Athletics at the 1952 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metres

The men's 100 metres sprint event at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki, Finland was held at the Olympic Stadium on 20 and 21 July. Seventy-two athletes from 33 nations competed; each nation was limited to 3 runners. The final was won by American Lindy Remigino, the fourth consecutive victory by a different American.[1] Herb McKenley won Jamaica's first medal in the men's 100 metres with his silver, while McDonald Bailey's bronze put Great Britain on the podium for the first time since 1928. The final was "probably the closest mass finish in Olympic 100 metre history" with the first four runners all clocking in at 10.4 seconds hand-timed, all six finalists within 0.12 seconds electric-timed (10.79 for first, 10.91 for sixth), and a photo finish necessary to separate the winners.[2]

Men's 100 metres
at the Games of the XV Olympiad
VenueOlympic Stadium
Helsinki, Finland
Dates20 July 1952 (heats, quarterfinals)
21 July 1952 (semifinals, final)
Competitors72 from 33 nations
Winning time10.4 seconds (hand)
10.79 seconds (auto)
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Lindy Remigino  United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Herb McKenley  Jamaica
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) McDonald Bailey  Great Britain
← 1948
1956 →

Background

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This was the twelfth time the event was held, having appeared at every Olympics since the first in 1896. None of the medalists from 1948 returned, but sixth-place finisher McDonald Bailey (who had recently tied the world record) did. London bronze medalist Lloyd LaBeach's brother Byron LaBeach represented Jamaica. Other notable entrants were American Art Bragg (who pulled his hamstring before the semifinal) and Jamaican Herb McKenley, who were favorites along with Bailey.[2]

Bulgaria, Ghana, Guatemala, Israel, Nigeria, the Soviet Union, Thailand, and Venezuela were represented in the event for the first time. The United States was the only nation to have appeared at each of the first twelve Olympic men's 100 metres events.

Competition format

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The event retained the four round format from 1920 to 1948: heats, quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final. There were 12 heats, of 4–7 athletes each, with the top 2 in each heat advancing to the quarterfinals. The 24 quarterfinalists were placed into 4 heats of 6 athletes. The top 3 in each quarterfinal advanced to the semifinals. There were 2 heats of 6 semifinalists, once again with the top 3 advancing to the 6-man final.[2]

Records

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Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.

World record 10.2   Jesse Owens Chicago, United States 20 June 1936
10.2   Harold Davis Compton, United States 6 June 1941
10.2   Lloyd LaBeach Fresno, United States 15 May 1948
10.2   Barney Ewell Evanston, United States 9 July 1948
10.2   McDonald Bailey Belgrade, Yugoslavia 25 August 1951
Olympic record 10.3   Eddie Tolan Los Angeles, USA 1 August 1932
10.3   Ralph Metcalfe Los Angeles, USA 1 August 1932
10.3   Jesse Owens Berlin, Germany 2 August 1936
10.3   Harrison Dillard London, United Kingdom 31 July 1948

Results

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Heats

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The fastest two runners in each of the twelve heats advanced to the quarterfinal round.

Heat 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 John Treloar   Australia 10.92 Q
2 Alan Lillington   Great Britain 11.06 Q
3 Gabriel Lareya   Ghana 11.18
4 Miroslav Horčic   Czechoslovakia 11.23
5 Ásmundur Bjarnason   Iceland 11.40
6 Youssef Ali Omar   Egypt 11.53
7 José Julio Barillas   Guatemala 11.56

Heat 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Étienne Bally   France 10.97 Q
2 Angel Kolev   Bulgaria 11.01 Q
3 Paul Dolan   Ireland 11.12
4 Raúl Mazorra   Cuba 11.19
5 Robert Hutchinson   Canada 11.26
6 Masaji Tajima   Japan 11.29
7 Adul Wanasatith   Thailand 11.61

Heat 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 McDonald Bailey   Great Britain 10.65 Q
2 Carlo Vittori   Italy 10.98 Q
3 Mikhail Kazantsev   Soviet Union 11.16
4 Hörður Haraldsson   Iceland 11.31
5 Javier Souza   Mexico 11.32
6 Stefanos Petrakis   Greece 11.33

Heat 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 William Jack   Great Britain 11.05 Q
2 Romeo Galán   Argentina 11.11 Q
3 Levan Sanadze   Soviet Union 11.13
4 Emad El-Din Shafei   Egypt 11.40
5 Guillermo Gutiérrez   Venezuela 11.42
6 Boonterm Pakpuang   Thailand 11.85

Heat 5

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Herb McKenley   Jamaica 10.88 Q
2 György Csányi   Hungary 11.09 Q
3 Emil Kiszka   Poland 11.13
4 Pauli Tavisalo   Finland 11.30
5 Tomás Paquete   Portugal 11.45
6 Walter Sutton   Canada 11.45

