Tug of war at the 1908 Summer Olympics

At the 1908 Summer Olympics, a tug of war tournament was contested. Each team consisted of 8 athletes. Nations could enter up to 3 teams. The host Great Britain was the only one to enter more than one (entering the maximum of 3 teams). Germany, Greece, Sweden, and the United States each entered one team apiece, though Germany and Greece withdrew. This left 5 teams (40 athletes) from 3 nations to compete.

City of London Police

 * Edward Barrett
 * Frederick Goodfellow
 * Frederick Humphreys
 * William Hirons
 * Albert Ireton
 * Frederick Merriman
 * Edwin Mills
 * John James Shepherd

Liverpool Police

 * Charles Foden (captain)
 * James Clarke
 * Thomas Butler
 * William Greggan
 * Alexander Kidd
 * Daniel McDonald Lowey
 * Patrick Philbin
 * George Smith
 * Thomas Swindlehurst

Metropolitan Police "K" Division

 * Walter Chaffe
 * Joseph Dowler
 * Ernest Ebbage
 * Thomas Homewood
 * Alexander Munro
 * William Slade
 * Walter Tammas
 * James Woodget

Sweden

 * Albrekt Almqwist
 * Frans Fast
 * Carl-Emil Johansson
 * Emil Johansson
 * Knut Johansson
 * Karl Krook
 * Karl-Gustaf Nilsson
 * Anders Wollgarth

United States

 * Wilbur Burroughs
 * Wesley Coe
 * Arthur Dearborn
 * John Flanagan
 * Bill Horr
 * Matt McGrath
 * Ralph Rose
 * Lee Talbott

Quarterfinals
The German and Greek teams withdrew, narrowing the seven-team field to five. Thus, the Swedish team and two of the British squads had byes in the quarterfinals. The only match held was between the Liverpool team and the Americans. Liverpool won the first pull easily, after which the United States delegation protested against the footwear worn by the Liverpool police, who competed in their service boots. The protest was dismissed, and the Americans withdrew in disgust.

Semifinals
Liverpool again faced a foreign opponent, and again prevailed. The two London services squared off in the other semifinal, with the City police beating the Metropolitan men in a lengthy first pull. The second pull was not as tight a contest.

Final
The Londoners defeated Liverpool in the final, winning the first two pulls.

Bronze medal match
The Swedish team did not appear for the bronze medal match.