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

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.

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 →

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   Jesse Owens Chicago, USA June 20, 1936
Olympic Record 10.3   Eddie Tolan Los Angeles, USA August 1, 1932
10.3   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
  Jesse Owens   United States 10.3
  Ralph Metcalfe   United States 10.4
  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.