King Gustaf V of Sweden inaugurated the Fifth Olympiad at the Olympic Stadium in Stockholm on July 6, 1912. In the following weeks, 2,380 competitors from 27 nations representing six continents participated in well-organized competitions in perfect weather conditions. The largest Olympics yet at the time, the Stockholm Games have thus gone down in history as the Sunshine Olympics, or "the Swedish Masterpiece." Since that achievement, and despite numerous attempts by other Swedish cities, Sweden has not yet managed to host the Olympic Games again. This work examines the 1912 Stockholm Olympics from a variety of perspectives, exploring the preparations, organization, competitions, participants, and spectators, as well as the continuing significance of the 1912 Games to Sweden and to the future of the Olympic movement.

The 1912 Olympic Games held in Stockholm, Sweden, were the most "modern" Olympic Games yet celebrated and the most successful of the Modern Era to that date. Much of the success is credited to the influence of Viktor Balck, who is remembered as "The Father of Swedish Sports." The 1912 Olympics also featured new innovations and events. A semiautomatic electrical timing device and a photo-finish camera were used, and the decathlon and modern pentathalon were new events. This work, the sixth in a series on the early Olympics, provides unusually extensive information on the sites, dates, competitors, and nations of the Stockholm games. Results for each event, including cycling, diving, fencing, rowing and sculling, shooting, tennis, water polo, and yachting, among others, are provided.

Official presentation brochure of the 1912 Summer Olympic Games in Stockholm.

“A people’s history of the Olympics.”—New York Times Book Review A Boston Globe Best Book of the Year A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of the Year The Games is best-selling sportswriter David Goldblatt’s sweeping, definitive history of the modern Olympics. Goldblatt brilliantly traces their history from the reinvention of the Games in Athens in 1896 to Rio in 2016, revealing how the Olympics developed into a global colossus and highlighting how they have been buffeted by (and affected by) domestic and international conflicts. Along the way, Goldblatt reveals the origins of beloved Olympic traditions (winners’ medals, the torch relay, the eternal flame) and popular events (gymnastics, alpine skiing, the marathon). And he delivers memorable portraits of Olympic icons from Jesse Owens to Nadia Comaneci, the Dream Team to Usain Bolt.

"This detailed book includes twenty-five photos and a wealth of statistical data. It will hold great appeal for sports historians as well as the fans, athletes, and coaches of modern-day track and field events."--Jacket.

History of the Olympic Art Competitions of the 20th Century including data tables and selected competitor biographical sketches.