Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Men's 110 metres hurdles

The men's 110 metres hurdles hurdling event at the 1932 Summer Olympics took place on August 2 and August 3 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.[1] Seventeen athletes from 10 nations competed.[2] The 1930 Olympic Congress in Berlin had reduced the limit from 4 athletes per NOC to 3 athletes.[3] The event was won by George Saling of the United States, the first in a streak of nine victories by the Americans (and the seventh overall gold medal for the United States in the 110 metres hurdles). It initially appeared that the Americans had swept the medals, but film review showed that Don Finlay had come in third over Jack Keller; this gave Great Britain its first medal in the event since 1896.[2]

Men's 110 metres hurdles
at the Games of the X Olympiad
Entrance to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (2012)
VenueLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum
DatesAugust 2 (round 1 and semifinals)
August 3 (final)
Competitors17 from 10 nations
Winning time14.6
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) George Saling
 United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Percy Beard
 United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Don Finlay
 Great Britain
← 1928
1936 →

Background edit

This was the ninth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. None of the finalists from 1928 returned. Percy Beard and Jack Keller of the United States and Bengt Sjöstedt of Finland each had tied the world record before the Games.[2]

For the first time, no nations made their debut in the 110 metres hurdles. The United States made its ninth appearance, the only nation to have competed in the 110 metres hurdles in each Games to that point.

Competition format edit

The competition used the three-round basic format introduced in 1908. The first round consisted of four heats, with between 3 and 6 hurdlers each. The top three 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.[2][4]

Records edit

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1932 Summer Olympics.

World record   Eric Wennström (SWE) 14.4 Stockholm, Sweden 25 August 1929
Olympic record   George Weightman-Smith (RSA) 14.6 Amsterdam, Netherlands 31 July 1928

Jack Keller broke the Olympic record in the first semifinal, setting a new time at 14.5 seconds. George Saling bettered it in the second semifinal, dropping the Olympic record to 14.4 seconds—equal to the world record.

Schedule edit

Date Time Round
Tuesday, 2 August 1932 14:30
16:15
Round 1
Semifinals
Wednesday, 3 August 1932 15:45 Final

Results edit

Round 1 edit

Four heats were held; the fastest three runners advanced to the semifinal round.

Heat 1 edit

Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (auto) Notes
1 Percy Beard   United States 14.7 14.80 Q
2 Roland Harper   Great Britain 14.9 Q
3 Erwin Wegner   Germany 15.1 Q
4 Sylvio Padilha   Brazil 15.4

Heat 2 edit

Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (auto) Notes
1 Don Finlay   Great Britain 14.8 14.84 Q
2 George Saling   United States 15.0 Q
3 Tatsuzo Fujita   Japan 15.1 Q

Heat 3 edit

Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (auto) Notes
1 Willi Welscher   Germany 14.8 15.02 Q
2 Bengt Sjöstedt   Finland 14.9 Q
3 Bunoo Sutton   India 15.1 Q
4 Art Ravensdale   Canada 15.2
5 Antônio Giusfredi   Brazil 15.3
6 Federico Gamboa   Mexico 15.4

Heat 4 edit

Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (auto) Notes
1 Jack Keller   United States 14.9 15.01 Q
2 Khristos Mantikas   Greece 15.1 Q
3 Lord Burghley   Great Britain 15.1 Q
4 Roberto Sánchez   Mexico 15.7

Semifinals edit

Two heats were held; the fastest three runners advanced to the final.

Semifinal 1 edit

Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (auto) Notes
1 Jack Keller   United States 14.5 14.63 Q, OR
2 Lord Burghley   Great Britain 14.6 Q
3 Don Finlay   Great Britain 14.6 Q
4 Bunoo Sutton   India Unknown
5 Bengt Sjöstedt   Finland Unknown
6 Erwin Wegner   Germany Unknown

Semifinal 2 edit

Mantikas was disqualified for knocking down three hurdles.[2]

Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (auto) Notes
1 George Saling   United States 14.4 14.55 Q, =WR, OR
2 Percy Beard   United States 14.6 Q
3 Willi Welscher   Germany 14.8 Q
4 Tatsuzo Fujita   Japan 14.8
5 Roland Harper   Great Britain 14.9
Khristos Mantikas   Greece DSQ

Final edit

Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (auto)
  George Saling   United States 14.6 14.57
  Percy Beard   United States 14.7 14.69
  Don Finlay   Great Britain 14.8 14.74
4 Jack Keller   United States 14.8 14.81
5 Lord Burghley   Great Britain 14.8 14.83
Willi Welscher   Germany DSQ

References edit

  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1932 Los Angeles Summer Games: Men's 110 metres Hurdles". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d e "110 metres Hurdles, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  3. ^ Official Report, p. 377.
  4. ^ Official Report, pp. 433–35.