Singles, Men
| Date | 28 – 29 October 1908 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Prince's Skating Club, Montpelier Square, Knightsbridge | |
| Participants | 9 from 5 countries | |
| Format | Each judge ranked each skater by Ordinal Placement from first through last place. The Ordinal Placement for each judge was based on Total Points awarded by that judge to the skaters. The points were based on 60% for Compulsory Figures and 40% for Free Skating. Final placement was determined by a Majority Placement rule. Thus, if a skater was ranked first by a majority of the judges, that skater was placed first overall, and the process was repeated for each place. If no absolute majority for a place existed, the tiebreakers were, in order: 1) Total Ordinals, 2) Total Points, 3) Compulsory Figure Points. | |
| Judge #1 | Henning Grenander |  GBR |
| Judge #2 | Edvard Hörle |  SWE |
| Judge #3 | Gustav Hügel |  SUI |
| Judge #4 | George Sanders |  RUS |
| Judge #5 | Hermann Wendt |  GER |
Ulrich Salchow opened a large lead in the school figures. Although his countryman, Richard Johansson, defeated him in the free skating, it was not by a sufficient margin to prevent Salchow from winning the gold medal. Nikolay Panin was second after the compulsory figures, but withdrew before the free skating. Various reasons are given for the withdrawal, with two main possibilities: 1) he was upset at the judging which gave Salchow the lead, and 2) he became ill and was unable to continue.
Salchow was the dominant figure skater of the era. He was World Champion in 1901-1905, and 1907-1911. He did not compete in 1906, the only year of the decade in which he failed to win the title. In his career, Salchow also won nine European championships - 1898-1900, 1904, 1906-1907, 1909-1910, and 1913. He retired after 1913 but returned for the 1920 Olympics, finishing fourth, before retiring for good. He is today remembered by the popular figure skating jump termed the Salchow, in which the skater takes off from the back inside edge of one foot and lands backwards on the outside edge of the opposite foot. He also served as President of the International Skating Union from 1925-1937.
| Pos | Skater | NOC | Maj. Placements | Ordinals | Points | Judge #1 | Judge #2 | Judge #3 | Judge #4 | Judge #5 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ulrich Salchow | SWE | 3×1+ | 7.0 | 1,886.5 | 357.0 (1) | 400.0 (1) | 393.0 (2) | 351.0 (2) | 385.5 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | Richard Johansson | SWE | 3×2+ | 10.0 | 1,826.0 | 336.0 (2) | 396.5 (2) | 381.0 (3) | 353.5 (1) | 359.0 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | Per Thorén | SWE | 4×3+ | 14.0 | 1,787.0 | 318.0 (4) | 387.5 (3) | 397.0 (1) | 341.0 (3) | 343.5 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | Keiller Greig | GBR | 5×4+ | 19.0 | 1,554.5 | 330.0 (3) | 327.5 (4) | 273.0 (4) | 313.0 (4) | 311.0 (4) | |||
| 5 | Alfred March | GBR | 4×6+ | 29.0 | 1,160.0 | 224.0 (5) | 257.5 (5) | 208.5 (7) | 228.0 (6) | 242.0 (6) | |||
| 6 | Irving Brokaw |  USA | 3×6+ | 30.0 | 1,201.0 | 207.0 (6) | 246.5 (7) | 240.0 (5) | 266.0 (5) | 241.5 (7) | |||
