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The 1908 Olympic Games were originally awarded to Rome, but came to London after Mount Vesuvius erupted in 1906.Although given just two years' notice, London successfully completed the infrastructure to host the 1908 Games. The main venue was the White City Stadium, built as part of the Franco-British Exhibition. The stadium included running and cycling tracks, an open-air swimming pool and a pitch for football, hockey, rugby and lacrosse. The grandstands accommodated 93,000 spectators.

The Olympics ran from 27 April to 31 October and involved 3,000 competitors from 21 teams. This was the first games to award gold, silver and bronze medals and the first in which all entrants had to compete as members of national teams. International politics and controversial judging marred the games and led to the creation of the International Amateur Athletic Federation, which standardised track and field competition rules. For future Olympics, judges were drawn from an international pool rather then just the host country.

The 1908 Olympic Games were originally awarded to Rome, but came to London after Mount Vesuvius erupted in 1906.