This was the completion of the fabled story. Harrison Dillard failed to qualify in this event at the US Olympic Trials four years earlier, but succeeded in qualifying in a secondary event, the 100 meters, which he then won at the 1948 Olympics. After the long wait, this was his second chance to run the hurdles. American World Record holderDick Attlesey had suffered career ending injuries earlier in the season and was not here. Dillard equalled the Olympic record of 13.9 in the first heat. In the final, Jack Davis popped out of his blocks early in the first attempt to get the race started. In this era, a first false start only merited a warning, not disqualification. On the second start, fearing disqualification, Davis was pinned in his blocks. Dillard was out fast in the center of the track, gaining a full metre lead on Davis and Arthur Barnard by the second barrier. From there, Davis separated from Barnard and was slowly chipping away at Dillard's lead with each flight of hurdles. Barnard was also separating from the rest of the contenders. Davis was not able to catch Dillard, but did make it close, both men getting the same hand time 13.7, both getting credit for a new Olympic record. But new experimental fully automatic timing showed Dillard with a 13.91 and Davis with a 14.00. Barnard finished 4 tenths of a second later, another 4 tenths of a second faster than the rest of the world. This was the sixth time USA has swept the 110 metres hurdles. They would do it again in the next two Olympics for a total of eight.
Results
Heats
The first round was held on July 23. The two fastest runners from each heat qualified to the semifinals. Heat 1
Rank
Name
Nationality
Time
Notes
1
Harrison Dillard
13.9
=OR
2
Sergey Popov
14.8
3
Olivier Bernard
15.1
4
Erdal Barkay
15.2
5
Edmundo Ohaco
15.4
6
Olli Alho
15.4
Heat 2
Rank
Name
Nationality
Time
Notes
1
Yevhen Bulanchyk
14.4
2
Edmond Roudnitska
14.9
3
Estanislao Kocourek
15.0
4
Risto Syrjänen
15.4
5
Juan Lebron
15.4
6
Fouad Yazgi
16.1
Heat 3
Rank
Name
Nationality
Time
Notes
1
Jack Davis
14.0
2
Stanko Lorger
14.8
3
Samuel Anderson
15.1
4
Wolfgang Troßbach
15.1
5
Téofilo Davis
15.7
Heat 4
Rank
Name
Nationality
Time
Notes
1
Ken Doubleday
14.5
2
Jack Parker
14.8
3
Gordon Crosby
14.8
4
Téofilo Colón
15.2
Heat 5
Rank
Name
Nationality
Time
Notes
1
Ray Weinberg
14.4
2
Väinö Suvivuo
14.9
3
Jörn Gevert
15.2
Heat 6
Rank
Name
Nationality
Time
Notes
1
Arthur Barnard
14.4
2
Peter Hildreth
14.7
3
Michitaka Kinami
15.0
4
Ingi Þorsteinsson
15.6
5
Jacques Dohen
15.7
6
Johny Fonck
16.1
Semifinals
The semifinals were held on July 24. The three fastest runners advanced to the final. Heat 1
