The 1912 Olympic Games

The 1912 Olympic Games held in Stockholm, Sweden, were the most “modern” Olympic Games yet celebrated and the most successful of the Modern Era to that date. Much of the success is credited to the influence of Viktor Balck, who is remembered as “The Father of Swedish Sports.” The 1912 Olympics also featured new innovations and events. A semiautomatic electrical timing device and a photo-finish camera were used, and the decathlon and modern pentathalon were new events. This work, the sixth in a series on the early Olympics, provides unusually extensive information on the sites, dates, competitors, and nations of the Stockholm games. Results for each event, including cycling, diving, fencing, rowing and sculling, shooting, tennis, water polo, and yachting, among others, are provided.

Bill Mallon is a cofounder and vice president of the International Society of Olympic Historians (ISOH) and the original editor of the Journal of Olympic History. He is a surgeon in Durham, North Carolina.
Ture Widlund lives in Stockholm.

Bill Mallon and Ture Widlund
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 587
Bibliographic Info: tables, statistics, appendices, notes, index
Copyright Date: 2009 [2002]
pISBN: 978-0-7864-4069-6
eISBN: 978-1-4766-0953-9
Imprint: McFarland
Series: History of the Early Olympics

Introduction      vii

Abbreviations      ix

References      xi

1912 Olympic Games—Background and Analysis      1

NOTES      27

Summary and Statistics      29

NOTES      58

Athletics (Track and Field)      60

NOTES      123

Cycling      139

NOTES      151

Diving      153

NOTES      160

Equestrian Events      162

NOTES      170

Fencing      172

NOTES      202

Football (Association Football [Soccer])      210

NOTES      220

Gymnastics      222

NOTES      229

Modern Pentathlon      230

NOTES      240

Rowing & Sculling      242

NOTES      252

Shooting      257

NOTES      282

Swimming      286

NOTES      304

Tennis (Lawn and Covered Courts)      310

NOTES      325

Tug-of-War      327

NOTES      328

Water Polo      329

NOTES      335

Wrestling (Greco-Roman)      336

NOTES      353

Yachting      356

NOTES      360

Art Competitions (Concours d’Art)      362

NOTES      367

Other Sports and Events      369

NOTES      383

Appendix I: The 1912 Olympic Program      385

Appendix II: In the Matter of Jacobus Franciscus Thorpe      399

NOTES      414

Appendix III: “Smiling Hannes,” the First of the Flying Finns      417

NOTES      419

Appendix IV: Philip Baker, Avery Brundage, and George Patton      421

NOTES      426

Appendix V: The 1912 Russian Olympic Team      427

NOTES      436

Appendix VI: Competitors (by Country)      437

NOTES      527

Index      531

“interesting, well-written and handsomely-produced book…a ‘must read’”—The International Centre for Olympic Studies; “the details of the 1912 Olympic games…have been compiled in meticulous detail in this title…cover every aspect of the games…interesting facts…the appendices are a rich source of supplemental information…the authors have thoroughly researched and documented important primary and secondary sources…a fascinating, comprehensive, and accessible picture of the 1912 Olympic Games”—ARBA; “excellent work…highly recommended…a fascinating read”—Emerald.