Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's 110 metres hurdles

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Men's 110 metres hurdles
at the Games of the XX Olympiad
1972 stamp of Umm al-Quwain Rod Milburn.jpg
Umm al-Quwain stamp commemorating Milburn's gold medal
Venue Olympic Stadium, Munich, West Germany
Dates3–7 September 1972
Competitors39 from 27 nations
Winning time13.24 WR
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Rod Milburn
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Silver medal icon.svg Guy Drut
Flag of France.svg  France
Bronze medal icon.svg Tom Hill
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
  1968
1976  

The men's 110 metres hurdles event at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich was held from 3–7 September. [1] Thirty-nine athletes from 27 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Rod Milburn of the United States, the nation's ninth of nine consecutive victories and the 15th overall gold medal in the event for the Americans. Guy Drut's silver was France's first medal in the event and the best result by a non-American since 1936.

Background

This was the 17th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Two finalists from 1968 returned: gold medalist Willie Davenport of the United States and sixth-place finisher Bo Forssander of Sweden. Davenport's countryman Rod Milburn was the "heavy favorite" entering the season, however. He had won 27 consecutive finals and set the world record in the 120 yards version of the race going into the U.S. Olympic trials, where he hit two early hurdles and nearly missed the team, coming in third to Tom Hill and Davenport. [2]

The Bahamas and Senegal each made their first appearance in the event; East Germany made its first appearance as a separate nation. The United States made its 17th appearance, the only nation to have competed in the 110 metres hurdles in each Games to that point.

Competition format

The competition continued to use the three-round format used since 1908 (except 1960, which had four rounds) and eight-man semifinals and finals, as well as the "fastest loser" system, used since 1964. The first round consisted of five heats, with 7 or 8 hurdlers each. The top three hurdlers in each heat, along with the next fastest overall, advanced to the semifinals. The 16 semifinalists were divided into two semifinals of 8 hurdlers each; the top four hurdlers in each advanced to the 8-man final. [2] [3]

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1972 Summer Olympics.

World recordFlag of Germany.svg  Martin Lauer  (FRG)13.2 Zürich, Switzerland 7 July 1959
Olympic recordFlag of the United States.svg  Ervin Hall  (USA)13.3 Mexico City, Mexico 17 October 1968

In the final, Rod Milburn ran the hurdles in 13.24 seconds. This was recognized as equivalent to the standing hand-timed world record of 13.2 seconds, and was a new Olympic record. When the IAAF moved to keeping records based on auto-timed results in 1977, Milburn's performance was the best to that date and was recognized as the world record.

Schedule

All times are Central European Time (UTC+1)

All three rounds were on separate days for the first time.

DateTimeRound
Sunday, 3 September 197210:00Round 1
Monday, 4 September 197215:00Semifinals
Thursday, 7 September 197215:00Final

Results

Round 1

The top three runners in each of the five heats, and the next fastest, advanced to the semifinal round.

Heat 1

RankLaneAthleteNationTimeNotes
13 Frank Siebeck Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 13.83Q
27 Willie Davenport Flag of the United States.svg  United States 13.97Q
34 Leszek Wodzyński Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland 14.03Q
45 Eckart Berkes Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 14.14
58 Adeola Aboyade-Cole Flag of Nigeria.svg  Nigeria 14.16
61 Arnaldo Bristol Flag of Puerto Rico (1952-1995).svg  Puerto Rico 14.61
76 Ahmed Ishtiaq Mubarak Flag of Malaysia.svg  Malaysia 14.78
82 Muhammad Ahmed Bashir Flag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan 15.38
Wind: +0.2 m/s

Heat 2

RankLaneAthleteNationTimeNotes
14 Tom Hill Flag of the United States.svg  United States 13.62Q
25 Berwyn Price Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 13.94Q
31 Günther Nickel Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 13.95Q
42 Mirosław Wodzyński Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland 14.02q
57 Viktor Myasnikov Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 14.13
68 Bo Forssander Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 14.56
73 Alberto Matos Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal 14.74
86 Lee Chung-Ping Flag of the Republic of China.svg  Republic of China 14.98
Wind: -1.6 m/s

