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Tug of war at the 1908 Summer Olympics

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Men's tug of war
at the Games of the IV Olympiad
VenueWhite City Stadium
DatesJuly 17–18, 1908
Competitors40 from 3 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) City of London Police
 Great Britain
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Liverpool City Police
 Great Britain
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Metropolitan Police "K" Division
 Great Britain
← 1904
1912 →

At the 1908 Summer Olympics, a tug of war tournament was contested. Each team consisted of 8 athletes. Nations could enter up to 3 teams.[1] The host Great Britain was the only one to enter more than one (entering the maximum of 3 teams). Germany, Greece, Sweden, and the United States each entered one team apiece, though Germany and Greece withdrew. This left 5 teams (40 athletes) from 3 nations to compete.

Medal table

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Position Country Gold Silver Bronze Total
1  Great Britain 1 1 1 3
 Sweden 0 0 0 0
 United States 0 0 0 0

Medal summary

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Gold Silver Bronze
City of London Police
 Great Britain
Liverpool Police
 Great Britain
Metropolitan Police "K" Division
 Great Britain

Team rosters

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Great Britain

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City of London Police

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Liverpool Police

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Metropolitan Police "K" Division

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Sweden

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  • Albrekt Almqwist
  • Frans Fast
  • Carl-Emil Johansson
  • Emil Johansson
  • Knut Johansson
  • Karl Krook
  • Karl-Gustaf Nilsson
  • Anders Wollgarth

United States

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Results

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Quarterfinals

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The German and Greek teams withdrew, narrowing the seven-team field to five. Thus, the Swedish team and two of the British squads had byes in the quarterfinals.

The only match held was between the Liverpool team and the Americans. Liverpool won the first pull easily, after which the United States delegation protested against the footwear worn by the Liverpool police, who competed in their service boots. The protest was dismissed, and the Americans withdrew in disgust.[2][3]

Winners Score Losers
Liverpool Police  Great Britain 2-0 (forfeit) United States of America  United States
Sweden  Sweden Bye
City of London Police  Great Britain Bye
Metropolitan Police "K" Division  Great Britain Bye

Semifinals

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Liverpool again faced a foreign opponent, and again prevailed. The two London services squared off in the other semifinal, with the City police beating the Metropolitan men in a lengthy first pull. The second pull was not as tight a contest.[2]

Winners Score Losers
Liverpool Police  Great Britain 2-0 Sweden  Sweden
City of London Police  Great Britain 2-0 Metropolitan Police "K" Division  Great Britain

Final

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The Londoners defeated Liverpool in the final, winning the first two pulls.

Winners Score Losers
City of London Police  Great Britain 2-0 Liverpool Police  Great Britain

Bronze medal match

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The Swedish team did not appear for the bronze medal match.

Winners Score Losers
Metropolitan Police "K" (Stepney) Division  Great Britain walkover Sweden  Sweden

Notes

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  1. ^ Official Report, p. 32.
  2. ^ a b Cook, p. 91
  3. ^ City of London Police

Sources

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  • Cook, Theodore Andrea (1908). The Fourth Olympiad, Being the Official Report. London: British Olympic Association.
  • De Wael, Herman (2001). "Tug-of-War 1908". Herman's Full Olympians. Archived from the original on 26 February 2005. Retrieved 27 May 2006.
  • Rosters
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