The men's 5000 metres was one of seven track cycling events on the Cycling at the 1908 Summer Olympics programme. Its distance was the median of the individual event distances. Each nation could enter up to 12 cyclists.Official Report, p. 33.
Competition format
The 5000 metres was a sprint-style race, though considerably longer than modern sprints. The time limit for the race was 9 minutes, 25 seconds. The competition was conducted in two rounds (semifinals and a final). The semifinal round comprised 7 semifinals, each with up to 9 cyclists. The winning cyclist in each semifinal advanced to the final, so long as the time limit was not exceeded.
Results
Semifinals
The best cyclist in each of the 7 semifinals advanced to the final.
Semifinal 1
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Johannes van Spengen 8:39.8 2 Daniel Flynn Unknown 3 Guglielmo Malatesta Unknown 4 Pierre Seginaud Unknown William Bailey
Semifinal 2
Demangel had finished first by inches, but was disqualified for fouling.Official Report, p. 117.
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Émile Marechal 9:01.4 2 Frederick McCarthy Unknown 3 Antonie Gerrits Unknown Ernest Payne Émile Demangel
Semifinal 3
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 André Auffray 8:56.8 2 Hermann Martens Unknown 3 Philipus Freylinck Unknown 4 Bruno Götze Unknown 5 William Morton Unknown
Semifinal 4
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Gerard Bosch van Drakenstein 8:42.8 2 Willie Magee Unknown 3 Pierre Texier Unknown 4 Thomas Passmore Unknown André Poulain
Semifinal 5
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Benjamin Jones 9:08.8 2 Karl Neumer Unknown 3 Cesare Zanzottera Unknown 4-9 Georgius Damen Unknown Gaston Delaplane Unknown Max Götze Unknown Joe Lavery Unknown Frank Shore Unknown Richard Villepontoux Unknown
Semifinal 6
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Clarence Kingsbury 8:53.0 2 Guglielmo Morisetti Unknown 3 Dorus Nijland Unknown 4 Gaston Dreyfus Unknown 5-6 Walter Andrews Unknown Albert Calvert Unknown
Semifinal 7
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Maurice Schilles 7:55.4 2 Charlie Clark Unknown 3 William Anderson Unknown 4-7 Guillaume Coeckelberg Unknown Rudolf Katzer Unknown Georges Perrin Unknown Floris Venter Unknown
Final
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Benjamin Jones 8:36.2 Maurice Schilles Unknown André Auffray Unknown 4 Émile Marechal Unknown 5 Clarence Kingsbury Unknown 6 Johannes van Spengen Unknown 7 Gerard Bosch van Drakenstein Unknown
Notes
Sources
De Wael, Herman. Herman's Full Olympians: "Cycling 1908". Accessed 7 April 2006. Available electronically at .