Athletics at the 1936 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metres

Men's 100 metres
at the Games of the XI Olympiad
VenueOlympiastadion
Berlin, Germany
Dates2 August 1936 (heats, quarterfinals)
3 August 1936 (semifinals, final)
Competitors63 from 30 nations
Winning time10.3
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Jesse Owens  United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Ralph Metcalfe  United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Tinus Osendarp  Netherlands
← 1932
1948 →

The men's 100 metres sprint event at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany, were held at Olympiastadion on 2 and 3 August. The final was won by 0.1 seconds by American Jesse Owens, and teammate Ralph Metcalfe repeated as silver medalist.[1] Tinus Osendarp of the Netherlands won that nation's first medal in the men's 100 metres, a bronze.

Background

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This was the tenth time the event was held, having appeared at every Olympics since the first in 1896. Two finalists from 1932 returned: silver medalist Ralph Metcalfe and 6th-place finisher Takayoshi Yoshioka. The favorite, however, was Jesse Owens, particularly with compatriot Eulace Peacock injured and unable to make the team (Owens had come in third to Peacock and Metcalfe at the 1935 AAU meet).[2]

Afghanistan, Colombia, Liechtenstein, Malta, Peru, and Yugoslavia were represented in the event for the first time. The United States was the only nation to have appeared at each of the first ten Olympic men's 100 metres events.

Competition format

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The event retained the four round format from 1920–1932: 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 4 heats of 6 athletes. The top 3 in each quarterfinal advanced to the semifinals. There were 2 heats of 6 semifinalists, once again with the top 3 advancing to the 6-man final.[2]

Records

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These are the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1932 Summer Olympics.

World Record 10.2 United States Jesse Owens Chicago, USA June 20, 1936
Olympic Record 10.3 United States Eddie Tolan Los Angeles, USA August 1, 1932
10.3 United States Ralph Metcalfe Los Angeles, USA August 1, 1932

Jesse Owens equalled the standing Olympic record with 10.3 seconds in the final heat of the first round. He matched his own world record of 10.2 seconds, set two months earlier, in the quarterfinals but this result was not counted for records purposes due to wind assistance. His final run, also disqualified from record consideration due to wind, again matched the Olympic record of 10.3 seconds.

Results

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Heats

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The fastest two runners in each of the twelve heats advanced to the quarterfinal round.

Heat 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Lennart Strandberg  Sweden 10.7 Q
2 Takayoshi Yoshioka  Japan 10.8 Q
3 Manfred Kersch  Germany 10.8
4 Maurice Carlton  France
5 Aristidis Sakellariou  Greece

Heat 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Chris Berger  Netherlands 10.8 Q
2 Pat Dannaher  South Africa 11.0 Q
3 Bernard Marchand  Switzerland 11.2
4 Antonio Sande  Argentina 11.2
5 Julije Bauer  Yugoslavia 11.5

Heat 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Wil van Beveren  Netherlands 10.8 Q
2 Eric Grimbeek  South Africa 10.9 Q
3 Ruudi Toomsalu  Estonia 11.0
4 Antonio Salcedo  Philippines
5 José Domingo Sánchez  Colombia
6 Mohammad Khan  Afghanistan

Heat 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Gyula Gyenes  Hungary 10.7 Q
2 Monta Suzuki  Japan 10.7 Q
3 Palle Virtanen  Finland 10.9
4 Paul Bronner  France 11.1
5 Antonio Cuba  Peru
6 Elias Gutiérrez  Colombia

Heat 5

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Howard McPhee  Canada 10.8 Q
2 Lennart Lindgren  Sweden 10.8 Q
3 Robert Paul  France 11.0
4 George Fahoum  Egypt
5 Poh Kimseng  Republic of China

Heat 6

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Marthinus Theunissen  South Africa 10.7 Q
2 Gerd Hornberger  Germany 10.7 Q
3 Tomás Beswick  Argentina 10.9
4 Toivo Sariola  Finland
5 Sveinn Ingvarsson  Iceland
6 Oskar Ospelt  Liechtenstein

Heat 7

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Ralph Metcalfe  United States 10.8 Q
2 József Sir  Hungary 10.8 Q
3 Nemesio de Guzman  Philippines 11.1
4 Fritz Seeger  Switzerland

