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1908 Olympic Games London, Great Britain - Men's 100 m

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Details: Parent Category: Olympic Games (Athletics); Category: 1908 Olympic Games London, Great Britain - (Athletics); Last Updated: 16 April 2016; Hits: 747

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Host City: London, Great Britain

Format: Winner in each heat advanced to the final.

Date Started: July 20, 1908

Format: Winner in each heat advanced to the semi-finals.

Date Finished: July 22, 1908

(Competitors: 62; Countries: 17; Finalists: 4)

Venue(s): White City Stadium, London

Overview by IAAF

Rector was the fastest man in the 17 (!) first round heats, equalling the Olympic record of 10.8, and repeated his time in round 2, with Walker equalling him. Walker, drawn on the inside in the final, started fastest and, though caught and passed by Rector at 50m, responded strongly at the 60m mark to pull away to win by a metre in 10.7. The time was rounded up to 10.8 under the rules at the time. Rector just edged Kerr for second, both wastefully raising their arms at the finish.

Summary by Sports-reference.com

The top British sprinter of the era was Jack Morton, who had won the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA) championships four years consecutively, 1904-07, but he failed to make the Olympic final, finishing third and last in his semi-final. There was no dominant American sprinter, as since Bernie Wefers had won three straight titles in 1895-1897, 12 different sprinters had claimed the AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) championship. South Africa sent two good sprinters, Eddie Duffy and the 1907 South African champion, Reggie Walker.

The Olympic record was 10.8, having been set in 1900 by Frank Jarvis (USA) and Walter Tewksbury (USA). The world mark was 10.6, set in 1906 by Sweden's Kurt Lindberg. Though Lindberg competed in this event, he failed to get by the first round, finishing second in heat eight to Lester Stevens (USA).

James Rector (USA) and Reggie Walker both equalled the Olympic record, Rector doing it in both rounds. Walker's record-equalling run came in the final when he beat Rector by one yard. At 19 years, 128 days, he set a record, which still stands, of being the youngest ever winner of the Olympic 100 metres.

It is often stated that Walker was not actually a member of the South African team in 1908, but travelled to London on his own. South African Olympic historian Lappe Laubscher has shown that this is not the case and that he was chosen for the team at the first opportunity. He notes that Walker was recommended for the team on 1 May 1908 at a meeting of the South African Amateur Athletic and Cycling Union, but he initially could not make the trip because of a lack of funds. Walker was a native of Natal and Jim Wallace, a Natal sportswriter, started a campaign to raise funds for Walker's trip, which was successful.

