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Great Britain at the 1900 Summer Olympics
Flag of the United Kingdom
IOC code	GBR
NOC	British Olympic Association
in Paris
Competitors	101 in 14 sports
Medals Ranked 3rd	Gold 15 Silver 7 Bronze 9 Total 31
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Other related appearances
1906 Intercalated Games

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland competed as Great Britain at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. It was the second appearance of Britain after having participated in the inaugural 1896 Games. In Olympic competition, the nation has always shortened its official name to Great Britain rather than the United Kingdom seen elsewhere.

Medallists

Medal	Name	Sport	Event	Date
	Lorne Currie John Gretton Linton Hope Algernon Maudslay	Sailing	Open class	May 20
	Lorne Currie John Gretton Linton Hope Algernon Maudslay	Sailing	.5 to 1 ton	May 25
	Howard Taylor Edward Hore Harry Jefferson	Sailing	3 to 10 ton	May 25
	Cecil Quentin	Sailing	20+ ton	August 2
	Charlotte Cooper	Tennis	Women's singles	July 11
	Laurence Doherty	Tennis	Men's singles	July 11
	Laurence Doherty Reginald Doherty	Tennis	Men's doubles	July 11
	Reginald Doherty Charlotte Cooper	Tennis	Mixed doubles	August 28
	Charles Bennett	Athletics	Men's 1500 m	July 15
	John Rimmer	Athletics	Men's 4000 m steeplechase	July 16
	Alfred Tysoe	Athletics	Men's 800 m	July 16
	John Jarvis	Swimming	Men's 1000 m freestyle	August 12
	John Jarvis	Swimming	Men's 4000 m freestyle	August 19
	Devon and Somerset Wanderers Cricket Team C. B. K. Beachcroft Arthur Birkett Alfred Bowerman George Buckley Francis Burchell Frederick Christian Harry Corner Frederick Cuming William Donne Alfred Powlesland John Symes Montagu Toller	Cricket	2-day, 12 men	August 20
	Upton Park F.C. James Jones Claude Buckenham William Gosling Alfred Chalk T. E. Burridge William Quash Richard Turner F. G. Spackman John Nicholas Jack Zealley Henry Haslam	Football	Men's Football	September 20
	Harold Mahony	Tennis	Men's singles	July 11
	Sidney Robinson	Athletics	Men's 2500 m steeplechase	July 15
	Patrick Leahy	Athletics	Men's high jump	July 15
	Charles Bennett	Athletics	Men's 4000 m steeplechase	July 16
	Selwin Calverley	Sailing	20+ ton	August 2
	Lloyd Hildebrand	Cycling	Men's 25 kilometres	September 15
	Walter Rutherford	Golf	Men's individual	October 2
	Moseley Wanderers F. C. Bayliss J. Henry Birtles James Cantion Arthur Darby Clement Deykin Leslie Hood M. L. Logan Herbert Loveitt Herbert Nicol V. Smith M. W. Talbot Joseph Wallis Claude Whittindale Raymond Whittindale Francis Wilson	Rugby Union	Rugby Union	October 28
	Reginald Doherty	Tennis	Men's singles	July 11
	Arthur Norris	Tennis	Men's singles	July 11
	Harold Mahony Arthur Norris	Tennis	Men's doubles	July 11
	Patrick Leahy	Athletics	Men's long jump	July 15
	Sidney Robinson	Athletics	Men's 4000 m steeplechase	July 16
	Edward Hore	Sailing	10 to 20 ton	August 6
	Peter Kemp	Swimming	Men's 200 m obstacle	August 12
	Saint-George Ashe	Rowing	Men's single sculls	August 26
	David Robertson	Golf	Men's individual	October 2

Additionally British competitors won five gold medals, three silver medals and five bronze medals while competing for the Mixed Team.

