Athletics at the 1936 Summer Olympics – Men's 110 metres hurdles

The men's 110 metres hurdles event at the 1936 Summer Olympic Games took place on August 5 and August 6. Thirty-one athletes from 20 nations competed.[1] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The final was won by American Forrest Towns.[2] It was the second of nine consecutive American victories, and the eighth overall gold medal for the United States in the 110 metres hurdles. Don Finlay of Great Britain became the second man to win two medals in the event.

Men's 110 metres hurdles
at the Games of the XI Olympiad
The last row of hurdles in the 110 metres hurdles final
VenueOlympiastadion: Berlin, Germany
DatesAugust 5 (heats)
August 6 (semifinals and final)
Competitors31 from 20 nations
Winning time14.2
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Forrest Towns
 United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Don Finlay
 Great Britain
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Fritz Pollard, Jr.
 United States
← 1932
1948 →

Background

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This was the tenth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Two finalists from 1932 returned: bronze medalist Don Finlay of Great Britain and Willi Welscher of Germany, who had been disqualified in the final in Los Angeles. Forrest Towns and Fritz Pollard, Jr. of the United States were the favorites; Towns had set the world record at 14.1 seconds.[1]

The Republic of China, the Philippines, and Yugoslavia each made their first appearance in the event. The United States made its tenth appearance, the only nation to have competed in the 110 metres hurdles in each Games to that point.

Competition format

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The competition used the three-round basic format introduced in 1908. The first round consisted of six heats, with 5 or 6 hurdlers each. The top two hurdlers in each heat advanced to the semifinals. The 12 semifinalists were divided into two semifinals of 6 hurdlers each; the top three hurdlers in each advanced to the 6-man final.[1][3]

Records

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These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1936 Summer Olympics.

World record   Forrest Towns (USA) 14.1 Chicago, United States 19 June 1936
Olympic record   George Saling (USA) 14.4 Los Angeles, United States 2 August 1932

Forrest Towns matched his own world record in the first semifinal, lowering the Olympic record by 0.3 seconds in doing so.

Schedule

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The semifinals were held on the day of the final instead of the day of the first round.

Date Time Round
Wednesday, 5 August 1936 16:30 Round 1
Thursday, 6 August 1936 15:00
17:45
Semifinals
Final

Results

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Heats

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The fastest two runners in each of the six heats advanced to the semifinal round.

Heat 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Tom Lavery   South Africa 15.0 Q
2 Larry O'Connor   Canada 15.1 Q
3 Khristos Mantikas   Greece 15.2
4 Svend Aage Thomsen   Denmark 15.3
5 Juul Bosmans   Belgium Unknown
6 Yasuharu Furuta   Japan Unknown

Heat 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Fritz Pollard, Jr.   United States 14.7 Q
2 John Thornton   Great Britain 15.0 Q
3 Johann Langmayr   Austria 15.1
4 Willi Welscher   Germany 15.2
5 Huang Yingjie   Republic of China 16.9

Heat 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Don Finlay   Great Britain 14.7 Q
2 Tadashi Murakami   Japan 15.3 Q
3 Jim Worrall   Canada 15.6
4 Darcy Guimarães   Brazil Unknown
5 Ludvík Kománek   Czechoslovakia Unknown

Heat 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Roy Staley   United States 15.0 Q
2 Juan Lavenás   Argentina 15.1 Q
3 Ashleigh Pilbrow   Great Britain 15.5
4 Ioannis Skiadas   Greece Unknown
5 Lin Shaozhou   Republic of China 15.7

Heat 5

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Forrest Towns   United States 14.5 Q
2 Erwin Wegner   Germany 15.1 Q
3 Ernst Leitner   Austria 15.3
4 René Kunz   Switzerland Unknown
5 Kotaro Shimizu   Japan Unknown

Heat 6

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Håkan Lidman   Sweden 14.9
2 Vane Ivanović   Yugoslavia 15.1
3 Gianni Caldana   Italy 15.1
4 Alf Watson   Australia 15.1
5 Miguel White   Philippines Unknown

Semifinals

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The fastest three runners in each of the two heats advanced to the final round.

Semifinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Forrest Towns   United States 14.1 Q, =WR, OR
2 Håkan Lidman   Sweden 14.5 Q
3 John Thornton   Great Britain 14.7
4 Roy Staley   United States 14.8
5 Tadashi Murakami   Japan 15.1
6 Juan Lavenás   Argentina 15.6

Heat 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Don Finlay   Great Britain 14.5 Q
2 Fritz Pollard, Jr.   United States 14.6 Q
3 Larry O'Connor   Canada 15.0
4 Vane Ivanović   Yugoslavia 15.2
5 Erwin Wegner   Germany 15.3
6 Tom Lavery   South Africa 15.6

Final

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Pollard led early. Towns caught him at the third hurdle, going on to win "quite easily." Finlay finished strong, just passing Pollard at the end.[1]

Rank Athlete Nation Time
  Forrest Towns   United States 14.2
  Don Finlay   Great Britain 14.4
  Fritz Pollard, Jr.   United States 14.4
4 Håkan Lidman   Sweden 14.4
5 John Thornton   Great Britain 14.7
6 Larry O'Connor   Canada 14.8

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "110 metres Hurdles, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  2. ^ "Athletics at the 1936 Berlin Summer Games: Men's 110 metres Hurdles". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  3. ^ Official Report, vol. 2, pp. 651–52.