Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Men's 110 metres hurdles

This was the ninth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. None of the finalists from 1928 returned. Percy Beard and Jack Keller of the United States and Bengt Sjöstedt of Finland each had tied the world record before the Games.[2]

For the first time, no nations made their debut in the 110 metres hurdles. The United States made its ninth 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. The first round consisted of four heats, with between 3 and 6 hurdlers each. The top three hurdlers in each heat advanced to the semifinals. The 12 semifinalists were divided into two semifinals of 6 hurdlers each; the top three hurdlers in each advanced to the 6-man final.[2][4]

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

World record	Eric Wennström (SWE)	14.4	Stockholm, Sweden	25 August 1929
Olympic record	George Weightman-Smith (RSA)	14.6	Amsterdam, Netherlands	31 July 1928

Jack Keller broke the Olympic record in the first semifinal, setting a new time at 14.5 seconds. George Saling bettered it in the second semifinal, dropping the Olympic record to 14.4 seconds—equal to the world record.