Athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's 3200 metres steeplechase


The men's 3,200 metres steeplechase was held for the only time at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. The competition was held on July 17, 1908 and July 18, 1908. The races were held on a track of 536.45 metres= mile in circumference. There were six heats of the first round, with the winners of those heats competing in the final.
24 runners from 6 nations competed; eleven from Great Britain, eight from the United States, two from Canada, two from France, one from Hungary, and one from Italy. NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1908 Summer Olympics.
World Recordnone
Olympic Record7:34.4' George OrtonParis July 15, 1900
Olympic Record7:39.6' James LightbodySt. Louis August 29, 1904

' The distance of this race was 2500 metres and the track was 500 metres in circumference.
' The distance of this race was 2590 metres and the track was 536.45 metres= mile in circumference.

Results

First round

All first round heats were held on Friday, July 17, 1908.
Heat 1
Russell won easily, with Cartasegna being the only other competitor to finish. Downing was disqualified for incorrectly clearing the first water jump, Ragueneau retired on the second lap, and Carr injured his ankle.
PlaceNameNationTime
1Arthur Russell10:56.2
2Massimo Cartasegna11:15.0
—Gaston RagueneauDNF
—Edward CarrDNF
—Thomas DowningDQ

Heat 2
Eisele was the only one to finish. Fleurac led early, but was caught before the water jump and pulled up lame, while English fell.
PlaceNameNationTime
1John Eisele11:13.6
—Antal LovasDNF
—Louis de FleuracDNF
—Frank BuckleyDNF
—Joseph EnglishDNF

Heat 3
Barker pulled up lame, leaving Galbraith with the win.
PlaceNameNationTime
1William Galbraith11:12.4
—Henry BarkerDNF

Heat 4
With Yorke being disqualified for obstruction and Bonhag injured, the race was between Robertson and Dull. Dull led at first, but Robertson passed him and won by two hundred yards.
PlaceNameNationTime
1Archie Robertson11:10.0
2Gayle Dull
—George BonhagDNF
—Richard YorkeDQ

Heat 5
The Americans had little chance of catching up with Holdaway and Kinchin; Holdaway was a hundred yards ahead at the finish.
PlaceNameNationTime
1Guy Holdaway11:18.8
2Joseph Kinchin
3Roland Spitzerunknown
4Charles Hallunknown

Heat 6
Fitzgerald fell and Grantham pulled up lame. Sewell and Lightbody competed right up to the finish, and Sewell pulled away at the end to win a tight race by less than ten yards.
PlaceNameNationTime
1Harry Sewell11:30.2
2James Lightbody11:41.0
—James FitzgeraldDNF
—Billy GranthamDNF

Final

The final was held on Saturday, July 18, 1908.
Holdaway was the first to lead, but did not do so for long. Galbraith and Russell were the leaders for most of the first half of the race, until Galbraith fell back and Eisele joined Russell at the front. After the bell, Robertson passed Eisele and nearly caught Russell, trailing by only two yards when the two crossed the finish line.
PlaceNameNationTime
1Arthur Russell10:47.8
2Archie Robertson10:48.4
3John Eisele11:00.8
4Guy Holdaway
5Harry Sewellunknown
6William Galbraithunknown