White City Stadium

White City Stadium once stood in Hammersmith, London, on part of the site where the Franco-British Exhibition had been held. Built in ten months for the 1908 Summer Olympics, it seated 68,000 and opened with a royal ceremony. The stadium included a 24-foot running track, a 100-metre swimming pool in the infield, and a 660-yard cycle track outside. Events like athletics, swimming, and archery took place there during the Games. After the Olympics, the stadium hosted many other sports and entertainments over the decades. The stadium became famous for greyhound racing, which began in 1927 and continued until 1984. It held the English Greyhound Derby every year and drew crowds as large as 92,000 for the 1939 final. Speedway arrived in 1928, with the stadium hosting league and international meetings. Major boxing events also drew huge audiences, including a fight in 1934 that saw 90,000 spectators. In 1966, it even hosted a World Cup match when Wembley was unavailable. The stadium’s running track hosted world record-breaking performances in athletics. Today the site is occupied by White City Place, but a marker in the plaza recalls the marathon finish line from the 1908 Olympics. The distance of the modern marathon was fixed at those Games, measured from Windsor Castle to a point in front of the royal box. A nearby wall lists the 1908 medal table. Though the stadium itself is gone, the area still reflects its sporting past.