Athletics at the 1920 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metres


The men's 100 metres event was part of the athletics programme at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on August 15 and 16, 1920. The event was won by Charley Paddock of the United States. Great Britain won its first medal in the event, a bronze by Harry Edward.
Sixty sprinters from 22 nations competed, while Estonia's sole athlete in the event, Reinhold Saulmann, was entered but did not start the 100 m. No nation had more than 4 runners, suggesting the limit had been reduced from the 12 maximum in force in 1908 and 1912.

Background

This was the sixth time the event was held, having appeared at every Olympics since the first in 1896. None of the 1912 medalists returned in 1920. Notable entrants included Charley Paddock of the United States, the 1919 Inter-Allied Championship winner and Olympic favorite; fellow American Loren Murchison, who had defeated Paddock in the U.S. Olympic trials; and Harry Edward of Great Britain, the 1920 AAA Championships winner.
Egypt, Luxembourg, Monaco, New Zealand, Spain, and Switzerland were represented in the event for the first time. The new nation of Czechoslovakia also appeared for the first time, though Bohemia had previously competed separately. For the first time, Hungary did not compete —making the United States the only nation to have appeared at each of the first six Olympic men's 100 metres events.

Competition format

The event expanded from three rounds to four rounds: heats, quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final. There were 12 heats, of 4–6 athletes each, with the top 2 in each heat advancing to the quarterfinals. The 24 quarterfinalists were placed into 5 heats of 4 or 5 athletes. Again, the top 2 advanced. There were 2 heats of 5 semifinalists, this time with the top 3 advancing to the 6-man final.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1920 Summer Olympics.
World Record10.6' Donald LippincottStockholm July 6, 1912
Olympic Record10.6 Donald LippincottStockholm July 6, 1912

' This was the only officially ratified world record in 1920, but there have been at least four runs in 10.5 seconds at that time.

Results

Heats

Heat 1

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1William Hill11.0
2Mario Riccoboni11.2
3Marcel Gustin
4Ichiro Kaga
5Paul Hammer
6Jan de Vries

Heat 2

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1René Mourlon11.2
2August Sørensen11.3
3Erik Lindvall
4Ahmed Khairy
5Purma Bannerjee

Heat 3

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Loren Murchison10.8
2Jacobus Bukes10.9
3Albert Heijnneman11.0
4Vojtěch Plzák

Heat 4

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1William Hunt11.0
2Félix Mendizábal11.2
3Francis Irvine
4Bjarne Guldager
5Nils Sandström

Heat 5

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Vittorio Zucca11.4
2Cor Wezepoel11.5
3Leonard Dixon
4August Waibel
5Alex Servais

Heat 6

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Morris Kirksey11.0
2Josef Imbach11.0
3René Lorain
4Johan Johnsen
5Jaime Camps
6Giovanni Orlandi

Heat 7

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Paul Brochart11.4
2René Tirard11.7
3Diego Ordóñez
4Jean Colbach
5Eduard Hašek

Heat 8

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Charley Paddock10.8
2Harry Edward10.9
3Carlos Botín11.2
4Shinichi Yamaoka
5Edmond Médécin

Heat 9

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Émile Ali-Khan11.0
2Victor d'Arcy11.1
3Rolf Stenersen
4Dimitrios Karabatis
5Sven Malm

Heat 10

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Harold Abrahams11.0
2Alexander Ponton11.1
3Giorgio Croci11.2
4Harry van Rappard
–Reinhold Saulmann

Heat 11

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Jack Oosterlaak11.0
2George Davidson11.1
3Agne Holmström
4Fritiof Andersen
5Jean Lefèvre

Heat 12

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Jackson Scholz10.8
2Marinus Sørensen11.2
3Cyril Coaffee
4Julien Lehouck
5Asle Bækkedal

Quarterfinals

Quarterfinal 1

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Harry Edward10.8
2Loren Murchison10.9
3René Mourlon11.0
4William Hunt11.2
5Mario Riccobono

Quarterfinal 2

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1William Hill11.0
2Félix Mendizábal
3Willie Bukes
4August Sørensen
5Vittorio Zucca

Quarterfinal 3

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Charley Paddock10.8
2Émile Ali-Khan10.9
3George Davidson
4Harold Abrahams
5Cor Wezepoel

Quarterfinal 4

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Jackson Scholz10.8
2Jack Oosterlaak11.0
3Josef Imbach11.1
4René Tirard11.2
5Alexander Ponton11.4

Quarterfinal 5

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Morris Kirksey10.8
2Paul Brochart
3Victor d'Arcy
4Marinus Sørensen

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Harry Edward10.8
2Jackson Scholz10.9
3Morris Kirksey11.0
4Jack Oosterlaak
5Félix Mendizábal

Semifinal 2

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Charley Paddock10.8
2Émile Ali-Khan10.8
3Loren Murchison11.0
4Paul Brochart
5William Hill

Final

Murchison was affected badly by the start. The starter had told Paddock to adjust his position, causing Murchison to stand, thinking the full start sequence would be repeated. When it was not, Murchison was effectively eliminated as he was unprepared to run and could not catch the group.
Scholz was in the lead at the halfway mark before falling back to the back of the group. Paddock won by half a metre over Kirksey, with Edward a "chest behind" the silver medalist. The finish between Scholz and Ali-Khan for 4th and 5th places was close enough that the judges originally ruled Ali-Khan 4th before determining that Scholz was 4th.
RankAthleteNationTime
Charley Paddock10.8
Morris Kirksey10.8
Harry Edward11.0
4Jackson Scholz11.0
5Émile Ali-Khan11.1
6Loren Murchison11.2