| Athletics at the Games of the IV Olympiad | |
|---|---|
 Host stadium (shown in 1908) | |
| No. of events | 26 |
| Athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Track events | |
| 100 m | men |
| 200 m | men |
| 400 m | men |
| 800 m | men |
| 1500 m | men |
| 5 miles | men |
| 110 m hurdles | men |
| 400 m hurdles | men |
| 3200 m steeplechase | men |
| Medley relay | men |
| 3 mile team race | men |
| Road events | |
| Marathon | men |
| 3500 m walk | men |
| 10 mile walk | men |
| Field events | |
| Long jump | men |
| Triple jump | men |
| High jump | men |
| Pole vault | men |
| Standing long jump | men |
| Standing high jump | men |
| Shot put | men |
| Discus throw | men |
| Hammer throw | men |
| Javelin throw | men |
| Greek discus | men |
| Freestyle javelin | men |
| Tug of war | men |
At the1908 Summer Olympics held in London, England, 26athletics events were contested, all for men only. A total of 79 medals (27 gold, 27 silver, 25 bronze) were awarded.
Each nation was allowed to enter up to 12 competitors in most of the events. In the team races (the medley relay and the 3 mile team race), each nation entered one team. The medley relay was run by four athletes, with four alternates allowed. In the 3 mile team race, five athletes from each nation ran with only three counting.
The competition was restricted to amateurs, and was held under the rules of the BritishAmateur Athletic Association.
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  United States | 16 | 10 | 8 | 34 |
| 2 |  Great Britain | 7 | 7 | 3 | 17 |
| 3 |  Sweden | 2 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| 4 |  Canada | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| 5 |  South Africa | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 |  Greece | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 |  Norway | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 8 |  France | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
 Germany | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
 Hungary | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 11 |  Italy | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 |  Australasia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 Finland | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Totals (13 entries) | 27 | 27 | 25 | 79 | |
The 1908 Games were the first to featurerace walking, with two different events held. Two different forms ofjavelin throwing also appeared, introducing the new throwing apparatus to the programme. The 60 metre short sprint was dropped from the programme, as was the middle hurdle distance.Steeplechasing was done at 3200 metres instead of the 2500 metres that had been included at the previous two editions; the team race also had its distance shortened. A short track relay event was added. The multi-disciplinetriathlon anddecathlon events that had been held at the 1904 Games were both absent. An event featuring thediscus, which had become a staple of Olympic athletics, was held in which throwers had to follow a very specific throwing style. Overall there was one more event on the 1908 programme than there had been in 1904.
| ● | Event competitions | ● | Event finals |
| July | 13th | 14th | 15th | 16th | 17th | 18th | 19th | 20th | 21st | 22nd | 23rd | 24th | 25th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 metres | ● | ● | ● | ||||||||||
| 200 metres | ● | ● | ● | ||||||||||
| 400 metres | ● | ● | ● | ● | |||||||||
| 800 metres | ● | ● | |||||||||||
| 1500 metres | ● | ● | |||||||||||
| 110 metres hurdles | ● | ● | ● | ||||||||||
| 400 metres hurdles | ● | ● | ● | ||||||||||
| 3200 metres steeplechase | ● | ● | |||||||||||
| Medley relay | ● | ● | |||||||||||
| 3 miles team race | ● | ● | |||||||||||
| 5 miles | ● | ● | |||||||||||
| marathon | ● | ||||||||||||
| 3500 metres walk | ● ● | ||||||||||||
| 10 miles walk | ● | ● | |||||||||||
| Long jump | ● | ||||||||||||
| Triple jump | ● | ||||||||||||
| High jump | ● | ||||||||||||
| Pole vault | ● | ||||||||||||
| Standing long jump | ● | ||||||||||||
| Standing high jump | ● | ||||||||||||
| Shot put | ● | ||||||||||||
| Discus throw | ● | ||||||||||||
| Hammer throw | ● | ||||||||||||
| Javelin throw | ● | ||||||||||||
| Greek discus | ● | ||||||||||||
| Freestyle javelin | ● | ||||||||||||
| July | 13th | 14th | 15th | 16th | 17th | 18th | 19th | 20th | 21st | 22nd | 23rd | 24th | 25th |
446 athletes from 20 nations competed.Argentina andTurkey were the only two nations not to compete in athletics.
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51°30′49″N0°13′39″E / 51.5136°N 0.2274°E /51.5136; 0.2274
