Athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's 110 metres hurdles

This was the fourth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. None of the hurdlers from 1904 returned. The Americans were favored, but it was difficult to determine which one. Forrest Smithson was the winner of the 1907 AAU title and Western Olympic trials; Arthur Shaw was the 1908 AAU and IC4A champion; John Garrels was the 1907 IC4A champion and Central Olympic trials winner; and Leonard Howe had won the Eastern Olympic trials.[3]

Belgium, Canada, Norway, South Africa, and Sweden each made their first appearance in the event, as did the combined Australia/New Zealand team "Australasia" (though Australia had competed in 1904). The United States made its fourth appearance, the only nation to have competed in the 110 metres hurdles in each Games to that point.

There were three rounds for the first time. The first round consisted of 14 heats, many of which had only one hurdler and none of which had more than three. The top hurdler in each heat advanced to the semifinals. The 14 semifinalists were divided into four semifinals of 3 or 4 runners each; again, only the top hurdler advanced to the 4-man final.[3][4]

Ten sets of hurdles were set on the course. The hurdles were 3 feet, 6 inches (1.07m) tall and were placed ten yards (9.144m) apart beginning fifteen yards (13.716m) from the starting line.

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1908 Summer Olympics.

World Record	15.0(*)	Thaddeus Shideler	St. Louis (USA)	June 11, 1904
Olympic Record	15.4	Alvin Kraenzlein	Paris (FRA)	July 14, 1900

(*) unofficial 120 yards (= 109.73 m)

Forrest Smithson equalled the Olympic record when he ran 15.4 seconds in his semifinal. In the final he set the first official world record (ratified by the IAAF in 1912) in this event with 15.0 seconds.

• Cook, Theodore Andrea (1908). The Fourth Olympiad, Being the Official Report. London: British Olympic Association.
• De Wael, Herman (2001). "Athletics 1908". Herman's Full Olympians. Retrieved 30 July 2006.
• Wudarski, Pawel (1999). "Wyniki Igrzysk Olimpijskich" (in Polish). Retrieved 30 July 2006.