| Noc: | ANZ |
| Games: | Summer Olympics |
| Year: | 1908 |
| Flagcaption: | Australasian Olympic Flag |
| Location: | London, United Kingdom |
| Date: | 27 April – 31 October 1908 |
| Competitors: | 30 |
| Sports: | 6 |
| Flagbearer: | Henry St Aubyn Murray |
| Rank: | 11 |
| Gold: | 1 |
| Silver: | 2 |
| Bronze: | 2 |
| Appearances: | auto |
| App Begin Year: | 1908 |
| App End Year: | 1912 |
| See also: | (1896–1904, 1920–) (1920–) |
Australasia was the name of a combined team from Australia and New Zealand that competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom. It was the fourth appearance of Australia, which had not missed any edition of the Summer Olympic Games, and the first appearance of New Zealand. The two would compete together again as Australasia at the 1912 Summer Olympics before competing separately at every edition of the Summer Games since. In 1908 there were three New Zealanders, Harry Kerr, Henry Murray and Albert Rowland (a fourth New Zealander, hurdler Arthur Halligan, competed for Great Britain);[1] all other competitors were Australian. There were 30 competitors for Australasia who competed in 20 events in six sports.[2] A further two competitors, who were to compete in tennis, did not play as their nominations failed to reach the organisers.
| Medal | Name | Sport | Event | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=center colspan=2 | Rugby union | ||||
| (AUS) | Boxing | Middleweight | |||
| (AUS) | Swimming | Men's 400 m freestyle | |||
| (NZL) | Athletics | Men's 3500 m walk | |||
| (AUS) | Swimming | Men's 1500 m freestyle |
See main article: article and Athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics.
Track & road events
| Athlete | Event | Heat | Semifinal | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | ||
| Harvey Sutton | 800 m | 2:00.0 | 3 | did not advance | |||
| Joseph Lynch | align=left rowspan=2 | 1500 m | Unknown | 5 | did not advance | ||
| Charles Swain | did not finish | did not advance | |||||
| George Blake | align=left rowspan=2 | 5 miles | Unknown | 3 | did not advance | ||
| Joseph Lynch | did not finish | did not advance | |||||
| Henry Murray | 110 m hurdles | 16.3 | 2 | did not advance | |||
| Henry Murray | 400 m hurdles | 59.8 | 2 | did not advance | |||
| Victor Aitken | align=left rowspan=3 | Marathon | did not finish | ||||
| George Blake | did not finish | ||||||
| Joseph Lynch | did not finish | ||||||
| Harry Kerr | align=left rowspan=2 | 3500 m walk | 16:02.2 | 2 Q | 15:43.4 | ||
| Albert Rowland | 16:08.6 | 3 Q | 16:07.0 | 5 | |||
| Harry Kerr | align=left rowspan=2 | 10 miles walk | 1:18:40.2 | 3 Q | did not start | ||
| Albert Rowland | 1:21:57.6 | 5 | did not advance | ||||
Field events
See main article: article and Boxing at the 1908 Summer Olympics.
See main article: article and Diving at the 1908 Summer Olympics.
See main article: article and Rugby union at the 1908 Summer Olympics.
Australasia won the only rugby union match played in 1908 against Great Britain, earning the gold medal. The Australasian representative was the Australia national team.
| Event | Place | Players | Final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men's rugby union | bgcolor=gold | 1st | Won vs. Great Britain 32–3 | |
See main article: article and Shooting at the 1908 Summer Olympics.
| Event | Place | Shooter | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16th | 354 | |||
| — | William Hill | Did not finish | ||
| 18th | William Hill | 36 | ||
See main article: article and Swimming at the 1908 Summer Olympics.
| Event | Place | Swimmer | Heats | Semifinals | Final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Semi- finalist | 1:11.6 1st, heat 3 | Unknown 4th, semifinal 1 | bgcolor=lightgray | Did not advance | ||
| Heats | Unknown 2nd, heat 1 | Did not advance | ||||
| Unknown 3–4, heat 6 | ||||||
| bgcolor=silver | 2nd | Frank Beaurepaire | 5:49.2 1st, heat 4 | 5:44.0 1st, semifinal 1 | 5:44.2 | |
| Semi- finalist | Theo Tartakover | 6:35.0 1st, heat 3 | Did not start —, semifinal 1 | bgcolor=lightgray | Did not advance | |
| Heats | 5:57.4 2nd, heat 6 | Did not advance | ||||
| 3rd | Frank Beaurepaire | 23:45.8 1st, heat 2 | 23:25.4 2nd, semifinal 1 | 22:56.2 | ||
| Heats | Frederick Springfield | 24:52.4 2nd, heat 4 | Did not advance | |||
| — | Edward Cooke | Did not finish —, heat 5 | Did not advance | |||
| 4th | Frank Beaurepaire Frederick Springfield Snowy Baker Theo Tartakover | bgcolor=lightgray | None held | 11:35.0 1st, semifinal 1 | Unknown | |
Les Poidevin and Anthony Wilding (who were partners in the 1906 Davis Cup preliminary round at Newport) were nominated for the Australasian team by the Australasian Lawn Tennis Association, but their nominations failed to reach the organisers. So the pair watched the "small, impoverished and out of place" Australasian contingent alongside the "tailored splendour" of some European teams. Although many leading tennis players bypassed the Olympic tournament (which followed almost immediately after Wimbledon) and his goal had been Wimbledon, Wilding regretted the missed opportunity and endorsed his mother's summing up of the administrative bungling: "seems very careless of them & very annoying".[3]