			Results
James Rector (in the 15th heat and the third semi-final) and Reggie Walker (in the first semi-final and final) both equalized the standing Olympic record. Reggie Walker's actual time in the first semi-final was 10.7, but was rounded up to the nearest fifth in accordance with rules in force at the time, so his time was given as 10⁴⁄₅.
*100 m*	Men		Final	22 July
The final race of the 100 metres began at 4:15 p.m. on 22 July. With Walker and Rector having already tied the Olympic record before the final, it was widely expected that the final race of the 100 metres would be an exciting match between those two runners. Walker got off to a quick lead, but Rector caught him about midway through the race and passed him. Walker responded with a great effort, pulling level with Rector. The two ran side-by-side for about six yards before Walker finally pulled ahead to win by half a yard. Rector finished six inches ahead of Kerr, who finished two yards ahead of Cartmell for third place.
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	10.8		Reggie Walker	South Africa	RSA	19	(=)OR
2	11.0		James Rector	United States	USA	23		11.0est / at 1½ feet
3	11.0		Bobby Kerr	Canada	CAN	25		11.0est / inches bh 2nd
4	11.2		Nate Cartmell	United States	USA	25		11.2est / few yards bh
*100 m*	Men		Semi-Finals Heat One	21 July
Cloughen withdrew to prepare for the 200m heats. Walker took the lead after about 50 metres and crossed the line about a yard in front of May to become the second sprinter to tie the Olympic record at the London Games. His actual time was 10.7, rounded up to the nearest fifth, in accordance with rules in force at the time; therefore, his time was given as 10⁴⁄₅.
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	10.8	Q	Reggie Walker	South Africa	RSA	19	(=)OR
2	11.0		Willie May	United States	USA	21		11.0est / at one yard
3			Patrick Roche	Great Britain	GBR
4			Lester Stevens	United States	USA	24
*100 m*	Men		Semi-Finals Heat Two	21 July
Hamilton withdrew to prepare for the 200m heats. Kerr had little difficulty winning this heat, leading by three yards at the finish.
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	11.0	Q	Bobby Kerr	Canada	CAN	25
2	11.3		Nate Sherman	United States	USA	20		11.3est / at 3 yds
3			Jack Morton	Great Britain	GBR	29
*100 m*	Men		Semi-Finals Heat Three	21 July
Rector again won easily, tying the Olympic record for the second time.
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	10.8	Q	James Rector	United States	USA	23	(=)OR
2	11.1		Harry Huff	United States	USA	27		11.1est / at 3 yds
3			Eddie Duffy	South Africa	RSA	24
4			Robert Duncan	Great Britain	GBR	20
*100 m*	Men		Semi-Finals Heat Four	21 July
Cartmell and Robertson ran a tight race, with Cartmell winning by about a foot.
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	11.2	Q	Nate Cartmell	United States	USA	25
2	11.2		Lawson Robertson	United States	USA	24		11.2est / at 1 ft
3			James Stark	Great Britain	GBR	23
4			Jack George	Great Britain	GBR	26
*100 m*	Men		Round One Heat One	20 July
Duffy won this heat by three yards.
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	11.6	Q	Eddie Duffy	South Africa	RSA	24		easy win
2	at 3 yds		Georgios Skoutaridis	Greece	GRE
3			Victor Henny	Netherlands	NED	20
*100 m*	Men		Round One Heat Two	20 July
George was ahead of Guttormsen by three yards when he finished.
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	11.6	Q	Jack George	Great Britain	GBR	26
2	12.0		Oscar Guttormsen	Norway	NOR	24		12.0est / at 3 yds
*100 m*	Men		Round One Heat Three	20 July
Cartmell crossed the finish line two yards ahead of Malfait.
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	11.0	Q	Nate Cartmell	United States	USA	25
2	11.2		Géo Malfait	France	FRA	29		11.2est / at 2 yds
3	11.4		Arthur Hoffmann	Germany	GER	20		11.4est
4			Evert Koops	Netherlands	NED	23
*100 m*	Men		Round One Heat Four	20 July
Walker was four yards ahead of the field when he finished. Records do not indicate which of the final two runners took which place.
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	11.0	Q	Reggie Walker	South Africa	RSA	19
