Athletics at the 1896 Summer Olympics - Men's 100 metres

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The men's 100 metres race was the first event run at the modern Olympics, on 6 April 1896. It was the shortest race on the Athletics at the 1896 Summer Olympics programme. 21 athletes were entered in the first round, divided into three heats of seven runners, but six of them later withdrew. The top two athletes in each heat advanced to the final, which took place on 10 April.

15 athletes from 8 nations competed.

Contents 1 Medallists 2 Results 2.1 Heats 2.1.1 Heat 1 2.1.2 Heat 2 2.1.3 Heat 3 2.2 Final 3 References

[edit] Medallists

Gold	Silver	Bronze
Tom Burke United States	Fritz Hoffmann Germany	Alojz Sokol Hungary Francis Lane United States

Two runners tied for third place in the final and both are considered to be bronze medallists by the International Olympic Committee.

[edit] Results

[edit] Heats

The first round of heats took place on 6 April. The first heat of the 100 metres was the first competition held in the Games.

[edit] Heat 1

Place	Athlete	Nation	Time
1	Francis Lane	United States	12.2 seconds
2	Alojz Sokol	Hungary	12.6 seconds
3	Charles Gmelin	Great Britain	Unknown
4	Alphonse Grisel	France	Unknown
5	Kurt Dörry	Germany	Unknown

Francis Lane of the United States won this heat, in a time of 12.2 seconds, with Alojz Sokol of Hungary coming in second at 12.75 seconds. Lane thus became the first winner of a modern Olympic race.

[edit] Heat 2

Place	Athlete	Nation	Time
1	Thomas Curtis	United States	12.2 seconds
2	Alexandros Khalkokondilis	Greece	12.8 seconds
3	Launceston Elliot	Great Britain	Unknown
4	Eugen Schmidt	Denmark	Unknown
5	George Marshall	Great Britain	Unknown

Another American, Thomas Curtis, won this heat, again at 12.2 seconds. A Greek runner, Alexandros Khalkokondilis, placed second.

[edit] Heat 3

Place	Athlete	Nation	Time
1	Tom Burke	United States	11.8 seconds
2	Fritz Hoffmann	Germany	12.6 seconds
3	Friedrich Traun	Germany	Unknown
4-5	Georgios Gennimatas	Greece	Unknown
	Henrik Sjöberg	Sweden	Unknown

Tom Burke ran this heat in 11.8 seconds, finishing a sweep of the heats for the United States. Fritz Hoffmann of Germany came in second. Burke and Hoffmann were each known more for middle-distance events rather than sprinting.

Henrik Sjöberg of Sweden and Georgios Gennimatas of Greece placed fourth and fifth in this heat, though it is not clear which athlete received which place.

[edit] Final

The final heat of the 100 metre race, run on 10 April, involved the six runners who had finished in the top two of their preliminary heats, with the exception of Thomas Curtis who elected not to run. Burke again ran the race in 12.0 seconds to win it. His companion from the third heat, Hoffmann, placed second, with the two runners from the first heat tying for third place.

Place	Athlete	Nation	Time
1	Tom Burke	United States	12.0 seconds
2	Fritz Hoffmann	Germany	12.2 seconds
3	Francis Lane	United States	12.6 seconds
	Alojz Sokol	Hungary	12.6 seconds
5	Alexandros Khalkokondilis	Greece	12.6 seconds
–	Thomas Curtis	United States	Did not start

[edit] References

• Lampros, S.P.; Polites, N.G.; De Coubertin, Pierre; Philemon, P.J.; & Anninos, C. (1897). The Olympic Games: BC 776 – AD 1896. Athens: Charles Beck. (Digitally available at AAFLA.org)
• Mallon, Bill; & Widlund, Ture (1998). The 1896 Olympic Games. Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary. Jefferson: McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0379-9. (Excerpt available at AAFLA.org)
• Smith, Michael Llewellyn (2004). Olympics in Athens 1896. The Invention of the Modern Olympic Games. London: Profile Books. ISBN 1-86197-342-X.

The 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens Games of the I Olympiad

Athletics at the 1896 Summer Olympics

100 m | 400 m | 800 m | 1500 m | 110 m hurdles | marathon | long jump | triple jump | high jump | pole vault | shot put | discus