Athletics at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metres

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The men's 100 metres event at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia, was held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 23 and 24 November.[1] Sixty-five athletes from 31 nations competed; each nation was limited to three athletes. The final was won by American Bobby Morrow, marking the fifth consecutive victory by a different American. Hec Hogan of Australia won that country's first medal in the event since 1900.[2] The competition took place in strong winds, with the final run into a 2.5 m/s (5.6 mph) headwind.

Men's 100 metres
at the Games of the XVI Olympiad
VenueMelbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne, Australia
Dates23 November (heats, quarterfinals)
24 November 1956 (semifinals, final)
Competitors65 from 31 nations
Winning time10.5 seconds
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Bobby Morrow  United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Thane Baker  United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Hec Hogan  Australia
← 1952
1960 →
Video on YouTube Official Video @24:28

Background

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This was the thirteenth time the event was held, having appeared at every Olympics since the first in 1896. None of the finalists from 1952 returned. Notable entrants were Americans Bobby Morrow (NCAA champion, U.S. Olympic trial champion, and heavy favorite) and Ira Murchison (world record co-holder); Dave Sime was injured and did not make the American team.[3]

The Bahamas, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Liberia, Malay, Singapore, and Ethiopia were represented in the event for the first time. In addition, German athletes competed as the "United Team" for the first time, though pre-World War II Germany had competed many times and West Germany had competed as "Germany" in 1952. The United States was the only nation to have appeared at each of the first thirteen Olympic men's 100 metres events.[citation needed]

Competition format

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The event retained the four round format from 1920 to 1952: 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.[3]

Records

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Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.

World record 10.1   Willie Williams Berlin, Germany 3 August 1956
10.1   Ira Murchison Berlin, Germany 4 August 1956
10.1   Leamon King Ontario, United States 20 October 1956
10.1   Leamon King Santa Ana, United States 27 October 1956
Olympic record 10.3   Eddie Tolan Los Angeles, USA 1 August 1932
10.3   Ralph Metcalfe Los Angeles, USA 1 August 1932
10.3   Jesse Owens Berlin, Germany 2 August 1936
10.3   Harrison Dillard London, United Kingdom 31 July 1948

Despite headwinds, Ira Murchison and Bobby Morrow each equalled the Olympic record of 10.3 seconds (hand-timed) in the quarterfinals. Morrow did it again in the semifinals.

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 Ira Murchison   United States 10.67 Q
2 Jan Jarzembowski   Poland 10.95 Q
3 Hilmar Þorbjörnsson   Iceland 11.12
4 Mario Colarossi   Italy 11.14
5 René Ahumada   Mexico 11.26
6 Raja bin Ngah Ali   Malaya 11.41

Heat 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Mike Agostini   Trinidad and Tobago 10.98 Q
2 Luigi Gnocchi   Italy 11.01 Q
3 Titus Erinle   Nigeria 11.09
4 Jorge de Barros   Brazil 11.15
5 Vanchak Voradilok   Thailand 11.78
6 Roba Negousse   Ethiopia 12.07

Heat 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Maurice Rae   New Zealand 10.84 Q
2 Abdul Khaliq   Pakistan 10.97 Q
3 Manfred Steinbach   United Team of Germany 10.99
4 Rafael Romero   Venezuela 11.14
5 Evaristo Iglesias   Cuba 11.50

Heat 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Ben Nduga   Uganda 10.88 Q
2 Ken Box   Great Britain 10.96 Q
3 Kyohei Ushio   Japan 11.09
4 Kesavan Soon   Singapore 11.35
5 Jack Parrington   Canada 11.62

Heat 5

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Marian Foik   Poland 10.88 Q
2 Boris Tokarev   Soviet Union 11.09 Q
3 Franco Galbiati   Italy 11.13
4 Tom Robinson   Bahamas 11.30
5 Jalal Gozal   Indonesia 11.45
6 James Roberts   Liberia 11.45

Heat 6

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Manfred Germar   United Team of Germany 10.91 Q
2 Ray Land   Australia 11.05 Q
3 Keith Gardner   Jamaica 11.22
4 Alain David   France 11.24
5 Emmanuel Putu   Liberia 11.44
6 Beyene Legesse   Ethiopia 11.94

Heat 7

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Leonid Bartenev   Soviet Union 10.93 Q
2 Béla Goldoványi   Hungary 11.02 Q
3 Clive Bonas   Venezuela 11.17
4 Gavin Carragher   Australia 11.36
5 Thomas Obi   Nigeria 11.47
6 Bjørn Nilsen   Norway 11.58

Heat 8

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Hec Hogan   Australia 10.72 Q
2 René Bonino   France 10.96 Q
3 Géza Varasdi   Hungary 11.00
4 Akira Kiyofuji   Japan 11.00