Medal	Team	Sport	Event
	Mixed Team	Athletics	5000 metre team race
	Mixed Team	Sailing	2-3 ton (race 1)
	Mixed Team	Sailing	2-3 ton (race 2)
	Mixed Team	Polo	Men's Polo
	Mixed Team	Water Polo	Men's Water Polo
	Mixed Team	Cricket	Men's Cricket
	Mixed Team	Tennis	Mixed doubles
	Mixed Team	Polo	Men's Polo
	Mixed Team	Football	Men's Football
	Mixed Team	Tennis	Mixed doubles (first bronze pair)
	Mixed Team	Tennis	Mixed doubles (second bronze pair)
	Mixed Team	Polo	Men's Polo
	Mixed Team	Water Polo	Men's Water Polo

Results by event

Swimming

Great Britain made its Olympic swimming debut in 1900. Jarvis won gold medals in each of the two long distance freestyle events; as neither distance was used again, he is the only Olympic champion ever in both the 1000 metres and 4000 metres. Kemp added a bronze in the obstacle event, another one-time-only competition. This put Great Britain at the top of the leaderboard by gold-silver-bronze (Australia and Germany also had 2 gold medals, but neither won any other medals) though France (1 gold, 2 silvers, 2 bronzes) and Austria (3 silvers, 1 bronze) had more total medals.

Swimmer	Event	Semifinals		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Robert Crawshaw	Men's 200 metre freestyle	2:40.0	2 q	2:45.6	4
Peter Kemp		2:51.0	2	did not advance
F. Stapleton		2:47.0	2 q	2:55.0	6
Bill Burgess	Men's 1000 metre freestyle	16:54.0	2 q	DNF	10
John Arthur Jarvis		14:28.6	1 Q	13:40.2
Bill Burgess	Men's 4000 metre freestyle	1:15:04.8	2 q	1:15:07.6	4
William Henry		1:22:58.4	3 q	DNF	8
John Arthur Jarvis		1:01:48.4	1 Q	58:24.0
E. T. Jones		DNF	–	did not advance
Bill Burgess	Men's 200 metre backstroke	3:50.4	3 q	3:12.0	5
Robert Crawshaw		3:15.0	2 q	DNF	9
William Henry	Men's 200 metre obstacle event	3:14.4	2 Q	2:58.0	6
Peter Kemp		3:12.0	1 Q	2:47.4
F. Stapleton		3:18.4	3 q	2:55.0	5

Water polo

The British water polo team won gold easily. The roster listed is that credited with gold medals by the IOC, but not by Olympedia The roster for the Osborne Swimming Club of Manchester as listed by the International Olympic Committee is Thomas Coe, John Henry Derbyshire, Peter Kemp, William Lister, Arthur G. Robertson, Eric Robinson, and George Wilkinson. Lister, however, had died two weeks prior to the Games, while Derbyshire, Robinson, and Wilkinson all played water polo matches in England either during the tournament or too soon after it to have traveled back from Paris in time. A list of players contemporary to the match does not include Robertson, but does list Coe and Kemp in addition to Robert Crawshaw, William Henry, John Arthur Jarvis, Victor Lindberg, and Frederick Stapleton. Lindberg has been considered the first New Zealand Olympian, although he "was born in Fiji to Swedish and Irish parents, lived in New Zealand from a young age and, in Paris, represented a British club."

One British player (Thomas William Burgess) played on a French team that won a bronze medal, as well, but the IOC credits that appearance to France and not Great Britain or a mixed team.

Team	Event	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final	Rank
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result
Osborne Swimming Club Thomas Coe John Henry Derbyshire Peter Kemp William Lister Arthur G. Robertson Eric Robinson George Wilkinson	Men's water polo	Tritons Lillois (FRA) W 12-0	Pupilles de Neptune de Lille #2 (FRA) W 10-1	Brussels Swimming and Water Polo Club Belgium (BEL) W 7-2

Athletics

Great Britain took 4 gold medals in athletics, including one as part of a mixed team (with 4 British athletes and one Australian). This put them second on the leaderboard for that sport, behind the dominant United States as the two nations to win multiple gold medals in the sport. The British team won a total of 9 athletics medals including a sweep of the 4000 metre steeplechase event. 9 athletes competed in 10 events.