| 7 | Horatio Torromé |  ARG | 3×6+ | 31.0 | 1,144.5 | 197.5 (7) | 247.0 (6) | 231.0 (6) | 220.5 (7) | 248.5 (5) | |||
| Henry Yglesias | GBR | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| Nikolay Panin | RUS | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| Heinrich Burger | GER | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| Einar de Flon | SWE | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Compulsory Figures (28 October 1908 — 15:00)
| Judge #1 | Henning Grenander | GBR |
|---|---|---|
| Judge #2 | Edvard Hörle | SWE |
| Judge #3 | Gustav Hügel | SUI |
| Judge #4 | George Sanders | RUS |
| Judge #5 | Hermann Wendt | GER |
| Pos | Ord | Skater | NOC | Maj. Placements | Ordinals | Judge #1 | Judge #2 | Judge #3 | Judge #4 | Judge #5 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Ulrich Salchow | SWE | 3×1+ | 7.0 | 1,172.5 | 224.0 (1) | 253.0 (1) | 246.0 (1) | 218.0 (2) | 231.5 (2) | ||
| 2 | – | Nikolay Panin | RUS | 3×2+ | 12.0 | 1,147.5 | 215.0 (2) | 232.5 (4) | 232.0 (4) | 235.0 (1) | 233.0 (1) | ||
| 3 | – | Per Thorén | SWE | 3×3+ | 15.0 | 1,094.0 | 192.0 (4) | 247.5 (2) | 243.0 (2) | 194.0 (4) | 217.5 (3) | ||
| 4 | – | Richard Johansson | SWE | 4×3+ | 16.0 | 1,070.0 | 196.0 (3) | 235.5 (3) | 234.0 (3) | 199.5 (3) | 205.0 (4) | ||
| 5 | – | Keiller Greig | GBR | 5×5+ | 25.0 | 938.5 | 190.0 (5) | 201.5 (5) | 175.0 (5) | 173.0 (5) | 199.0 (5) | ||
| 6 | – | Alfred March | GBR | 3×6+ | 33.0 | 761.0 | 140.0 (6) | 166.5 (6) | 145.5 (8) | 137.0 (7) | 172.0 (6) | ||
| 7 | – | Horatio Torromé | ARG | 3×7+ | 39.0 | 703.5 | 127.5 (7) | 149.0 (7) | 140.0 (9) | 122.5 (9) | 164.5 (7) | ||
| 8 | – | Irving Brokaw | USA | 4×8+ | 38.0 | 718.0 | 123.0 (8) | 148.5 (=8) | 149.0 (=6) | 140.0 (6) | 157.5 (9) | ||
| 9 | – | Henry Yglesias | GBR | 3×8+ | 40.0 | 703.5 | 107.0 (9) | 148.5 (=8) | 149.0 (=6) | 135.5 (8) | 163.5 (8) |
Free Skating (29 October 1908 — 15:00)
| Judge #1 | Henning Grenander | GBR |
|---|---|---|
| Judge #2 | Edvard Hörle | SWE |
| Judge #3 | Gustav Hügel | SUI |
| Judge #4 | George Sanders | RUS |
| Judge #5 | Hermann Wendt | GER |
| Pos | Ord | Skater | NOC | Maj. Placements | Ordinals | Judge #1 | Judge #2 | Judge #3 | Judge #4 | Judge #5 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Richard Johansson | SWE | 4×2+ | 7.5 | 756.0 | 140.0 (=1) | 161.0 (1) | 147.0 (=2) | 154.0 (1) | 154.0 (=1) | 1 | |
| 2 | – | Ulrich Salchow | SWE | 3×2+ | 13.0 | 714.0 | 133.0 (3) | 147.0 (2) | 147.0 (=2) | 133.0 (4) | 154.0 (=1) | ||
| 3 | – | Per Thorén | SWE | 4×3+ | 13.0 | 693.0 | 126.0 (4) | 140.0 (3) | 154.0 (1) | 147.0 (2) | 126.0 (3) | ||
| 4 | – | Keiller Greig | GBR | 5×4+ | 16.5 | 616.0 | 140.0 (=1) | 126.0 (4) | 98.0 (4) | 140.0 (3) | 112.0 (4) | 2 | |
| 5 | – | Irving Brokaw | USA | 5×6+ | 27.0 | 483.0 | 84.0 (=5) | 98.0 (=5) | 91.0 (=5) | 126.0 (5) | 84.0 (=5) | ||
| 6 | – | Horatio Torromé | ARG | 4×6+ | 29.5 | 441.0 | 70.0 (7) | 98.0 (=5) | 91.0 (=5) | 98.0 (6) | 84.0 (=5) | ||
| 7 | – | Alfred March | GBR | 5×7+ | 33.5 | 399.0 | 84.0 (=5) | 91.0 (7) | 63.0 (7) | 91.0 (7) | 70.0 (7) |