Heat 9

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Thane Baker   United States 10.93 Q
2 Edmund Turton   Trinidad and Tobago 11.38 Q
3 Sinnayah Karuppiah Jarabalan   Malaya 11.56
4 Tan Eng Yoon   Singapore 11.63

Heat 10

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Stan Levenson   Canada 10.94 Q
2 Heinz Fütterer   United Team of Germany 11.10 Q
3 João Pires Sobrinho   Brazil 11.14
4 Joe Goddard   Trinidad and Tobago 11.19
5 Oliver Hunter   Guyana 11.22
6 Ghulam Raziq   Pakistan 11.26

Heat 11

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Edward Ajado   Nigeria 11.01 Q
2 Roy Sandstrom   Great Britain 11.05 Q
3 Dick Harding   Canada 11.20
4 Muhammad Sharif Butt   Pakistan 11.26
5 Abebe Hailou   Ethiopia 11.54
6 Sneh Wongchaoom   Thailand 11.95

Heat 12

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Bobby Morrow   United States 10.90 Q
2 Yuriy Konovalov   Soviet Union 11.04 Q
3 David Segal   Great Britain 11.19
4 Paiboon Vacharapan   Thailand 11.27
5 Lee Kah Fook   Malaya 11.84

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 Bobby Morrow   United States 10.55 Q, =OR (10.3 hand)
2 Mike Agostini   Trinidad and Tobago 10.75 Q
3 Maurice Rae   New Zealand 10.78 Q
4 Béla Goldoványi   Hungary 10.95
5 Heinz Fütterer   United Team of Germany 10.99
6 Ray Land   Australia 11.15

Quarterfinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Ira Murchison   United States 10.55 Q, =OR (10.3 hand)
2 Abdul Khaliq   Pakistan 10.78 Q
3 Yuriy Konovalov   Soviet Union 10.93 Q
4 Luigi Gnocchi   Italy 10.96
5 Edmund Turton   Trinidad and Tobago 11.37
6 Ben Nduga   Uganda 12.95

Quarterfinal 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Hec Hogan   Australia 10.78 Q
2 Boris Tokarev   Soviet Union 10.87 Q
3 Stan Levenson   Canada 10.93 Q
4 Jan Jarzembowski   Poland 10.98
5 Edward Ajado   Nigeria 11.02
6 Ken Box   Great Britain 11.45

Quarterfinal 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Thane Baker   United States 10.62 Q
2 Manfred Germar   Germany 10.80 Q
3 Marian Foik   Poland 10.83 Q
4 Leonid Bartenev   Soviet Union 10.84
5 René Bonino   France 10.96
6 Roy Sandstrom   Great Britain 11.03

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 Ira Murchison   United States 10.79 Q
2 Mike Agostini   Trinidad and Tobago 10.79 Q
3 Manfred Germar   United Team of Germany 10.85 Q
4 Abdul Khaliq   Pakistan 10.93
5 Stan Levenson   Canada 10.94
6 Yuriy Konovalov   Soviet Union 11.11

Semifinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Bobby Morrow   United States 10.52 Q, =OR (10.3 hand)
2 Thane Baker   United States 10.61 Q
3 Hec Hogan   Australia 10.62 Q
4 Maurice Rae   New Zealand 10.68
5 Marian Foik   Poland 10.84
6 Boris Tokarev   Soviet Union 10.91

Final

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Wind -2.5 m/s

In lane 4, Bobby Morrow was out fast, sandwiched by his teammates Thane Baker in lane 6 and Ira Murchison in lane 1. Morrow just ran away from the field. Baker edged ahead of Murchison to get silver, and running before an Australian crowd, Hec Hogan came from behind to nip Murchison at the line. While Morrow was almost two metres ahead of Baker at the finish, the hand timing of the day gave them the same time of 10.5; the electronic timing system showed the margin to be a more accurate 0.15 of a second.

Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (automatic)
  Bobby Morrow   United States 10.5 10.62
  Thane Baker   United States 10.5 10.77
  Hec Hogan   Australia 10.6 10.77
4 Ira Murchison   United States 10.6 10.79
5 Manfred Germar   United Team of Germany 10.7 10.86
6 Mike Agostini   Trinidad and Tobago 10.7 10.88

References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games: Men's 100 metres". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
  2. ^ Stanley Rowley's bronze medal in 1900 is retroactive; at the time, bronze medals were not awarded for third place. Thus, the 1956 Official Report states that Hogan's third-place finish "was the first time an Australian had won a sprint medal." Official Report, p. 269.
  3. ^ a b "100 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 21 July 2020.