Track events

Athlete	Event	Heat		Semifinal		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Alfred Tysoe	800 m	1:59.4	2 Q	—		2:01.2
Charles Bennett	1500 m	—				4:06.2
John Rimmer						Unknown	Unknown
Sidney Robinson	2500 m steeplechase	—				7:38.0
John Rimmer	4000 m steeplechase	—				12:58.4
Charles Bennett						12:58.6
Sidney Robinson						12:58.6
E. Ion Pool	marathon	—				did not finish
Frederick Randall						did not finish
William Saward						did not finish
W. Taylor						did not finish

Field events

Athlete	Event	Qualifying		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Patrick Leahy	high jump	—		1.78
	long jump	6.71	5 Q	6.95
	triple jump	—		Unknown	4
Launceston Elliot	discus throw	31.0	11	did not advance

Cricket

Great Britain was represented by the Devon and Somerset Wanderers in cricket in 1900. The team won the only match, a 2-day 12-man contest, by 158 runs.

Cricketers	Event	Final	Place
		Opposition Result
Devon and Somerset Wanderers C.B.K. Beachcroft (captain) Arthur Birkett Alfred Bowerman George Buckley Francis Burchell Frederick Christian Harry Corner Frederick Cuming William Donne Alfred Powlesland John Symes Montagu Toller	2-day 12-man	France W by 158 runs

Cycling

Athlete	Event	Place
Lloyd Hildebrand	Men's 25 kilometres

• Note - Recorded as Great Britain and Ireland until 2024, the IOC Executive Board approved the change of Lloyd Hildebrand's silver medal at Paris 1900 Olympics from Great Britain to France.

Fencing

Great Britain send fencers to the Olympics for the first time in 1900. None of the 3 British men reached the final in their event.

Football

Upton Park F.C. represented Great Britain in the football competition. The club squad won its only match, against Club Française, 4-0.

Summary

Team	Event	Match 1	Match 2	Rank
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result
Upton Park F.C.	Men's football	Club Française (FRA) W 4–0	Bye

Match 1

Club Français	0–4	Upton Park FC
	Report	Nicholas Turner 5' Zealley 7'

Team details

Club Français Upton Park GK Lucien Huteau RB Louis Bach LB Pierre Allemane RH Virgile Gaillard CH Alfred Bloch LH Maurice Macaire OR Eugène Fraysse (capt.) IR René Garnier CF Marcel Lambert IL René Grandjean OL Fernand Canelle GK James Jones RB Claude Buckenham LB William Gosling RH Alfred Chalk CH T. E. Burridge LH William Quash OR Richard Turner IR F. G. Spackman CF John Nicholas IL Jack Zealley OL Henry Haslam (capt.)

Golf

Great Britain was one of four nations to compete in the first Olympic golf events. The British golfers took the silver and bronze medals in the men's competition, making Great Britain the only nation other than the United States to win a golfing medal that year.

Golfer	Event	Score	Rank
William Bathurst Dove	Men's individual	186	7
David Donaldson Robertson		175
Walter Rutherford		168
George Thorne		185	6
John Daunt		184	5

Gymnastics Artistic

Great Britain's second Olympic gymnastics appearance was no more successful than the nation's first, resulting in no medals.

Polo

Great Britain was one of four nations to compete in the first Olympic polo event. British athletes played on three of the five teams, two of which included either American or French players, while the third included both American and French. The mixed British/American combination took the top place, the British/American/French team secured the silver medal, while the British/French team reached third place.

Team	Event	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final	Rank
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result
Foxhunters Hurlingham John Beresford Denis St. George Daly Alfred Rawlinson 2 American players	Men's polo	Compiègne (FRA) W 10–0	Bagatelle (ZZX) W 6–4	BLO Polo Club Rugby (ZZX) W 3–1
BLO Polo Club Rugby Walter Buckmaster Frederick Freake 1 American player 1 French player		Bye	Mexico W 8–0	Foxhunters (ZZX) L 3–1
Bagatelle Polo Club de Paris Frederick Agnew Gill 3 French players		Bye	Foxhunters (ZZX) L 6–4	Did not advance

Rowing

Britain had a single rower present at the first Olympic rowing contests, winning the bronze medal in the single sculls event.