Heat 6

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 David Tabak   Israel 11.12 Q
2 Tomio Hosoda   Japan 11.14 Q
3 Willy Schneider   Switzerland 11.22
4 Angel Gavrilov   Bulgaria 11.29
5 Juan Leiva   Venezuela 11.31

Heat 7

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Vladimir Sukharev   Soviet Union 10.93 Q
2 Theo Saat   Netherlands 11.02 Q
3 Muhammad Sharif Butt   Pakistan 11.17
4 Voitto Hellstén   Finland 11.36
5 George Acquaah   Ghana 11.47
6 Mariano Acosta   Argentina 11.58
7 Wolfango Montanari   Italy 12.25

Heat 8

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Rafael Fortún   Cuba 10.93 Q
2 Byron LaBeach   Jamaica 11.09 Q
3 Franco Leccese   Italy 11.18
4 Issi Baran   Finland 11.32
5 Fritz Griesser   Switzerland 11.54

Heat 9

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Werner Zandt   Germany 11.03 Q
2 Muhammad Aslam   Pakistan 11.18 Q
3 Don McFarlane   Canada 11.25
4 Zdeněk Pospíšil   Czechoslovakia 11.25
5 Edward Ajado   Nigeria 11.25
6 Fawzi Chaaban   Egypt 11.51
- Enrique Beckles   Argentina DSQ

Heat 10

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Art Bragg   United States 10.73 Q
2 Hans Wehrli   Switzerland 11.00 Q
3 Titus Erinle   Nigeria 11.12
4 László Zarándi   Hungary 11.26
5 Pétur Sigurðsson   Iceland 11.55
6 Arun Sankosik   Thailand 11.76

Heat 11

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Lindy Remigino   United States 10.73 Q
2 Lavy Pinto   India 11.00 Q
3 René Bonino   France 11.00
4 František Brož   Czechoslovakia 11.32
5 Abdul Aziz   Pakistan 11.48
6 Rui Maia   Portugal 11.79

Heat 12

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Dean Smith   United States 10.90 Q
2 Alain Porthault   France 11.04 Q
3 Erich Fuchs   Germany 11.19
4 Karim Olowu   Nigeria 11.27

Quarterfinals

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The fastest three runners in each of the four heats advanced to the semifinal round.

Quarterfinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 McDonald Bailey   Great Britain 10.73 Q
2 John Treloar   Australia 10.84 Q
3 Alain Porthault   France 10.99 Q
4 Muhammad Aslam   Pakistan 11.02
5 Byron LaBeach   Jamaica 11.05
- Angel Kolev   Bulgaria DSQ

Quarterfinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Lindy Remigino   United States 10.68 Q
2 Theo Saat   Netherlands 10.93 Q
3 Lavy Pinto   India 10.98 Q
4 Étienne Bally   France 10.98
5 Hans Wehrli   Switzerland 11.05
6 Alan Lillington   Great Britain 11.26

Quarterfinal 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Dean Smith   United States 10.69 Q
2 Rafael Fortún   Cuba 10.90 Q
3 William Jack   Great Britain 10.94 Q
4 Werner Zandt   Germany 10.98
5 Romeo Galán   Argentina 11.08
6 David Tabak   Israel 11.10

Quarterfinal 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Herb McKenley   Jamaica 10.72 Q
2 Art Bragg   United States 10.75 Q
3 Vladimir Sukharev   Soviet Union 10.92 Q
4 Tomio Hosoda   Japan 11.03
5 György Csányi   Hungary 11.07
6 Carlo Vittori   Italy 11.79

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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Bragg tore a muscle in this semifinal.[3]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 McDonald Bailey   Great Britain 10.74 Q
2 Dean Smith   United States 10.78 Q
3 Vladimir Sukharev   Soviet Union 10.86 Q
4 Lavy Pinto   India 10.94
5 Alain Porthault   France 11.04
6 Art Bragg   United States 11.43

Semifinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Herb McKenley   Jamaica 10.74 Q
2 Lindy Remigino   United States 10.74 Q
3 John Treloar   Australia 10.76 Q
4 Rafael Fortún   Cuba 10.92
5 William Jack   Great Britain 11.01
6 Theo Saat   Netherlands 11.12

Final

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
  Lindy Remigino   United States 10.79 Photo-determined finish
  Herb McKenley   Jamaica 10.80
  McDonald Bailey   Great Britain 10.83
4 Dean Smith   United States 10.84
5 Vladimir Sukharev   Soviet Union 10.88
6 John Treloar   Australia 10.91

References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1952 Helsinki Summer Games: Men's 100 metres". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "100 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  3. ^ Official Report, p. 250.