Athletics at the 1900 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metres

The men's 100 metres was a sprinting event in the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. It was on July 14, 1900. There were 20 athletes. These athletes were from 9 different nations. Frank Jarvis won the event. He was from the United States. Walter Tewksbury was in 2nd place. He was also from the United States. Australia won their first medal in the 100 metres. Stan Rowley won a bronze medal in this event.

Men's 100 metres at the Games of the II Olympiad
File:JarvisFrank 1900.jpg Frank Jarvis
Venue	Bois de Boulogne
Date	July 14
Competitors	20 from 9 nations
Winning time	11.0
Medalists
Frank Jarvis  United States   Walter Tewksbury  United States   Stan Rowley  Australia
«1896	1904»

Background

This was the second time this event happened. None of the runners also ran in the 1896 Olympics. The American Arthur Duffey had just won the AAA Championships for 100 yards. He was the favorite for the competition. 7 people had ran the unofficial world record of 10.8 for this event. One of these people was Isaac Westergren of Sweden. He was also in this competition.

There were no athletes from France. Australia, Bohemia, India, and Italy were in this event for the first time.

The 100 metres was not the shortest sprint. The 60 meters was the shortest sprint. This has only happened in 1900 and 1904.

Records

These were the world records and Olympic records before the 1900 Olympics. The times are all in seconds.

World Record	10.8	Luther Cary	Paris (FRA)	July 4, 1891
		Cecil Lee	Brussels (BEL)	September 25, 1892
		Étienne De Re	Brussels (BEL)	August 4, 1893
		L. Atcherley	Frankfurt/Main (GER)	April 13, 1895
		Harry Beaton	Rotterdam (NED)	August 28, 1895
		Harald Anderson-Arbin	Helsingborg (SWE)	August 9, 1896
		Isaac Westergren	Gävle (SWE)	September 11, 1898
		Isaac Westergren	Gävle (SWE)	September 10, 1899
Olympic Record	11.8	Thomas Burke	Athens (GRE)	April 6, 1896 (NS)

In the first heat of the first round, Arthur Duffey ran 11.4 seconds. This beat the Olympic record. In the second heat of the first round, Walter Tewksbury ran 11.4 seconds. This tied the Olympic record. In the third heat of the first round, Frank Jarvis ran 10.8 seconds. This tied the unofficial world record. In the second semifinal, Tewksbury also ran 10.8 seconds. This would tie the unofficial world record.

Competition

The competition had 4 rounds. There was the heats, the semifinals, the repechage, and the final. The fastest 2 runners in the heats would run in the semifinals. In the semifinals, 12 men were put into each 3 semifinals. Each semifinals had 4 runners. In the semifinal, the 1st-place runner ran in the finals. The 2nd and 3rd place runners ran in the repechage. In the repechage, there were 6 runners. Only the runner of the repechage would run in the final.

Schedule

Date	Time	Round
Saturday, 14 July 1900	11:15	First round Semifinals Repechage Final

Results

First round

In the first round, there were six heats. The fastest 2 runners in each heat could run in the semifinal round.

Heat 1

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Arthur Duffey	United States	11.4	Q, OR
2	Frederick Moloney	United States	11.5	Q
3	Václav Nový	Bohemia	Unknown

Heat 2

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Walter Tewksbury	United States	11.4	Q, =OR
2	Thaddeus McClain	United States	11.4	Q
3	Pál Koppán	Hungary	Unknown

Heat 3

This heat was the fastest heat. It would have 2 medallists. Jarvis tied the world record.

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Frank Jarvis	United States	10.8	Q, =WR
2	Stan Rowley	Australia	10.9	Q
3	Umberto Colombo	Italy	Unknown
4	Julius Keyl	Germany	Unknown

Heat 4

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Clark Leiblee	United States	11.4	Q
2	Kurt Doerry	Germany	11.5	Q
3	Johannes Gandil	Denmark	Unknown

Heat 5

The fifth heat was the only heat that was not won by an American.

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Norman Pritchard	India	11.4	Q
2	Edmund Minahan	United States	11.5	Q
3	Ernő Schubert	Hungary	Unknown
4	Isaac Westergren	Sweden	Unknown

Heat 6

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Charles Burroughs	United States	11.4	Q
2	Dixon Boardman	United States	11.5	Q
3	Henry Slack	United States	Unknown

Semifinals

There were three semifinals. Each semifinal had 4 runners. The fastest runner in each semifinals went to the final. The 2nd and 3rd place runners ran in the repechage. The winner of the repechage would also go to the finals.

Semifinal 1

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Arthur Duffey	United States	11.0	Q
2	Stan Rowley	Australia	11.2	R
3	Charles Burroughs	United States	Unknown	R
4	Dixon Boardman	United States	Unknown

Semifinal 2

Tewksbury tied the world record.

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Walter Tewksbury	United States	10.8	Q, =WR
2	Clark Leiblee	United States	10.9	R
3	Frederick Moloney	United States	Unknown	R
—	Kurt Doerry	Germany	DNF

Semifinal 3

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Frank Jarvis	United States	11.2	Q
2	Thaddeus McClain	United States	11.3	R
3	Norman Pritchard	India	Unknown	R
4	Edmund Minahan	United States	Unknown

Repechage

The repechage was a very close race. Rowley only beat Pritchard by 1 inches. He would be allowed to run in the final round.

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Stan Rowley	Australia	11.0	Q
2	Norman Pritchard	India	11.0
3	Clark Leiblee	United States	Unknown
4–6	Charles Burroughs	United States	Unknown
	Thaddeus McClain	United States	Unknown
	Frederick Moloney	United States	Unknown

Final

Duffey was faster than everybody else at first. However, he pulled a tendon halfway in the race. Jarvis beat Tewksbury by two feet. Rowley was half of a yard behind.

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time
	Frank Jarvis	United States	11.0
	Walter Tewksbury	United States	11.1
	Stan Rowley	Australia	11.2
—	Arthur Duffey	United States	DNF

Sources

Citations

• International Olympic Committee.
• De Wael, Herman. Herman's Full Olympians: "Athletics 1900". Accessed 18 March 2006. Available electronically at [1] Archived 2006-02-11 at the Wayback Machine.
• Mallon, Bill (1998). The 1900 Olympic Games, Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. ISBN 0-7864-0378-0.