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

Men's 100 metres at the Games of the I Olympiad
100 metres final
Venue	Panathinaiko Stadium
Dates	6 April (first round) 10 April (final)
Competitors	15 from 8 nations
Medalists
Thomas Burke  United States Fritz Hofmann  Germany Alajos Szokolyi  Hungary Francis Lane  United States

Athletics at the 1896 Summer Olympics
Track events
100 m	men
400 m	men
800 m	men
1500 m	men
110 m hurdles	men
Road events
Marathon	men
Field events
Long jump	men
Triple jump	men
High jump	men
Pole vault	men
Shot put	men
Discus throw	men

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.

Records

This was the standing world record (in seconds) prior to the 1896 Summer Olympics.

World Record	10.8[lower-alpha 1]	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

In the first heat, Francis Lane set the initial Olympic Record of 12.2, which was swiftly tied by Thomas Curtis. Thomas Burke then set 11.8 which would stand as the Olympic Record until the 1900 Olympics.

Results

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. Francis Lane won the first heat, thus becoming the first winner of a modern Olympic race. All heats were won by athletes from the United States.

Heat 1

Rank	Name	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Francis Lane	United States	12.2	Q
2	Alajos Szokolyi	Hungary	12.8	Q
3	Charles Gmelin	Great Britain	12.9
4	Alphonse Grisel	France	Unknown
5	Kurt Doerry	Germany	Unknown

Heat 2

Rank	Name	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Thomas Curtis	United States	12.2	Q
2	Alexandros Chalkokondylis	Greece	12.8	Q
3	Launceston Elliot	Great Britain	12.9
4	Eugen Schmidt	Denmark	Unknown
5	George Marshall	Great Britain	Unknown

Heat 3

Both Burke and Hofmann were more well known for middle-distance events rather than sprinting. Burke's time of 11.8s became the inaugural Olympic record. It is not clear which athlete received which place between the fourth and fifth finishers.

Rank	Name	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Thomas Burke	United States	11.8	Q
2	Fritz Hofmann	Germany	12.6	Q
3	Friedrich Traun	Germany	13.5
4–5	Georgios Gennimatas	Greece	Unknown
4–5	Henrik Sjöberg	Sweden	Unknown

Final

The final of the 100 metre race, run on 10 April, involved the six runners who had finished in the top two of their preliminary heats. Thomas Curtis withdrew to save himself for the 110 metre hurdles, which was the next race on the program and which he won. Burke beat his companion from the third heat, Hofmann, by two meters. Lane and Szokolyi dead-heated for third place, with Chalkokondylis six inches behind them. Lane and Szokolyi are both considered to be bronze medallists by the International Olympic Committee.

Rank	Name	Nation	Time
	Thomas Burke	United States	12.0
	Fritz Hofmann	Germany	12.2
	Francis Lane	United States	12.6
	Alajos Szokolyi	Hungary	12.6
5	Alexandros Chalkokondylis	Greece	12.6
–	Thomas Curtis	United States	DNS

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 la84foundation.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 la84foundation.org)
• Smith, Michael Llewellyn (2004). Olympics in Athens 1896. The Invention of the Modern Olympic Games. London: Profile Books. ISBN 1-86197-342-X.
• Wallechinsky, David (1984). The Complete Book of the Olympics. Crawfordsville, Indiana: R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company. ISBN 0-14-006632-2.