The men's 100 metres was a track and field athletics event held as part of the Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fifth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The competition was held on 6 July 1912 and on 7 July 1912. Seventy runners from 22 nations competed.[1] NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes.[2] The event was won by Ralph Craig of the United States, as the Americans swept the medals for a second time (previously having done so in 1904).
Chile (disputed, as Luis Subercaseaux may have run in 1896), Iceland, Japan, Portugal, Russia, and Serbia were represented in the event for the first time. "Australasia" also appeared for the first time, though Australia had previously competed. The United States and Hungary were the only two nations to have appeared at each of the first five Olympic men's 100 metres events.
Competition format
The event maintained the three round format from 1908: heats, semifinals, and a final. This time, however, the top two runners in each of the 17 heats advanced to the semifinals.
These 34 semifinalists (actually 33, as the first heat had only one runner compete) were divided into six semifinal heats, with only the winner in each semifinal advancing to the final.
Records
These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1912 Summer Olympics.
(**) Actual time was 10.7, rounded up to the nearest fifth in accordance with rules in force at the time: this time was thus given as 104⁄5.
The Olympic record for the 100 metres coming into 1912 was 10.8 seconds. It was matched by David Jacobs of Great Britain in the 10th heat before being broken by AmericanDonald Lippincott with 10.6 seconds in the 16th heat. This was also the inaugural official world record in the 100 metres. Three semifinalists (including Lippincott) ran the race in 10.7 seconds, but the new record of 10.6 seconds stood for the rest of the event.
With both runners assured of advancement to the semifinals, they "ran the course very quietly" with Rice "breaking the tape easily ahead of" Smedmark.[5]
Patching had a false start. The top three men were close, with Patching leading at 85 metres but Howard taking the lead at the end by "the least bit."[6]
There were two false starts in this heat before, on the third try, Lippincott set a new Olympic record and the first official world record. He "led from start to finish, and gave the impression that he would be an easy winner, but Applegarth came on very quickly in the last 20 metres, and Lippincott had to do his very best in order to keep the lead."[8]
Patching had another false start in this round. Lindberg fell behind early, dropping to fourth place at the halfway mark, but challenged Patching with a "hard spurt" at the end. The distance between the two was too much for him to make up, however.[8]
In an event marred by false starts, this semifinal heat was decided by a legal start that one runner thought false. Smedmark was off first, but came to a stop thinking he had false started. The remaining runners saw a "hard struggle between Meyer and Jacobs" with Meyer "strongest in the last 10 metres" to win.[9]
The final was held on Sunday, July 7, 1912. Drew was forced to scratch from the final after he pulled a tendon at the end of the first semi-final.
The final featured eight false starts, one of which saw Craig and Lippincott fail to hear the recall gun and run to the finish line. On the ninth attempt, Patching had the strongest start and led at 40 metres by half a metre.
Craig caught Patching at 60 metres. At the 75-metre mark, Craig was "a hand's-breadth" ahead of Patching and Meyer, with Lippincott and Belote another half-metre back. At the end, "Craig ran brilliantly and with enormous power." Meyer separated from Patching, who stayed in the third spot until "the last few strides" before being passed "almost on the very line" by Lippincott.[4][11]
Bergvall, Erik, ed. (1913). The Official Report of the Olympic Games of Stockholm 1912. Translated by Adams-Ray, Edward. Stockholm: Wahlström & Widstrand.
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