Athletics at the 1920 Summer Olympics – Men's 110 metres hurdles

This was the sixth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. None of the finalists from the pre-war 1912 Games returned. Earl Thomson of Canada was a heavy favorite; he had won the 1920 AAU championship, IC4A championship (120 yards, in a world record 14.4 seconds), and Canadian Olympic trials.[3]

Czechoslovakia, Denmark, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Switzerland each made their first appearance in the event. The United States made its sixth appearance, the only nation to have competed in the 110 metres hurdles in each Games to that point.

The competition used the three-round basic format introduced in 1908, though the effectiveness of the first round in narrowing the field was dramatically increased compared to 1908 and 1912. The first round consisted of six heats, with between 3 and 5 hurdlers each. The top two hurdlers in each heat advanced to the semifinals. The 12 semifinalists were divided into two semifinals of 6 runners each; the top three hurdlers in each advanced to the 6-man final.[3][4]

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1920 Summer Olympics.

World record	Forrest Smithson (USA)	15.0	London, United Kingdom	25 July 1908
Olympic record	Forrest Smithson (USA)	15.0	London, United Kingdom	25 July 1908

In the semifinals, Harold Barron and Earl Thomson equalled the world record with 15.0 seconds. In the final, Earl Thomson set a new world record with 14.8 seconds.

• Belgium Olympic Committee (1957). Olympic Games Antwerp 1920: Official Report (in French).
• Wudarski, Pawel (1999). "Wyniki Igrzysk Olimpijskich" (in Polish). Retrieved 16 August 2007.