Athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metres

Men's 100 metres at the Games of the IV Olympiad
Venue	White City Stadium
Dates	July 20 (quarterfinals) July 21 (semifinals) July 22 (final)
Competitors	60 from 16 nations
Medalists
Reggie Walker   South Africa   James Rector   United States   Bobby Kerr   Canada
«1904	1912»

Athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics
Track events
100 m		men
200 m		men
400 m		men
800 m		men
1500 m		men
5 miles		men
110 m hurdles		men
400 m hurdles		men
3200 m steeplechase		men
Medley relay		men
3 mile team race		men
Road events
Marathon	men
3500 m walk	men
10 mile walk	men
Field events
Long jump	men
Triple jump	men
High jump	men
Pole vault	men
Standing long jump	men
Standing high jump	men
Shot put	men
Discus throw	men
Hammer throw	men
Javelin throw	men
Greek discus	men
Freestyle javelin	men

The men's 100 metres was the shortest of the sprint races at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. The competition was held over the course of three days. The first round was held on 20 July, the semifinals on 21 July, and the final on 22 July.

Records
Heats
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17
Semifinals
1				2					3				4
Final
References

Records

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

World Record	10.6(*)	Knut Lindberg	Gothenburg (SWE)	August 26, 1906
Olympic Record	10.8	Frank Jarvis	Paris (FRA)	July 14, 1900
	10.8	Walter Tewksbury	Paris (FRA)	July 14, 1900

(*) unofficial

James Rector in heat 15 and again in semi-final 3 equalized the standing Olympic record as well as Reggie Walker in the semi-final 1 and again in the final. Reggie Walker's actual time in the first semi-final was 10.7, rounded up to the nearest fifth, in accordance with rules in force at the time. So his time was given as 10⁴⁄₅.

Results

Heats

Times were kept for the winning runner in each heat only. They were measured to the closest ¹⁄₅ second. The fastest runner advanced to the second round. The competition began at 3 p.m. on 20 July, the seventh day of the Games. A break was taken after the first nine heats to allow for four heats of the 800 metres to be run at 3:30 p.m., with the final eight heats of the 100 metres commencing at 4 p.m.

Heat 1

Duffy won this heat easily.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	Edward Duffy	South Africa	11.6 seconds
2	Georgios Skoutarides	Greece	Unknown
3	Victor Henny	Netherlands	Unknown

Heat 2

George was ahead of Guttormsen by three yards when he finished.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	John George	Great Britain	11.6 seconds
2	Oscar Guttormsen	Norway	(12.0 seconds)

Heat 3

Cartmell crossed the finish line while ahead of Malfait by two yards.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	Nathaniel Cartmell	United States	11.0 seconds
2	Georges Malfait	France	(11.2 seconds)
3	Arthur Hoffmann	Germany	(11.4 seconds)
4	Evert Koops	Netherlands	Unknown

Heat 4

Walker had about a four yard lead when he finished. Records do not indicate which of the final two runners took which place.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	Reggie Walker	South Africa	11.0 seconds
2	Jean Konings	Belgium	(11.6 seconds)
3	Denis Murray	Great Britain	Unknown
4	Edgar Kiralfy	United States	Unknown
5	Ernestus Greven	Netherlands	Unknown

Heat 5

Cloughen had one of the larger leads of the first round in crossing the finish line.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	Robert Cloughen	United States	11.0 seconds
2	John Johansen	Norway	(11.7 seconds)
3	David Beland	Canada	Unknown
—	Henry Harmer	Great Britain	Did not finish

Heat 6

May won by about three yards.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	William W. May	United States	11.2 seconds
2	Victor Jacquemin	Belgium	(11.5 seconds)
3	L. Lescat	France	Unknown
4	Mikhail Paskalides	Greece	Unknown

Heat 7

In one of the closer heats of the first round, Duncan was only about a yard ahead of Stenborg when he finished.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	Robert C. Duncan	Great Britain	11.4 seconds
2	Knut Stenborg	Sweden	(11.5 seconds)
3	Hans Eicke	Germany	(11.6 seconds)
4	Umberto Barrozzi	Italy	Unknown
5	Ragnar Stenberg	Finland	Unknown

Heat 8

Stevens pulled off the closest first round victory, bare inches ahead of Lindberg.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	Lester Stevens	United States	11.2 seconds
2	Knut Lindberg	Sweden	(11.2 seconds)
3	Heinrich Rehder	Germany	(11.8 seconds)
4	William Murray	Great Britain	Unknown

Heat 9

Morton won by about three yards.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	John W. Morton	Great Britain	11.2 seconds
2	Axel Petersen	Denmark	(11.5 seconds)
3	Jacobus Hoogveld	Netherlands	Unknown

Heat 10

Kerr led by three yards when he crossed the finish line.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	Bobby Kerr	Canada	11.0 seconds
2	M. Chapman	Great Britain	(11.3 seconds)
—	Paul Fischer	Germany	Did not finish

Heat 11

Hamilton won by about three yards.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	William F. Hamilton	United States	11.2 seconds
2	Pál Simon	Hungary	(11.5 seconds)
3	G. Lamotte	France	Unknown
—	Herbert Phillips	South Africa	Did not finish

