Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metres

The men's 100 metres sprint event at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, United States, were held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on July 31 and August 1.[1] Thirty-three runners from 17 nations competed. The 1930 Olympic Congress in Berlin had reduced the limit from 4 athletes per NOC to 3 athletes.[2]

Men's 100 metres
at the Games of the X Olympiad
VenueLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
DatesJuly 31, 1932 (heats, quarterfinals)
August 1, 1932 (semifinals, final)
Competitors33 from 17 nations
Winning time10.3 seconds
Medalists
Eddie Tolan  United States
Ralph Metcalfe  United States
Arthur Jonath  Germany
Official Video on YouTube
Athletics at the
1932 Summer Olympics
Track events
100 mmenwomen
200 mmen
400 mmen
800 mmen
1500 mmen
5000 mmen
10,000 mmen
80 m hurdleswomen
110 m hurdlesmen
400 m hurdlesmen
3000 m steeplemen
4×100 m relaymenwomen
4×400 m relaymen
Road events
Marathonmen
50 km walkmen
Field events
Long jumpmen
Triple jumpmen
High jumpmenwomen
Pole vaultmen
Shot putmen
Discus throwmenwomen
Javelin throwmenwomen
Hammer throwmen
Combined events
Decathlonmen

The photo finish final was won by American Eddie Tolan in a world record equalling time of 10.38 seconds. Teammate Ralph Metcalfe won the silver and was credited with the same time as Tolan.[3] It was the first American victory since 1920, after the United States was kept off the podium entirely in 1928. Germany won its second consecutive bronze medal in the event. Defending Olympic champion and world record holder Percy Williams of Canada did not advance past the semifinals. Takayoshi Yoshioka was the first Asian to make the final.[4]

Background

This was the ninth time the event was held, having appeared at every Olympics since the first in 1896. Notable entrants included Canada's Percy Williams, the defending gold medalist and world record holder, and American Ralph Metcalfe, NCAA champion and U.S. Olympic trial winner.[4]

Two electrical timing devices, one hand-operated and one camera-based, were introduced to "double check" the stop watches.[5][6]

China was represented in the event for the first time. The United States was the only nation to have appeared at each of the first nine Olympic men's 100 metres events.

Competition format

The event retained the four round format from 1920–1928: heats, quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final. There were 7 heats, of 4–6 athletes each, with the top 3 in each heat advancing to the quarterfinals. The 21 quarterfinalists (19 after two withdrawals) were placed into 4 heats of 4 or 5 athletes. Again, the top 3 advanced. There were 2 heats of 6 semifinalists, once again with the top 3 advancing to the 6-man final.[4]

Records

These are the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1932 Summer Olympics.

World Record 10.3 Percy Williams Toronto (CAN) August 9, 1930
Olympic Record 10.6 Donald Lippincott Stockholm (SWE) July 6, 1912
10.6 Charlie Paddock Antwerp (BEL) August 16, 1920
10.6 Harold Abrahams Paris (FRA) July 6/7 1924
10.6 Robert McAllister Amsterdam (NED) July 29/30 1928
10.6 Percy Williams Amsterdam (NED) July 30, 1928
10.6 Wilfred Legg Amsterdam (NED) July 30, 1928

Arthur Jonath equalled the standing Olympic record with 10.6 in the third heat of the first round. Eddie Tolan set a new Olympic record with 10.4 in the first heat of the quarterfinals, and equalled the world record of 10.3 in the final along with Ralph Metcalfe.

Results

Heat one
RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Eddie Tolan United States10.9Q
2José de Almeida Brazil11.0Q
3Fernando Ortíz Mexico11.2Q
4André Théard Haiti11.4
5António Rodrigues Portugal11.5
–Fred Reid Great BritainDNF

Heat two
RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1George Simpson United States10.9
2Ernie Page Great Britain11.1
3Andrej Engel Czechoslovakia11.2
4Bunoo Sutton India11.4
5Liu Changchun China11.5

Heat three
RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Arthur Jonath Germany10.6Q, =WR
2Allan Elliot New Zealand10.8Q
3Izuo Anno Japan10.9Q
4Ronald Vernieux India11.0
5Samuel Giacosa Argentina11.1

