Cycling at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's tandem

The men's 2000 metre tandem was one of seven track cycling events on the Cycling at the 1908 Summer Olympics programme. Each nation could enter up to 6 teams of 2.^[1]

Men's tandem at the Games of the IV Olympiad
Venue	White City Stadium
Dates	July 13–15, 1908
Competitors	34 from 7 nations
Medalists
France (FRA) André Auffray, Maurice Schilles  Great Britain (GBR) Frederick Hamlin, Horace Johnson  Great Britain (GBR) Charlie Brooks, William Isaacs
1920 →

Competition format

The tandem race was a sprint-style race with teams of 2 on tandem bicycles. The distance was 2000 metres, or approximately 3.3 laps of the 660-yard track. The time limit for the race was 4 minutes. The competition was held over three rounds (heats, semifinals, and a final). The first round consisted of 7 heats of 2 or 3 teams each, with the winning team in each heat as well as the fastest second-place team advancing to the semifinals. There were 2 semifinals of 4 teams each; the winning team in each semifinal as well as the faster second-place team advanced to the final. The final featured 3 teams, so all finalists received medals.

Results

First round

The fastest team in each of the seven heats and the fastest second-place team overall advanced to the semifinals.

The competition was held on Monday, July 13, 1908 starting at 4.15 p.m. (first four heats) and at 5.15 p.m. (remaining three heats).

Heat 1

Rank	Cyclists	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Charlie Brooks William Isaacs	Great Britain (GBR)	3:09.4	Q
2	Alwin Boldt Max Triebsch	Germany (GER)	5 lengths behind

Heat 2

Rank	Cyclists	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Frederick Hamlin Horace Johnson	Great Britain (GBR)	3:14.8	Q
2	Marc Texier Paul Texier	France (FRA)	4 lengths behind

Heat 3

Rank	Cyclists	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Max Götze Otto Götze[2]	Germany (GER)	2:55.6[3]	Q
2	Charles Avrillon Joseph Guyader	France (FRA)	bare wheel
3	Cecil McKaig Edward Piercy	Great Britain (GBR)	2 lengths behind 2nd

Heat 4

Rank	Cyclists	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Léon Coeckelberg Jules Patou	Belgium (BEL)	2:25.0	Q
2	John Barnard Arthur Rushen	Great Britain (GBR)	1.2 lengths behind	q
3	Andrew Hansson Gustaf Westerberg	Sweden (SWE)	beaten off

Heat 5

Rank	Cyclists	Nation	Time	Notes
1	André Auffray Maurice Schilles	France (FRA)	3:11.4	Q
2	Philipus Frylink Floris Venter	South Africa (RSA)	1 length behind

Heat 6

Rank	Cyclists	Nation	Time	Notes
1	François Bonnet Octave Lapize	France (FRA)	3:06.8	Q
2	Robert Jolly John Norman	Great Britain (GBR)	6 lengths behind

Heat 7

Rank	Cyclists	Nation	Time	Notes
1	John Matthews Leonard Meredith	Great Britain (GBR)	2:43.2	Q
2	Gaston Dreyfus André Poulain	France (FRA)	2 lengths behind
3	Frederick McCarthy William Morton	Canada (CAN)	beaten off

Semifinals

The fastest team in each heat as well as the fastest second-place team overall advanced to the final.

The competition was held on Wednesday, July 15, 1908 starting at 5 p.m.

Semifinal 1

Rank	Cyclists	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Frederick Hamlin Horace Johnson	Great Britain (GBR)	2:42.2	Q
2	Charlie Brooks William Isaacs	Great Britain (GBR)	6 lengths behind	q
3	Max Götze Otto Götze[2]	Germany (GER)	Unknown
4	Léon Coeckelberg Jules Patou	Belgium (BEL)	Unknown

Semifinal 2

Rank	Cyclists	Nation	Time	Notes
1	André Auffray Maurice Schilles	France (FRA)	2:46.2	Q
2	John Matthews Leonard Meredith	Great Britain (GBR)	1 length behind
3	John Barnard Arthur Rushen	Great Britain (GBR)	Unknown
4	François Bonnet Octave Lapize	France (FRA)	Unknown

Final

The final was held on Wednesday, July 15, 1908 at 5.45 p.m.

Rank	Cyclists	Nation	Time
	André Auffray Maurice Schilles	France (FRA)	3:07.6
	Frederick Hamlin Horace Johnson	Great Britain (GBR)	Unknown
	Charlie Brooks William Isaacs	Great Britain (GBR)	Unknown

Notes

1. Official Report, p. 33.
2. The official report shows as second team member Karl Neumer.
3. Wudarski, Pawel (1999). "Wyniki Igrzysk Olimpijskich" (in Polish). Archived from the original on 16 February 2009. Retrieved 10 January 2007. The Official Report gives a time of 2:05.6; however, from its descriptions of second place finishes that time would have resulted in Avrillon and Guyader advancing to the semifinals as the fastest losers. Wudarski gives a time of 2:55.6, which fits with other results and may indicate a transcription or typographical error in the Official Report.

Sources

• Cook, Theodore Andrea (1908). The Fourth Olympiad, Being the Official Report. London: British Olympic Association.
• De Wael, Herman. Herman's Full Olympians: "Cycling 1908". Accessed 7 April 2006. Available electronically at Archived 2014-05-05 at the Wayback Machine.