1900 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 110 m hurdles (men)

sport	athletics
discipline	110 meter hurdles
gender	Men
place	Croix Catelan
Attendees	9 athletes from 3 countries
Competition phase	July 14, 1900
Medalist
gold	Alvin Kraenzlein ( USA )
silver	John McLean ( USA )
bronze	Frederick Moloney ( USA )

The men's 110-meter hurdles at the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris was decided on July 14, 1900 in the Croix Catelan . On the same day, three preliminary runs, two hope runs and the final were held.

The medals were shared among three Americans. Alvin Kraenzlein was Olympic champion ahead of John McLean and Frederick Moloney .

Records

The world record given here relates to the metric distance. Significantly better times had already been achieved on the comparable 120- yard course , but at 109.728 meters it is not quite the length required for a record to be recognized, although world records were not officially held at the time. On June 18, 1898, Alvin Kraenzlein had achieved 15.2 seconds over this distance in Chicago .

World record	15.8 s	Canada	Harry Morrell	1892
Olympic record	17.6 s	United States	Thomas Curtis	Final of Athens ( Greece ), April 10, 1896

The following records were broken or set at these Olympic Games over 110 meter hurdles :

OR	15.6 s	United States	Alvin Kraenzlein	1st preliminary, July 14th
	15.4 s			Final run, July 14th

Results

Prelims

There were three preliminary runs. The winners - highlighted in color - qualified directly for the final, all others got a second chance over two hopes. However, the division of these preliminary runs was completely incomprehensible. In each of the first two races there were four participants, the third was contested by a single runner alone. In order to create a certain equality of opportunity somewhere, additional runs of hope were included in the program.

Forward 1

space	Surname	country	time
1	Alvin Kraenzlein	United States	15.6 s	WR
2	Frederick Moloney	United States	unknown
3	John McLean	United States	unknown
-	Eugène Choisel	France	DNF

Kraenzlein's lead over his two compatriots was three and five yards, respectively . Choisel did not reach the goal. At zur Megede , another participant in this race is the German Richard Rau in fifth place.

Forward 2

space	Surname	country	time
1	Norman Pritchard	India	16.6 s
2	William Remington	United States	unknown
3	William Lewis	United States	unknown
-	Adolphe Klingelhoefer	France	DNF

Remington followed the winner of the run a yard and a half behind, Lewis a long way behind. Klingelhoefer did not reach the goal.

Forward 3

space	Surname	country	time
1	Jean Lécuyer	France	unknown	single-handedly

Hope runs

The two winners from the hope runs - highlighted in color - completed the final of the first place from the three preliminary runs.

Hope run 1

space	Surname	country	time
1	Frederick Moloney	United States	17.0 s
2	William Lewis	United States	unknown
3	Eugène Choisel	France	unknown

Moloney had a lead of five meters at the finish. Choisel was certified as having "good resistance".

Hope run 2

space	Surname	country	time
1	John McLean	United States	17.0 s
2	William Remington	United States	unknown

McLean clearly won the run.

final

space	Surname	country	time
1	Alvin Kraenzlein	United States	15.4 s	WR
2	John McLean	United States	15.6 s	estimated
3	Frederick Moloney	United States	unknown
4th	Jean Lécuyer	France	unknown
-	Norman Pritchard	India	DNF

McLean made an obvious false start in the final, which the inexperienced French starter did not punish. So he initially had a five- yard lead, but Kraenzlein caught up to the eighth hurdle. This extended his lead to three yards to the finish. Moloney also got very close to McLean, but was knocked out by a foot . Pritchard didn't finish.

The information on the residues given in yards or feet is taken from the information provided by SportsReference . The estimated time for the second-placed McLean is named in the literature by zur Megede . In the latter source there are two deviations from the results listed here: (1) Pritchard is ranked fifth in the final. (2) The first name of the Lécuyer who won the Olympics is "A.".

The winner Alvin Kraenzlein was an exceptional athlete of his time. He won a total of four gold medals in three days at these games. He set four world records in two disciplines or one and in two other disciplines he achieved three Olympic records.

Olympic champion Alvin Kraenzlein in historical pictures

• 

  The Olympic champion in the hurdles

• 

  Alvin Kraenzlein in a recording from 1899

• 

  Kraenzlein in another race over hurdles that did not have a uniform shape at the time

literature

• Volker Kluge , Olympic Summer Games - The Chronicle I, Berlin 1997 ( ISBN 3-328-00715-6 )
• Ekkehard zur Megede , The history of Olympic athletics, Volume 1: 1896–1936, Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 2nd edition 1970

Web links

• SportsReference, Athletics at the 1900 Paris Summer Games: Men's 110 meters Hurdles , accessed July 22, 2018
• Olympic Games Paris 1900, Athletics, 110m hurdles men , IOC website on athletics at the 1900 Olympic Games from olympic.org, English, accessed on 22 July 2018

Individual evidence

1. ^ Ekkehard zur Megede , The History of Olympic Athletics, Volume 1: 1896–1936, Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 2nd edition 1970, p. 35