2	11.6		Jean Konings	Belgium	BEL	22		11.6est / at 4 yds
3			Denis Murray	Great Britain	GBR
AC			Edgar Kiralfy	United States	USA	23
AC			Ernestus Greven	Netherlands	NED	22
*100 m*	Men		Round One Heat Five	20 July
Harmer pulled up lame. Cloughen won by five yards.
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	11.0	Q	Bobby Cloughen	United States	USA	19
2	11.7		John Johansen	Norway	NOR	25		11.7est / at 5 yards
3			Dave Beland	Canada	CAN	21
AC	DNF		Henry Harmer	Great Britain	GBR	24
*100 m*	Men		Round One Heat Six	20 July
May won by about three yards
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	11.2	Q	Willie May	United States	USA	21
2	11.5		Victor Jacquemin	Belgium	BEL	16		11.5est / at 3 yds
3			L. Lescat	France	FRA
4			Mikhail Paskhalidis	Greece	GRE
*100 m*	Men		Round One Heat Seven	20 July
Duncan won by a yard.
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	11.4	Q	Robert Duncan	Great Britain	GBR	20
2	11.5		Knut Stenborg	Sweden	SWE	18		11.5est / at 1 yd
3	11.6		Hans Eicke	Germany	GER	23		11.6est
4			Umberto Barozzi	Italy	ITA	26
5			Ragnar Stenberg	Finland	FIN	20
*100 m*	Men		Round One Heat Eight	20 July
Stevens beat world record holder Lindberg by inches.
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	11.2	Q	Lester Stevens	United States	USA	24
2	11.2		Knut Lindberg	Sweden	SWE	26		11.2est / inches behind
3	11.8		Heinrich Rehder	Germany	GER	21		11.8est
4			William Murray	Great Britain	GBR
*100 m*	Men		Round One Heat Nine	20 July
Morton won by about three yards.
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	11.2	Q	Jack Morton	Great Britain	GBR	29
2	11.5		Axel Johannes Petersen	Denmark	DEN	27		11.5est / at 3 yds
3			Jacobus Hoogveld	Netherlands	NED	23
*100 m*	Men		Round One Heat Ten	20 July
Fischer pulled up lame. Kerr won by three yards.
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	11.0	Q	Bobby Kerr	Canada	CAN	25
2	11.3		Meyrick Chapman	Great Britain	GBR	21		11.3est / at 3 yds
AC	DNF		Paul Fischer	Germany	GER
*100 m*	Men		Round One Heat Eleven	20 July
Phillips pulled up lame, allowing Hamilton to win by about three yards.
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	11.2	Q	Bill Hamilton	United States	USA
2	11.5		Pál Simon	Hungary	HUN	16		11.5est / at 3 yds
3			G. Lamotte	France	FRA
4	DNF		Bertie Phillips	South Africa	RSA	24
*100 m*	Men		Round One Heat Twelve	20 July
Huff was only about a yard ahead of Pankhurst when he finished.
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	11.4	Q	Harry Huff	United States	USA	27
2	11.5		Henry Pankhurst	Great Britain	GBR			11.5est / at 1 yd
3			Karl Fryksdahl	Sweden	SWE	22
*100 m*	Men		Round One Heat Thirteen	20 July
Robertson won by about three yards.
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	11.4	Q	Lawson Robertson	United States	USA	24
2	11.7		Frank Lukeman	Canada	CAN	22		11.7est / at 3 yds
3			Henri Meslot	France	FRA	23
4			Edi Schönecker	Austria	AUT	23
*100 m*	Men		Round One Heat Fourteen	20 July
Sherman's lead of four yards at the finish was one of the larger leads in the first round.
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	11.2	Q	Nate Sherman	United States	USA	20
2	11.7		Lou Sebert	Canada	CAN	21		11.7est / at 4 yds
3			Harry Watson	Great Britain	GBR
4			Frigyes Wiesner-Mezei	Hungary	HUN	20
5	12		Hermann von Bönninghausen	Germany	GER	19		12.0est
*100 m*	Men		Round One Heat Fifteen	20 July
Rector's Olympic record-tying time gave him a relatively easy victory in the first round.
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	10.8	Q	James Rector	United States	USA	23	(=)OR
2	11.4		Vilmos Rácz	Hungary	HUN	19		11.4est
3	12		Willy Kohlmey	Germany	GER	26		12.0est
*100 m*	Men		Round One Heat Sixteen	20 July
In one of the slowest of the first round heads, Stark won by about two yards.
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	11.8	Q	James Stark	Great Britain	GBR	23
2	12		Gaspare Torretta	Italy	ITA			12.0est
*100 m*	Men		Round One Heat Seventeen	20 July
Roche won by about two yards
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	11.4	Q	Patrick Roche	Great Britain	GBR
2	11.7		Karl Bechler	Germany	GER	22		11.7est / at 2 yds