Rower	Event	First round		Semifinals		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Saint-George Ashe	Men's single sculls	6:38.8	1 Q	8:37.2	3 q	8:15.6

Rugby

Britain was one of three teams to compete in the first Olympic rugby games. Britain lost its only game, against France. The game against Germany was cancelled due to travel plans.

Summary

Team	Event	Match 1	Match 2	Rank
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result
Moseley Wanderers	Bye	France national rugby union team (FRA) L 27–8

Match 2

France	27–8	Great Britain
	Report

Roster

• Frank Bayliss
• Henry Birtles
• James Cantion
• Arthur Darby
• Clement Deykin
• Leslie Hood
• M. L. Logan
• Herbert Loveitt
• Herbert Nicol
• V. Smith
• M. W. Talbot
• Joseph Wallis
• Claude Whittindale
• Raymond Whittindale
• Francis Wilson

Sailing

Great Britain was second to France in gold medals at the 1900 sailing events with 4, but took only 1 other medal, a bronze. France took 5 golds, 9 silvers, and 10 bronzes for a total of 24 medals to Britain's 6. However, even a perfect performance by the British athletes would have earned only a total of 8 medals—Great Britain failed to medal in only 2 of its attempts. The crew members listed are those listed by the IOC in their database. The Olympic historian Ian Buchanan in his book "British Olympians" (1991) states that "reports on many aspects of the 1900 regatta are inconclusive and the crew members of the British entry "Scotia" has never been positively settled. The records of the British Olympic Association give the crew as Lorne Currie, John Gretton and Linton Hope, but it has been established that Linton Hope was in England at the time of the races and his name only appears in the Olympic records as he was the designer of the "Scotia". Similarly the names of Currie and Gretton are probably only listed as the owners of the boat but as it is possible that they sailed their boat, they are listed as Olympic champions, although the participation of Lorne Currie, in particular, is in doubt. The one crew member whose participation has been established is Algernon Maudslay, whose name does not appear in any Olympic records, but from contemporary press reports it is clear that he was the helmsman of the "Scotia"".

Single race events

Sailors	Event	Time	Rank
Lorne Currie John Gretton, 1st Baron Gretton Linton Hope Algernon Maudslay	½–1 ton class race 1	3:29:45
Lorne Currie John Gretton, 1st Baron Gretton Linton Hope Algernon Maudslay	½–1 ton class race 2	3:45:46	4
E. William Exshaw Frédéric Blanchy (FRA) Jacques le Lavasseur (FRA)	2–3 ton class race 1	2:17:30
E. William Exshaw Frédéric Blanchy (FRA) Jacques le Lavasseur (FRA)	2–3 ton class race 2	4:17:34
John Howard Taylor H. MacHenry (USA)	3–10 ton class race 1	Unknown	7
Edward Hore Harry Jefferson	3–10 ton class race 2	4:14:58
John Howard Taylor H. MacHenry (USA)		4:38.49
Cecil Quentin	20+ ton class	5:29:46
Selwin Calverley		5:30:06
Lorne Currie John Gretton, 1st Baron Gretton Linton Hope Algernon Maudslay	Open class	5:56:17
E. William Exshaw Frédéric Blanchy (FRA) Jacques le Lavasseur (FRA)		DNF	–

Regatta events

Sailors	Event	Race 1		Race 2		Race 3		Overall
		Time	Rank (points)	Time	Rank (points)	Time	Rank (points)	Score	Rank
Edward Hore	10–20 ton class	4:20:18	3rd, 8 points	3:41:49	1st, 10 points	DNF	–, 5 points	23 points
Salusbury Mellor		4:25:48	5th, 6 points	3:53:17	5th, 6 points	3:36:02	4th, 7 points	19 points	5

Shooting

Great Britain was represented by one shooter in its second appearance. Merlin, who had competed for Great Britain four years earlier, competed again. He tied for 7th in the trap shooting event.

Tennis

Great Britain competed in tennis for the second time in 1900, again with great success. The Doherty brothers, Reginald and Laurence, and Charlotte Cooper won all 4 gold medals. Harold Mahony took silver in the men's singles and was on a mixed-nationality team that earned silver in the mixed doubles. Great Britain also took both of the bronzes in the men's singles and one of the bronzes in the men's doubles, as well as having British players comprise half of each bronze-medal mixed doubles pair. Ultimately, each of the 6 British tennis players took at least 1 medal.