Heat 3

RankLaneAthleteNationTimeNotes
14 Rod Milburn Flag of the United States.svg  United States 13.57Q
23 Lubomír Nádeníček Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia 13.93Q
38 Rich McDonald Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 14.36Q
47 Danny Smith Flag of the Bahamas (1964-1973).svg  Bahamas 14.46
51 Jesper Tørring Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 14.50
65 Mal Baird Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 14.55
72 Simbara Maki Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg  Ivory Coast 14.59
6 Giuseppe Buttari Flag of Italy.svg  Italy DSQ
Wind: -0.7 m/s

Heat 4

RankLaneAthleteNationTimeNotes
15 Marco Acerbi Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 13.99Q
26 Marek Jóźwik Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland 14.06Q
33 Alan Pascoe Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 14.08Q
41 Abdoulaye Sarr Flag of Senegal.svg  Senegal 14.12
54 Manfred Schumann Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 14.13
68 Beat Pfister Civil Ensign of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland 14.33
77Moreldin Mohamed HamdiFlag of Sudan.svg  Sudan 15.80
2 Alejandro Casañas Flag of Cuba (3-2).svg  Cuba DNF
Wind: +0.4 m/s

Heat 5

RankLaneAthleteNationTimeNotes
15 Guy Drut Flag of France.svg  France 13.78Q
27 Sergio Liani Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 13.95Q
34 Petr Čech Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia 14.04Q
42 Godfrey Murray Flag of Jamaica.svg  Jamaica 14.16
56 Loránd Milassin Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 14.21
61 David Wilson Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 14.31
73 Tony Nelson Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 14.73
Wind: +0.7 m/s

Semifinals

The top four in each of the two heats advanced to the final.

Semifinal 1

RankLaneAthleteNationTimeNotes
17 Tom Hill Flag of the United States.svg  United States 13.47Q
25 Guy Drut Flag of France.svg  France 13.49Q
36 Leszek Wodzyński Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland 13.81Q
48 Petr Čech Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia 13.82Q
54 Sergio Liani Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 13.90
63 Rich McDonald Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 14.22
72 Berwyn Price Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 14.37
81 Mirosław Wodzyński Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland 14.63
Wind: +1.2 m/s

Semifinal 2

RankLaneAthleteNationTimeNotes
15 Rod Milburn Flag of the United States.svg  United States 13.44Q
28 Frank Siebeck Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 13.58Q
37 Willie Davenport Flag of the United States.svg  United States 13.73Q
41 Lubomír Nádeníček Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia 13.89Q
56 Marek Jóźwik Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland 14.06
63 Günther Nickel Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 14.23
72 Alan Pascoe Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 14.24
84 Marco Acerbi Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 14.45
Wind: +0.0 m/s

Final

RankLaneAthleteNationTimeNotes
Gold medal icon.svg5 Rod Milburn Flag of the United States.svg  United States 13.24 WR , [4] OR
Silver medal icon.svg8 Guy Drut Flag of France.svg  France 13.34
Bronze medal icon.svg7 Tom Hill Flag of the United States.svg  United States 13.48
41 Willie Davenport Flag of the United States.svg  United States 13.50
56 Frank Siebeck Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 13.71
63 Leszek Wodzyński Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland 13.72
72 Lubomír Nádeníček Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia 13.76
84 Petr Čech Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia 13.86
Wind: +0.3 m/s

References

  1. "Athletics at the 1972 Munich Summer Games: Men's 110 metres Hurdles". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  2. 1 2 "110 metres Hurdles, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  3. Official Report, vol. 3, pp. 53–54.
  4. Milburn's auto-time result of 13.24 seconds was recognized at the time as equivalent to the hand-timed world record of 13.2 seconds; it was also the best auto-timed result and the inaugural world record for auto-timed results when the IAAF switched from hand-timed records to auto-timed records in 1977.