Athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's medley relay

Men's medley relay at the Games of the IV Olympiad
Venue	White City Stadium
Dates	July 24, 1908 (semifinals) July 25, 1908 (final)
Competitors	28 from 7 nations
Medalists
01 ! Nate Cartmell William Hamilton Mel Sheppard John Taylor  United States 02 ! Hanns Braun Hans Eicke Arthur Hoffmann Otto Trieloff  Germany 03 ! Ödön Bodor József Nagy Pál Simon Frigyes Wiesner  Hungary

01 !		Nate Cartmell William Hamilton Mel Sheppard John Taylor	United States
02 !		Hanns Braun Hans Eicke Arthur Hoffmann Otto Trieloff	Germany
03 !		Ödön Bodor József Nagy Pál Simon Frigyes Wiesner	Hungary

The men's medley relay was run for the first time at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. The event consisted of 1600 metres being run by four athletes per team. Unlike the later 4 x 400 metres relay, however, the athletes had different distances to run. In the medley, the first two runners each ran 200 metres. The third runner ran 400 and the fourth ran 800. The competition was held on July 24, 1908 and July 25, 1908. 28 runners from 7 nations competed.

The event was run in two rounds.

All first round heats were held on July 24, 1908.

First round, heat 1 Simon had a ten-yard lead over Laaftman at the end of the first 200 metres; after Lindberg gained on Racz, Stenborg passed Nagy during the 400, giving Björn a three-yard advantage over Bodor to begin the second half of the race. Bodor was up to the task and ran the split in 1:56.6 to pass Björn and win by three yards.

First round, heat 2 The German team dominated this heat, with each runner increasing the lead; Braun crossed the finish line 90 yards ahead of Evers.

First round, heat 3 Hamilton gave the Americans a slight lead at the end of the first 200 metres, with the Canadians in second and the British team third. Cartmell increased the lead while Pankhurst caught up to Buddo near the end of the second 200. In the 400, Taylor held the American lead while Montague ensured second place for the Britons, but Just had little chance of catching Sheppard, who had won the individual 800 metres, in the second half of the race. Sheppard finished 25 yards in front of the British team.

The final was held on July 25, 1908.

At the end of the first 200 metres, Hamilton had a six-yard lead over Simon, with Hoffmann about a yard behind the Hungarian. Cartmell and Taylor increased the American lead, and Sheppard began the second half of the race with a fifteen-yard lead over Bodor; he pulled away and won by twenty-five yards. Braun and Bodor fought mightily for second place, with the German, who had a five-yard deficit at the beginning of the 800 metres, winning by five inches.