Athletics at the 1928 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metres explained

Event:	Men's 100 metres
Games:	1928 Summer
Venue:	Olympic Stadium Amsterdam, Netherlands
Dates:	29 July 1928 (heats, quarterfinals) 30 July 1928 (semifinals, final)
Competitors:	76
Nations:	32
Win Value:	10.8 seconds
Gold:	Percy Williams
Goldnoc:	CAN
Silver:	Jack London
Silvernoc:	GBR
Bronze:	Georg Lammers
Bronzenoc:	GER
Prev:	1924
Next:	1932

The men's 100 metres sprint event at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, Netherlands, were held at the Olympic Stadium on Sunday, 29 July and Monday, 30 July. Eighty-one runners entered, though ultimately seventy-six runners from 32 nations competed.^[1] NOCs were limited to 4 competitors each.^[2] The event was won by Percy Williams of Canada, taking the nation's first men's 100 metres gold medal. Jack London of Great Britain took silver, marking the third consecutive Games that Great Britain had a medalist in the event. Georg Lammers won bronze, Germany's first medal in the event since 1896. For the first time in modern Olympic history, the United States won no medals in the event.

Background

This was the eighth time the event was held, having appeared at every Olympics since the first in 1896. None of the 1924 finalists competed (bronze medalist Arthur Porritt entered, but did not start). Notable entrants included Frank Wykoff, winner of the U.S. Olympic trials and one of the favourites in a field that was considered to be wide-open; Great Britain's Jack London, and Germany's Georg Lammers.^[3]

Cuba, Lithuania, and Romania were represented in the event for the first time. The United States was the only nation to have appeared at each of the first eight Olympic men's 100 metres events.

Competition format

The event retained the four round format from 1920 and 1924: heats, quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final. There were 16 heats, of 3–6 athletes each, with the top 2 in each heat advancing to the quarterfinals. The 32 quarterfinalists were placed into 6 heats of 5 or 6 athletes. Again, the top 2 advanced. There were 2 heats of 6 semifinalists, this time with the top 3 advancing to the 6-man final.^[3]

Records

These are the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1928 Summer Olympics.

World Record	10.4	Charlie Paddock	Redlands, California (USA)	April 23, 1921
Olympic Record	10.6	Donald Lippincott	Stockholm (SWE)	July 6, 1912
Olympic Record	10.6	Harold Abrahams	Paris (FRA)	July 6/7 1924

Percy Williams equalized the standing Olympic record with 10.6 seconds in the fourth heat of the second round. In the first semifinal, Williams, Robert McAllister, and Wilfred Legg all equalized the record.

Results

First round

Sixteen heats were held, the two fastest of each qualified for the second round.

Heat 1

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1			11.0
2			11.0
3			11.2
4			11.4
5			11.4

Heat 2

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1			11.2
2			11.3
3			Unknown
4			Unknown
—

Heat 3

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1			11.0
2			Unknown
3			Unknown(*)
4			Unknown
5			Unknown
6			Unknown

(*) Some sources credit the third place to Gómez Daza and list Boot in fourth. (The official report did not show the ranking.)

Heat 4

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1			10.8
2			Unknown
3			11.4
4			11.4
5			Unknown
6			Unknown

Heat 5

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1			10.8
2			Unknown
3			Unknown
4			Unknown
5			Unknown

Heat 6

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1			11.0
2			Unknown
3			Unknown
4			Unknown
5			Unknown

Heat 7

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1			11.0
2			11.0
3			Unknown
—	Sándor Hajdú
—

Heat 8

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1			11.0
2			11.0
3			11.3
4			11.4

Heat 9

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1			10.8
2			Unknown
3			Unknown
4			Unknown
5			Unknown
6			Unknown

Heat 10

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1			11.0
2			11.1
3			Unknown
4			Unknown

Heat 11

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1			11.0
2			11.1
3			Unknown
4			Unknown
5			Unknown
6			Unknown

Heat 12

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1			11.0
2			Unknown
3			Unknown
4			Unknown
5			Unknown

Heat 13

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1			11.0
2			Unknown
3			Unknown
-

Heat 14

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1			11.0
2			11.1
3			11.2
4			11.3
5			11.5
6			12.2

Heat 15

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1			11.0
2			Unknown
3			Unknown
4			Unknown

Heat 16

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1			10.8
2			Unknown
3			Unknown
4			Unknown
5

Quarterfinals

Six heats were held, the two fastest of each qualified for the semifinals.

Quarterfinal 1

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1			10.8
2			Unknown
3			Unknown
4			Unknown
5			Unknown
6			Unknown

Quarterfinal 2

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1			10.8
2			11.0
3			Unknown
4			Unknown
5			Unknown
6			Unknown

Quarterfinal 3

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1			10.8
2			Unknown
3			Unknown
4			Unknown
5			Unknown

Quarterfinal 4

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1			10.6	, =OR
2			10.8
3			Unknown
4			Unknown
5			Unknown

Quarterfinal 5

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1			10.8
2			Unknown
3			Unknown
4			Unknown
5			11.0

Quarterfinal 6

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1			10.8
2			Unknown
3			Unknown
4			Unknown
5			Unknown

Semifinals

Two semifinals were held, the three fastest of each qualified for the final.

Semifinal 1

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1			10.6	, =OR
2			10.6	, =OR
3			10.6	. =OR
4			10.7
5			10.8
6			11.0

Semifinal 2

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1			10.6	, =OR
2			10.7
3			10.7
4			10.8
5			10.8
6			10.9

Final

There were two false starts, by Legg and Wykoff. Once the final successfully started, Williams took the early lead and never relinquished it.^[3]

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time
			10.8
			10.9
			10.9
4			11.0
5			11.0
6			11.0

External links

Notes and References

Web site: Athletics at the 1928 Amsterdam Summer Games: Men's 100 metres . https://web.archive.org/web/20200417093831/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1928/ATH/mens-100-metres.html . dead . 17 April 2020 . 3 June 2017 . Sports Reference.
Official Report, p. 374.
Web site: 100 metres, Men . Olympedia . 21 July 2020.