Heat 12

Huff was only about a yard ahead of Pankhurst when he finished.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	Harold Huff	United States	11.4 seconds
2	Henry Pankhurst	Great Britain	(11.5 seconds)
3	Karl Fryksdal	Sweden	Unknown

Heat 13

Robertson won by about three yards.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	Lawson Robertson	United States	11.4 seconds
2	Frank Lukeman	Canada	(11.7 seconds)
3	Henri Meslot	France	Unknown
4	Eduard Schönecker	Austria	Unknown

Heat 14

Sherman's lead of four yards at the finish was one of the larger leads in the first round.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	Nathaniel Sherman	United States	11.2 seconds
2	Louis Sebert	Canada	(11.7 seconds)
3	Harold Watson	Great Britain	Unknown
4	Frigyes Wiesner	Hungary	Unknown
5	Hermann von Bönninghausen	Germany	(12.0 seconds)

Heat 15

Rector's Olympic record-tying time gave him a relatively easy victory in the first round.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	James Rector	United States	10.8 seconds =OR
2	Vilmos Rácz	Hungary	(11.4 seconds)
3	Willy Kohlmey	Germany	(12.0 seconds)

Heat 16

In one of the slowest of the first round heads, Stark won by about two yards.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	James P. Stark	Great Britain	11.8 seconds
2	Gaspare Torretta	Italy	(12.0 seconds)

Heat 17

Roche won by about two yards.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	Patrick Roche	Great Britain	11.4 seconds
2	Carl Bechler	Germany	(11.4 seconds)

Semifinals

The fastest runner in each semifinal advanced to the final. The semifinals were begun at 3:35 p.m. on 21 July.

Semifinal 1

Walker took the lead after about 50 metres and crossed the line about a yard in front of May to become the second sprinter to tie the Olympic record at the London Games. Reggie Walker's actual time was 10.7, rounded up to the nearest fifth, in accordance with rules in force at the time. So his time was only given as 10⁴⁄₅.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	Reggie Walker	South Africa	10.8 seconds =OR
2	William W. May	United States	(11.0 seconds)
3	Patrick Roche	Great Britain	Unknown
4	Lester Stevens	United States	Unknown
—	Robert Cloughen	United States	Did not start

Semifinal 2

Kerr had little difficulty winning this heat, leading by three yards at the finish.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	Bobby Kerr	Canada	11.0 seconds
2	Nathaniel Sherman	United States	(11.3 seconds)
3	John W. Morton	Great Britain	Unknown
—	William F. Hamilton	United States	Did not start

Semifinal 3

Rector again won easily, tying the Olympic record for the second time.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	James Rector	United States	10.8 seconds =OR
2	Harold Huff	United States	(11.1 seconds)
3	Edward Duffy	South Africa	Unknown
4	Robert C. Duncan	Great Britain	Unknown

Semifinal 4

Cartmell and Robertson ran a tight race, with Cartmell winning by about a foot.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	Nathaniel Cartmell	United States	11.2 seconds
2	Lawson Robertson	United States	(11.2 seconds)
3	James P. Stark	Great Britain	Unknown
4	John George	Great Britain	Unknown

Final

The final race of the 100 metres began at 4:15 p.m. on 22 July. With Walker and Rector having already tied the Olympic record before the final, it was widely expected that the final race of the 100 metres would be an exciting match between those two runners. Walker got off to a quick lead, but Rector caught him about midway through the race and passed him. Walker responded with a great effort, pulling level with Rector. The two ran side-by-side for about six yards before Walker finally pulled ahead to win by a tenth of a second. Kerr and Cartmell also ran a good race, with Kerr just edging out Cartmell for the third place.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	Reggie Walker	South Africa	10.8 seconds =OR
2	James Rector	United States	(10.9 seconds)
3	Bobby Kerr	Canada	(11.0 seconds)
4	Nathaniel Cartmell	United States	(11.0 seconds)

References

• 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. http://users.skynet.be/hermandw/olymp/ath1908.html. Retrieved on 15 July 2006. 
• Wudarski, Pawel (1999). "Wyniki Igrzysk Olimpijskich". http://olympic.w.interia.pl/. Retrieved on 15 July 2006.  (Polish)

v • d • e Olympic Champions in Men's 100 m 1896: Tom Burke • 1900: Frank Jarvis • 1904: Archie Hahn • 1908: Reggie Walker • 1912: Ralph Craig • 1920: Charlie Paddock • 1924: Harold Abrahams • 1928: Percy Williams • 1932: Eddie Tolan • 1936: Jesse Owens • 1948: Harrison Dillard • 1952: Lindy Remigino • 1956: Bobby Joe Morrow • 1960: Armin Hary • 1964: Bob Hayes • 1968: Jim Hines • 1972: Valeri Borzov • 1976: Hasely Crawford • 1980: Allan Wells • 1984: Carl Lewis • 1988: Carl Lewis • 1992: Linford Christie • 1996: Donovan Bailey • 2000: Maurice Greene • 2004: Justin Gatlin • 2008: Usain Bolt