Reginald and Laurence Doherty refused to play each other prior to the final. Since they were seeded in such a way that they would face each other in the semifinals, Reginald withdrew, accepting a bronze medal while Lawrence went on to win gold.

Player	Event	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final	Rank
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result
Laurence Doherty	Men's singles	Lebréton (FRA) W 6-2, 6-3	de Garmendia (USA) W 6-2, 8-6	R. Doherty W walkover	Mahony (GBR) W 6-2, 6-4, 6-3
Reginald Doherty		Durand (FRA) W 6-1, 6-3	Lecaron (FRA) W 6-2, 6-1	L. Doherty (GBR) L walkover	Did not advance
Harold Mahony		Sands (USA) W 6-2, 6-3	Bye	Norris (GBR) W 8-6, 6-1	L. Doherty (GBR) L 6-2, 6-4, 6-3
Arthur Norris		Prévost (FRA) W 6-4, 6-4	Warden (GBR) W 6-4, 6-2	Mahony (GBR) L 8-6, 6-1	Did not advance
Archibald Warden		Bye	Norris (GBR) L 6-4, 6-2	did not advance		5
Charlotte Cooper	Women's singles	—	Fourrier (FRA) W 6-2, 6-0	Jones (USA) W 6-2, 7-5	Prévost (FRA) W 6-1, 6-4
Laurence Doherty Reginald Doherty	Men's doubles	—	Lebréton/Lecaron (FRA) W 6-2, 6-3	Mahony/Norris (GBR) W 6-4, 6-1, 6-4	Decugis (FRA)/ de Garmendia (USA) W 6-1, 6-1, 6-0
Harold Mahony Arthur Norris			Durand/Fauchier-Magnan (FRA) W 6-8, 6-1, 6-8	L. Doherty/R. Doherty (GBR) L 6-4, 6-1, 6-4	Did not advance
Archibald Warden Charles Sands (USA)			Decugis (FRA)/ de Garmendia (USA) L 6-8, 6-3, 7-5	did not advance		5
Reginald Doherty Charlotte Cooper	Mixed doubles	—	Bye	Jones (USA)/ L. Doherty (GBR) W 6-2, 6-4	H. Prévost (FRA)/ Mahony (GBR) W 6-2, 6-4
Harold Mahony Hélène Prévost (FRA)			Bye	Rosenbaumová (BOH)/ Warden (GBR) W 6-3, 6-0	Cooper/R. Doherty (GBR) L 6-2, 6-4
Laurence Doherty Marion Jones (USA)			G. Jones/Sands (USA) W 6-1, 7-5	Cooper/R. Doherty (GBR) L 6-2, 6-4	Did not advance
Archibald Warden Hedwiga Rosenbaumová (BOH)			Gillou/Verdé-Delisle W 6-3, 3-6, 6-2	H. Prévost (FRA)/ Mahony (GBR) L 6-3, 6-0	Did not advance

References

1. "Recorded as Great Britain and Ireland until 2024. (IOC Executive Board approves change of Lloyd Hildebrand's silver medal at Paris 1900, from Great Britain to France)". Retrieved 13 June 2024.
2. "Great Britain at the 1900 Summer Olympics". Olympedia.org. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
3. Sports-Reference Archived 2016-04-04 at the Wayback Machine
4. ^ Gjerde, Arild; Jeroen Heijmans; Bill Mallon; Hilary Evans (December 2016). "Water Polo at the 1900 Paris Summer Games". Olympics. Sports Reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
5. Munro, Bruce (2 August 2016). "A nation strikes gold". Otago Daily Times. Allied Press. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
6. "Recorded as Great Britain and Ireland until 2024. (IOC Executive Board approves change of Lloyd Hildebrand's silver medal at Paris 1900, from Great Britain to France)". Retrieved 13 June 2024.

• Nations at the 1900 Summer Olympics
• Great Britain at the Summer Olympics by year
• 1900 in British sport
• 1900 in Irish sport