Athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's 110 metres hurdles

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Men's 110 metres hurdles
at the Games of the IV Olympiad
Forrest Smithson 1908-2012-22-07.jpg
Forrest Smithson, winner of the 110 m hurdles at the 1908 Summer Olympics. This picture showing a jump with a bible in his hand was taken after the race.
Venue White City Stadium
DatesJuly 23 (round 1)
July 24 (semifinals)
July 25 (final)
Competitors25 from 10 nations
Winning time15.0 WR
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Forrest Smithson
US flag 45 stars.svg  United States
Silver medal icon.svg John Garrels
US flag 45 stars.svg  United States
Bronze medal icon.svg Arthur Shaw
US flag 45 stars.svg  United States
  1904
1912  

The men's 110 metres hurdles was the shorter of two hurdling events at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. It was dominated by the American runners. The competition was held from Thursday, July 23, 1908, to Saturday, July 25, 1908. 25 hurdlers from ten nations competed. [1] NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes. [2] The event was won by Forrest Smithson of the United States, the fourth of five consecutive victories for the nation in the first five Olympic Games. It was also the third of four consecutive podium sweeps for the Americans in the event.

Contents

Background

This was the fourth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. None of the hurdlers from 1904 returned. The Americans were favored, but it was difficult to determine which one. Forrest Smithson was the winner of the 1907 AAU title and Western Olympic trials; Arthur Shaw was the 1908 AAU and IC4A champion; John Garrels was the 1907 IC4A champion and Central Olympic trials winner; and Leonard Howe had won the Eastern Olympic trials. [3]

Belgium, Canada, Norway, South Africa, and Sweden each made their first appearance in the event, as did the combined Australia/New Zealand team "Australasia" (though Australia had competed in 1904). The United States made its fourth appearance, the only nation to have competed in the 110 metres hurdles in each Games to that point.

Competition format

There were three rounds for the first time. The first round consisted of 14 heats, many of which had only one hurdler and none of which had more than three. The top hurdler in each heat advanced to the semifinals. The 14 semifinalists were divided into four semifinals of 3 or 4 runners each; again, only the top hurdler advanced to the 4-man final. [3] [4]

Ten sets of hurdles were set on the course. The hurdles were 3 feet 6 inches (1.07 m) tall and were placed ten yards (9.1 m) apart beginning fifteen yards (14 m) from the starting line.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1908 Summer Olympics.

World Record15.0(*) Flag of the United States.svg Thaddeus Shideler St. Louis (USA)June 11, 1904
Olympic Record15.4 Flag of the United States.svg Alvin Kraenzlein Paris (FRA)July 14, 1900

(*) unofficial 120 yards (= 109.73 m)

Forrest Smithson equalled the Olympic record when he ran 15.4 seconds in his semifinal. In the final he set the first official world record (ratified by the IAAF in 1912) in this event with 15.0 seconds.

Schedule

DateTimeRound
Thursday, 23 July 190815:30Round 1
Friday, 24 July 190811:30Semifinals
Saturday, 25 July 190811:30Final

Results

Round 1

The first round heats were held on July 23, 1908, making the short hurdles one of the last events to begin. The Americans won every race in which they competed. The British team also had a strong showing, winning any time that there was no American in the race.

Heat 1

Healey won by four yards after leading from the start.

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Alfred Healey Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 15.8Q
2 Henry Murray Flag of Australasian team for Olympic games.svg  Australasia 16.3
3 Doug Stupart Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  South Africa Unknown

Heat 2

Garrels won by seven yards.

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 John Garrels US flag 45 stars.svg  United States 16.2Q
2 Arthur Halligan Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 17.1

Heat 3

Groenings led by five yards at the finish.

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Oswald Groenings Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 16.4Q
2 Georgios Skoutarides Flag of Greece (1828-1978).svg  Greece 17.0

Heat 4

Kiely had no competition in the first round.

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Laurence Kiely Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain WOQ

Heat 5

Rand and Powell were even for most of the race. Powell hit the ninth hurdle, slowing him just enough for Rand to take the lead and win.

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 William Rand US flag 45 stars.svg  United States 15.8Q
2 Kenneth Powell Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 16.2
3 Ted Savage Canadian Red Ensign (1868-1921).svg  Canada Unknown

Heat 6

Lemming fell during the race, allowing Walters to win while easing up.

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Wallis Walters Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 17.8Q
Oscar Lemming Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden DNF

Heat 7

The seventh heat was another in which there was no competition.

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 William Knyvett Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain WOQ

Heat 8

Halbart won without competition.

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Fernand Halbart Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium WOQ

Heat 9

Ahearne was the fourth runner to win without a contest.

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Tim Ahearne Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain WOQ

Heat 10

Smithson won by ten yards.

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Forrest Smithson US flag 45 stars.svg  United States 15.8Q
2 Nándor Kovács Flag of Hungary (1867-1918).svg  Hungary 17.2

Heat 11

Blijstad fell, allowing Hussey to win with a jog.

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Eric Hussey Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 16.8Q
Wilhelm Blystad Flag of Norway.svg  Norway DNF

Heat 12

Kinahan had an easy win by ten yards.

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Cecil Kinahan Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 16.8Q
2 Oscar Guttormsen Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 18.2

Heat 13

Howe and Leader were even over the hurdles, but Howe edged out Leader in the straight.

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Leonard Howe US flag 45 stars.svg  United States 15.8Q
2 Edward Leader Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 16.1

Heat 14

Shaw won without a contest.

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Arthur Shaw US flag 45 stars.svg  United States WOQ

Semifinals

The semifinal round was held on July 24, 1908. Each of the four heats of the second round were won by American runners.

Semifinal 1

Shaw took the lead at the first set of hurdles, finishing about five metres ahead of Hussey.

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Arthur Shaw US flag 45 stars.svg  United States 15.6Q
2 Eric Hussey Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 16.5
3 David Walters Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 16.9
4 Oswald Groenings Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain Unknown

Semifinal 2

Smithson had no trouble winning this heat, tying the Olympic record as he did so.

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Forrest Smithson US flag 45 stars.svg  United States 15.4Q, =OR
2 William Knyvett Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 15.6
3 Leonard Howe US flag 45 stars.svg  United States 15.8

Semifinal 3

Healey led for most of the race, with Rand close behind, but Healey was unable to clear the ninth hurdle cleanly, allowing Rand to pass him and win by a foot.

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 William Rand US flag 45 stars.svg  United States 15.8Q
2 Alfred Healey Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 15.9
3 Laurence Kiely Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain Unknown
4 Tim Ahearne Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain Unknown

Semifinal 4

Halbert pulled up lame, and Garrels won by 15 yards.

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 John Garrels US flag 45 stars.svg  United States 15.8Q
2 Cecil Kinahan Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 17.5
Fernand Halbert Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium DNF

Final

Smithson pulled away from his countrymen at every set of hurdles to win by five meters and set a new world record.

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
Gold medal icon.svg Forrest Smithson US flag 45 stars.svg  United States 15.0 WR
Silver medal icon.svg John Garrels US flag 45 stars.svg  United States 15.7
Bronze medal icon.svg Arthur Shaw US flag 45 stars.svg  United States 15.8
4 William Rand US flag 45 stars.svg  United States 16.0

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References

  1. "Athletics at the 1908 London Summer Games: Men's 110 metres Hurdles". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  2. Official report, p. 32.
  3. 1 2 "110 metres Hurdles, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  4. Official Report, pp. 61–62.

Notes