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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, 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.
VenueWhite City Stadium
DatesJuly 23 (round 1)
July 24 (semifinals)
July 25 (final)
Competitors25 from 10 nations
Winning time15.0 WR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Forrest Smithson
 United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) John Garrels
 United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Arthur Shaw
 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.

Background

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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

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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

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

World Record 15.0(*) United States Thaddeus Shideler St. Louis (USA) June 11, 1904
Olympic Record 15.4 United States 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

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Date Time Round
Thursday, 23 July 1908 15:30 Round 1
Friday, 24 July 1908 11:30 Semifinals
Saturday, 25 July 1908 11:30 Final

Results

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Round 1

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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

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Healey won by four yards after leading from the start.

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Alfred Healey  Great Britain 15.8 Q
2 Henry Murray  Australasia 16.3
3 Doug Stupart  South Africa Unknown

Heat 2

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Garrels won by seven yards.

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 John Garrels  United States 16.2 Q
2 Arthur Halligan  Great Britain 17.1

Heat 3

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Groenings led by five yards at the finish.

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Oswald Groenings  Great Britain 16.4 Q
2 Georgios Skoutarides  Greece 17.0

Heat 4

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Kiely had no competition in the first round.

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Laurence Kiely  Great Britain WO Q

Heat 5

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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.

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 William Rand  United States 15.8 Q
2 Kenneth Powell  Great Britain 16.2
3 Ted Savage  Canada Unknown

Heat 6

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

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Wallis Walters  Great Britain 17.8 Q
Oscar Lemming  Sweden DNF

Heat 7

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

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 William Knyvett  Great Britain WO Q

Heat 8

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Halbart won without competition.

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Fernand Halbart  Belgium WO Q

Heat 9

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Ahearne was the fourth runner to win without a contest.

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Tim Ahearne  Great Britain WO Q

Heat 10

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Smithson won by ten yards.

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Forrest Smithson  United States 15.8 Q
2 Nándor Kovács  Hungary 17.2

Heat 11

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Blijstad fell, allowing Hussey to win with a jog.

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Eric Hussey  Great Britain 16.8 Q
Wilhelm Blystad  Norway DNF

Heat 12

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Kinahan had an easy win by ten yards.

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Cecil Kinahan  Great Britain 16.8 Q
2 Oscar Guttormsen  Norway 18.2

Heat 13

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

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Leonard Howe  United States 15.8 Q
2 Edward Leader  Great Britain 16.1

Heat 14

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Shaw won without a contest.

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Arthur Shaw  United States WO Q

Semifinals

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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

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

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Arthur Shaw  United States 15.6 Q
2 Eric Hussey  Great Britain 16.5
3 David Walters  Great Britain 16.9
4 Oswald Groenings  Great Britain Unknown

Semifinal 2

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

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Forrest Smithson  United States 15.4 Q, =OR
2 William Knyvett  Great Britain 15.6
3 Leonard Howe  United States 15.8

Semifinal 3

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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.

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 William Rand  United States 15.8 Q
2 Alfred Healey  Great Britain 15.9
3 Laurence Kiely  Great Britain Unknown
4 Tim Ahearne  Great Britain Unknown

Semifinal 4

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

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 John Garrels  United States 15.8 Q
2 Cecil Kinahan  Great Britain 17.5
Fernand Halbert  Belgium DNF

Final

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

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) Forrest Smithson  United States 15.0 WR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) John Garrels  United States 15.7
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Arthur Shaw  United States 15.8
4 William Rand  United States 16.0

References

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  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. ^ a b "110 metres Hurdles, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  4. ^ Official Report, pp. 61–62.

Notes

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  • Cook, Theodore Andrea (1908). The Fourth Olympiad, Being the Official Report. London: British Olympic Association.
  • De Wael, Herman (2001). "Athletics 1908". Herman's Full Olympians. Archived from the original on 27 September 2006. Retrieved 30 July 2006.
  • Wudarski, Pawel (1999). "Wyniki Igrzysk Olimpijskich" (in Polish). Retrieved 30 July 2006.