Heat 8

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Erich Borchmeyer  Germany 10.7 Q
2 Bruce Humber  Canada 10.8 Q
3 Gábor Gerő  Hungary 11.3
4 Chen Kingkwan  Republic of China
5 Alfred Bencini  Malta

Heat 9

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Frank Wykoff  United States 10.6 Q
2 Arthur Sweeney  Great Britain 10.7 Q
3 Antonio Fondevilla  Argentina 11.0
4 Toivo Ahjopalo  Finland
5 Oswaldo Domingues  Brazil
6 Xaver Frick  Liechtenstein

Heat 10

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Tinus Osendarp  Netherlands 10.5 Q
2 Alan Pennington  Great Britain 10.6 Q
3 Lee Orr  Canada 10.6
4 Robert Struckl  Austria
5 Eric Whiteside  India

Heat 11

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Paul Hänni  Switzerland 10.7 Q
2 Cyril Holmes  Great Britain 10.8 Q
3 Renos Frangoudis  Greece 10.8
4 François Mersch  Luxembourg 10.9
5 Liu Changchun  Republic of China

Heat 12

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Jesse Owens  United States 10.3 Q, =OR
2 Kichizo Sasaki  Japan 11.0 Q
3 José de Almeida  Brazil 11.1
4 Dieudonné Devrindt  Belgium
5 Austin Cassar-Torreggiani  Malta

Quarterfinals

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The fastest three runners in each of the four heats advanced to the semifinal round.

Quarterfinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Lennart Strandberg  Sweden 10.5 Q
2 Tinus Osendarp  Netherlands 10.6 Q
3 Frank Wykoff  United States 10.6 Q
4 Gerd Hornberger  Germany 10.7
5 Gyula Gyenes  Hungary
6 Cyril Holmes  Great Britain

Quarterfinal 2

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The wind assistance in this quarterfinal was too great for Owens's 10.2 seconds to count to match the world record or better the Olympic record.

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Jesse Owens  United States 10.2 Q
2 Paul Hänni  Switzerland 10.6 Q
3 József Sir  Hungary 10.7 Q
4 Takayoshi Yoshioka  Japan 10.8
5 Eric Grimbeek  South Africa 10.9
6 Lennart Lindgren  Sweden 11.0

Quarterfinal 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Ralph Metcalfe  United States 10.5 Q
2 Alan Pennington  Great Britain 10.6 Q
3 Wil van Beveren  Netherlands 10.7 Q
4 Marthinus Theunissen  South Africa
5 Bruce Humber  Canada
6 Kichizo Sasaki  Japan

Quarterfinal 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Erich Borchmeyer  Germany 10.5 Q
2 Arthur Sweeney  Great Britain 10.6 Q
3 Howard McPhee  Canada 10.6 Q
4 Monta Suzuki  Japan 10.8
5 Chris Berger  Netherlands 11.0
6 Pat Dannaher  South Africa

Semifinals

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The fastest three runners in each of the two heats advanced to the final round.

Semifinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Jesse Owens  United States 10.4 Q
2 Frank Wykoff  United States 10.5 Q
3 Lennart Strandberg  Sweden 10.5 Q
4 Paul Hänni  Switzerland 10.7
5 Wil van Beveren  Netherlands 10.8
6 Alan Pennington  Great Britain

Semifinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Ralph Metcalfe  United States 10.5 Q
2 Tinus Osendarp  Netherlands 10.6 Q
3 Erich Borchmeyer  Germany 10.7 Q
4 Howard McPhee  Canada 10.7
5 Arthur Sweeney  Great Britain 10.7
6 József Sir  Hungary 10.9

Final

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Wind: +2.7 m/s

After 30 metres, Owens "had already decided the race in his favour." Metcalfe broke free for silver at 70 metres. Strandberg strained a ligament at the halfway mark.[3]

Rank Athlete Nation Time
1st place, gold medalist(s) Jesse Owens  United States 10.3
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Ralph Metcalfe  United States 10.4
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Tinus Osendarp  Netherlands 10.5
4 Frank Wykoff  United States 10.6
5 Erich Borchmeyer  Germany 10.7
6 Lennart Strandberg  Sweden 10.9

References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1936 Berlin Summer Games: Men's 100 metres". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  2. ^ a b "100 metres, Men". Olympedia. Archived from the original on 30 June 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  3. ^ Official Report, vol. 1, p. 604.