Athletics at the 1904 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 miles team race

The men's 4 miles team race was a track and field athletics event held as part of the Athletics at the 1904 Summer Olympics programme. It was the first time the event was held, though the 1900 Summer Olympics had featured a similar event in the 5000 metre team race. Two teams of five athletes each competed. The competition was held on September 3, 1904. The event was won by the New York AC team, with Arthur L. Newton finishing first individually; Chicago AA had the next three finishers (starting with Jim Lightbody in second), but Chicago also had the last two runners. New York won by 1 point.[1]

Men's 4 miles team race
at the Games of the III Olympiad
Arthur L. Newton led New York AC to the gold medal in the team event
VenueFrancis Field
DateSeptember 3, 1904
Competitors10 from 2 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s)  United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s)  Mixed team

Background

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A team race event had been introduced to the Olympics in 1900, with a 5000 metres version. The 1904 Games were the only one at which the distance was 4 miles. A 3 miles team race would be held in 1908 before the distance was standardized to 3000 metres for 1912, 1920, and 1924. Team races were removed from the programme after that.[1]

This was the last event on the athletics programme, with New York AC and Chicago AA tied for the lead in team victories up to this point.[1]

Competition format

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The race distance was 4 miles. Only a final was held. All of the runners began in a mass start. The team score was based on a point-for-place system, with the first runner scoring 1 point, second 2 points, and so forth. The team with the lowest score, adding all five team members' scores, was the winner.[1]

The track was a cinder track 1/3 mile in length with one long straightaway.[2]

Records

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The individual four mile race was held annually at the British AAA Championships, where the best known time was 20:12 45 by Walter George in 1884.

World record   Walter George (GBR) 20:12 45 Birmingham 21 June 1884 [3]
Olympic record N/A

Schedule

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Date Time Round
Saturday, 3 September 1904 Final

Results

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Individual standings

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The points system was based on point-for-place, with low scores desirable.

Rank Athlete Nation Team Time Points
1 Arthur L. Newton   United States New York AC 21:17.8 1
2 Jim Lightbody   United States Chicago AA Unknown 2
3 Frank Verner   United States Chicago AA Unknown 3
4 Lacey Hearn   United States Chicago AA Unknown 4
5 George Underwood   United States New York AC Unknown 5
6 Paul Pilgrim   United States New York AC Unknown 6
7 Howard Valentine   United States New York AC Unknown 7
8 David Curtiss Munson   United States New York AC Unknown 8
9 Albert Corey   France Chicago AA Unknown 9
10 Sidney Hatch   United States Chicago AA Unknown 10

Team standings

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The scores from each of the individual team members were summed, with the lowest-scoring team winning.

Rank Team Nation Points
  New York AC   United States 27
  Chicago AA   Mixed team 28

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d "4 miles, Team, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  2. ^ "Athletics at the 1904 Summer Olympics". Olympedia. Retrieved 8 September 2001.
  3. ^ Ian Buchanan "AAA Championships 1880-1939" National Union of Track Statisticians (2003)

References

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