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

The men's 100 metres was a sprinting event on the athletics programme at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. It was held on July 14, 1900. 20 athletes from nine nations competed. The event was won by Frank Jarvis of the United States, the second of three straight gold medals by different Americans in the event. Australia medaled in the event for the first time, a bronze by Stan Rowley.

Men's 100 metres at the Games of the II Olympiad
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 the event was held. None of the 1896 runners competed in 1900. American Arthur Duffey had recently won the AAA Championships (at 100 yards) and was heavily favored.^[1] Unofficial world record holder (in an eight-way tie) Isaac Westergren of Sweden also entered the competition.

No athletes from France, the host nation, competed. Australia, Bohemia, India, and Italy were represented for the first time.

The 1900 competition was one of only two Olympic Games (the other being 1904) where the men's 100 metres was not the shortest sprint, as the 60 metres was held in those two Games.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1900 Summer Olympics.

World Record	10.8^[a]	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)

1. unofficial

Arthur Duffey in the first heat of the first round and Walter Tewksbury in the second heat of the first round set new Olympic records with 11.4 seconds. In the third heat of the first round Frank Jarvis equalled the unofficial world record with 10.8 seconds. In the second semifinal Tewksbury also equalled the world record with 10.8 seconds.

Competition format

The competition consisted of four rounds: heats, semifinals, a repechage, and a final. The top two runners in each of the six heats advanced to the semifinals. Those 12 men were divided into 3 semifinals of 4 runners each. The 1st-place runner in each semifinal advanced directly to the final, the 2nd and 3rd place runners went to the repechage, and the 4th place finisher was eliminated. In the 6-man repechage, only the winner advanced to the final and everyone else was eliminated.

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 top two runners in each advanced to the semifinals.

Heat 1

Duffey was a metre ahead of Moloney at the finish.

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

Tewksbury beat McClain by six inches, with Koppán far back in third being eliminated.

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

The fastest of the preliminary heats featured two of the eventual medallists; Jarvis won by a metre and equalled 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

Leiblee beat Doerry by a yard.

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 one that was not won by an American, with Pritchard beating Minahan by half a yard.

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

In an all-American heat, Burroughs defeated Boardman by a yard; Slack, in third, was the only American to be eliminated in the first round.

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 with four runners. The top runner in each of the semifinals advanced to the final, while the second and third place runners competed in the repechage. The winner of the six-runner repechage advanced to the final as well.

Semifinal 1

Duffey dropped almost half a second from his preliminary heat time to beat Rowley by five feet. Burroughs beat Boardman to stay in contention via the repechage.

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 equalled the world record, the second runner to accomplish that at the Paris Games, to beat Leiblee by six inches, while Doerry pulled up lame.

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

Jarvis won by a yard over McClain: McClain and Pritchard were relegated to the repechage, with Minahan being eliminated.

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, with Rowley defeating Pritchard by two inches to advance to the final.

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 got away to an early lead, but pulled a tendon at the 50 meter mark. Jarvis beat Tewksbury by two feet, with Rowley half 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

1. "100 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 21 July 2020.

• International Olympic Committee.
• De Wael, Herman. Herman's Full Olympians: "Athletics 1900". Accessed 18 March 2006. Available electronically at [1] 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.