansen   Norway Unknown
Johan Kemp   Finland Unknown
Henry Leeke   Great Britain Unknown
Knut Lindberg   Sweden Unknown
Ernest May   Great Britain Unknown
Mór Kóczán   Hungary Unknown
Otto Nilsson   Sweden Unknown
Aarne Salovaara   Finland Unknown
Bruno Söderström   Sweden Unknown
František Souček   Bohemia Unknown
Ludwig Uettwiller   Germany Unknown
Emil Welz   Germany Unknown

References edit

  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1908 London Summer Games: Men's Javelin Throw, Freestyle". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  2. ^ Official report, p. 32.
  3. ^ "Track and Field Statistics". trackfield.brinkster.net. Retrieved 1 August 2023.

Sources edit

  • Official Report of the Games of the IV Olympiad (1908).
  • De Wael, Herman. Herman's Full Olympians: "Athletics 1908". Accessed 7 April 2006. Available electronically at [1] Archived 2006-09-27 at the Wayback Machine.