Willie Grenfell, Lord Desborough (1855-1945)

With London 2012 about to take place, it is worth reflecting on the contributions to the Olympic movement of British fencers without whom the two previous London Games might never have taken place. 

Willie Grenfell, Lord Desborough (1855-1945)

The first London Olympics were held in 1908, but without the organisational talents of William Henry Grenfell, Baron Desborough of Taplow Court, it is unlikely that they would have happened. Once described as “probably the best all-round sportsman in the world”, Willie Grenfell was a man of great natural authority and practical good sense. As a schoolboy at Harrow, he ran the mile in a time that was not beaten for 60 years. At Oxford he was president of both the athletic and rowing clubs. During the holidays, he climbed the Alps, reaching the Matterhorn peak three times by different routes.  

After graduation, he worked as a war correspondent in the Sudan and once, armed only with an umbrella, outran a horde of tribal warriors. In 1884 he swam across the pool at the based of Niagara Falls, repeating the feat four years later in a snowstorm to prove to a sceptic that it was possible. On the Thames he was punting champion for three successive years and once sailed from Oxford to Putney, 105 miles, in 22 hours.  

A popular mayor of Maidenhead for two years, Grenfell was keenly interested in the revival of the Olympic Games and when the British Olympic Association was founded in 1905, he was elected chairman. Shortly afterwards he was elevated to the peerage for services to sport and local government. The following year, at the age of 50, Lord Desborough was a member of the English epee team that went to Athens to compete in the Interim Olympics – intended to be the first of a new series of Games to be held every four years in Athens halfway through the normal Olympiad, but held only once because of the cost. 

He also attended as the official representative of the British government and led the British competitors in procession around the stadium. Rome had been awarded the 1908 Games, but a devastating eruption of Mount Vesuvius in the spring of 1906 destroyed much of Naples and meant that Italy had to devote all its resources to reconstruction. In Athens Britain was offered the privilege of hosting the Games and Lord Desborough, after talking to Edward VII who was in attendance, accepted on behalf of the country. He then fenced in the team event, beating all the Germans in the semi-final. The final saw England and France tied on victories, causing the match to be refought, when France narrowly won 9-6.  

On his return from Athens, Lord Desborough began to create the network that would organise the 1908 Games. He persuaded the designer of the Franco-British exhibition, which was due to be held in 1907, to postpone it for a year and to build a stadium  in which the track and field events, cycling, swimming, water polo, gymnastics, wrestling, archery and fencing would take place; it was capable of holding 150,000 spectators.

Rules had to be agreed for over 20 sports and participating nations. For the first time at the modern Olympics, competitors had to be proposed by their national governing body and participated as members of national teams. Despite bad weather, lack of publicity, disputes and the high drama of the marathon in which the Italian runner, Dorando Pietri, was helped over the line by officials and then disqualified, the 1908 Games were a huge success and even made a profit. Through sheer force of personality and prestige, Lord Desborough turned the Olympic Games into the world’s premier sporting event.

In succeeding years, he continued to dedicate himself to sport and public service, at one time serving on 115 committees simultaneously. President of the Amateur Fencing Association from 1911 to 1926, he continued fencing well into his 70s.

[With thanks to Angela Bolger of SGI-UK]

Malcolm Fare (2012)