Heat four
RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Carlos Bianchi Argentina10.8Q
2Helmut Körnig Germany11.0Q
3Percy Williams Canada11.1Q
4Jesús Moraila Mexico11.2

Heat five
RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Ralph Metcalfe United States11.0Q
2Bert Pearson Canada11.1Q
3Angelos Lambrou Greece11.3Q
4Fernando Ramírez Mexico11.4

Heat six
RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Danie Joubert South Africa11.0Q
2Harold Wright Canada11.2Q
3Ernst Geerling Germany11.3Q
4Ricardo Guimarães Brazil11.4

Heat seven
RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Takayoshi Yoshioka Japan10.9Q
2Chris Berger Netherlands11.1Q
3Héctor Berra Argentina11.2Q
4Stanley Fuller Great Britain11.3
5Mario Marques Brazil11.5

Quarterfinals

Berra and Lambrou withdrew before the quarterfinals.

Quarterfinal one
RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Eddie Tolan United States10.53Q, OR
2Carlos Bianchi Argentina10.5Q
3Percy Williams Canada10.7Q
4Chris Berger Netherlands10.7
5Fernando Ortíz Mexico11.0

Quarterfinal two
RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1George Simpson United States10.74Q
2Harold Wright Canada10.9Q
3Helmut Körnig Germany11.0Q
4Andrej Engel Czechoslovakia11.1

Quarterfinal three
RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Ralph Metcalfe United States10.77Q
2Takayoshi Yoshioka Japan10.8Q
3Allan Elliot New Zealand10.9Q
4Ernie Page Great Britain10.9
5Ernst Geerling Germany11.1

Quarterfinal four
RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Arthur Jonath Germany10.68Q
2Danie Joubert South Africa10.6Q
3Bert Pearson Canada10.7Q
4José de Almeida Brazil10.8
5Izuo Anno Japan10.9

Semifinal one

The finish was close enough that the timing showed errors. Film of the race indicates that Yoshioka won, with Joubert second, and Tolan third, while officials clocked Tolan at 10.81 seconds, Joubert also at 10.81 seconds, and Yoshioka at 10.83 seconds. Because all three advanced to the final anyway, the discrepancy did not matter.[4]

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Eddie Tolan United States10.81Q
2Danie Joubert South Africa10.81Q
3Takayoshi Yoshioka Japan10.83Q
4Percy Williams Canada10.91
5Allan Elliot New Zealand11.0
6Helmut Körnig Germany11.2

Semifinal two
RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Ralph Metcalfe United States10.65Q
2George Simpson United States10.70Q
3Arthur Jonath Germany10.71Q
4Carlos Bianchi Argentina10.73
5Bert Pearson Canada10.95
6Harold Wright Canada11.1

Final

Under the rules in force at the time, runners were judged to have finished the race when they had crossed the line; in 1933, this was changed so that runners finished the race when they reached the line.

The final was close enough that had this rule been in force at the Games, Metcalfe would have been the winner: Melcalfe reached the finish line first, but Tolan, who was shorter,[7] crossed the line first.[8][9]

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
Eddie Tolan United States10.38=WR
Ralph Metcalfe United States10.38=WR
Arthur Jonath Germany10.50
4George Simpson United States10.53
5Danie Joubert South Africa10.60
6Takayoshi Yoshioka Japan10.79

References
  1. "Athletics at the 1932 Los Angeles Summer Games: Men's 100 metres". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  2. Official Report, p. 377.
  3. "Tolan wins by two inches in Olympic 100 meters". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. August 2, 1932. p. 1.
  4. "100 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  5. Official Report, p. 380.
  6. Official Report, pp. 384–85.
  7. "Friends and rivals". Milwaukee Journal. World Wide photo. August 3, 1932. p. 3, part 2.
  8. Wolf, Bob (July 26, 1984). "Olympic blunder". Milwaukee Journal. p. 3, part 3.
  9. Rice, Grantland (August 2, 1932). "Tolan-Metcalfe race greatest in Olympic history, says Rice". Milwaukee Journal. NANA. p. 4, part 2.
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