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The Games
As had been the case in the two previous organizations, of 1900 in Paris and 1904 in Saint Louis, the fourth Olympic Games that were held in London had been connected with an international trade event. This time it was the English-French trade fair. Notwithstanding, probably due to the failure of the previous organizations, on the one hand the Games of London were organizationally distinct from the exposition (something which was not the case in Paris). On the other hand there had been a purely sports programme for the Games, without the various "bizarre" contests that had been included in the Games of 1900 and 1904. A modern stadium was constructed, an opening ceremony took place - where the athletes paraded for the first time by nation, behind their country's flag -, medals were awarded to the winners and a closing ceremony took place. All the above gave to the Olympic Games a form resembling that of today's Olympic Games, which started to jell in the following organization, the 1912 Stockholm Games.
In the light of the above, the London Games could be considered as successful. Great Britain was perhaps, at that time, the only European country that fostered sport in a systematic way, as was the case at the other side of the Atlantic. That was preparing the ground for the competition between British and American athletes. However, many steps remained to be taken, so that competition among athletes be on the basis of common rules. Differences in the various disciplines, rules, even in the systems of distance measurement had not been eliminated yet through a universally accepted codification. Certainly the British had moved to this direction, adopting the decimal system of measurement for the Games, but the rules of many sports remained fluid. In addition, in the London Games, often the "participation" of the judges in the shaping of the results was a bit more than decisive.
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