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Athletics at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metres

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Men's 100 metres
at the Games of the XVI Olympiad
VenueMelbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne, Australia
Dates23 November (heats, quarterfinals)
24 November 1956 (semifinals, final)
Competitors65 from 31 nations
Winning time10.5 seconds
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Bobby Morrow  United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Thane Baker  United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Hec Hogan  Australia
← 1952
1960 →
Video on YouTube Official Video @24:28
Athletics at the
1956 Summer Olympics
Track events
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
400 mmen
800 mmen
1500 mmen
5000 mmen
10,000 mmen
80 m hurdleswomen
110 m hurdlesmen
400 m hurdlesmen
3000 m
steeplechase		men
4 × 100 m relaymenwomen
4 × 400 m relaymen
Road events
Marathonmen
20 km walkmen
50 km walkmen
Field events
Long jumpmenwomen
Triple jumpmen
High jumpmenwomen
Pole vaultmen
Shot putmenwomen
Discus throwmenwomen
Javelin throwmenwomen
Hammer throwmen
Combined events
Decathlonmen

The men's 100 metres event at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia, was held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 23 and 24 November.[1] Sixty-five athletes from 31 nations competed; each nation was limited to three athletes. The final was won by American Bobby Morrow, marking the fifth consecutive victory by a different American. Hec Hogan of Australia won that country's first medal in the event since 1900.[2] The competition took place in strong winds, with the final run into a 2.5 m/s (5.6 mph) headwind.

Background

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This was the thirteenth time the event was held, having appeared at every Olympics since the first in 1896. None of the finalists from 1952 returned. Notable entrants were Americans Bobby Morrow (NCAA champion, U.S. Olympic trial champion, and heavy favorite) and Ira Murchison (world record co-holder); Dave Sime was injured and did not make the American team.[3]

The Bahamas, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Liberia, Malay, Singapore, and Ethiopia were represented in the event for the first time. In addition, German athletes competed as the "United Team" for the first time, though pre-World War II Germany had competed many times and West Germany had competed as "Germany" in 1952. The United States was the only nation to have appeared at each of the first thirteen Olympic men's 100 metres events.[citation needed]

Competition format

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The event retained the four round format from 1920 to 1952: heats, quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final. There were 12 heats, of 4–6 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.[3]

Records

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

World record 10.1 United States Willie Williams Berlin, Germany 3 August 1956
10.1 United States Ira Murchison Berlin, Germany 4 August 1956
10.1 United States Leamon King Ontario, United States 20 October 1956
10.1 United States Leamon King Santa Ana, United States 27 October 1956
Olympic record 10.3 United States Eddie Tolan Los Angeles, USA 1 August 1932
10.3 United States Ralph Metcalfe Los Angeles, USA 1 August 1932
10.3 United States Jesse Owens Berlin, Germany 2 August 1936
10.3 United States Harrison Dillard London, United Kingdom 31 July 1948

Despite headwinds, Ira Murchison and Bobby Morrow each equalled the Olympic record of 10.3 seconds (hand-timed) in the quarterfinals. Morrow did it again in the semifinals.

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 Ira Murchison  United States 10.67 Q
2 Jan Jarzembowski  Poland 10.95 Q
3 Hilmar Þorbjörnsson  Iceland 11.12
4 Mario Colarossi  Italy 11.14
5 René Ahumada  Mexico 11.26
6 Raja bin Ngah Ali  Malaya 11.41

Heat 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Mike Agostini  Trinidad and Tobago 10.98 Q
2 Luigi Gnocchi  Italy 11.01 Q
3 Titus Erinle  Nigeria 11.09
4 Jorge de Barros  Brazil 11.15
5 Vanchak Voradilok  Thailand 11.78
6 Roba Negousse  Ethiopia 12.07

Heat 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Maurice Rae  New Zealand 10.84 Q
2 Abdul Khaliq  Pakistan 10.97 Q
3 Manfred Steinbach  United Team of Germany 10.99
4 Rafael Romero  Venezuela 11.14
5 Evaristo Iglesias  Cuba 11.50

Heat 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Ben Nduga  Uganda 10.88 Q
2 Ken Box  Great Britain 10.96 Q
3 Kyohei Ushio  Japan 11.09
4 Kesavan Soon  Singapore 11.35
5 Jack Parrington  Canada 11.62

Heat 5

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Marian Foik  Poland 10.88 Q
2 Boris Tokarev  Soviet Union 11.09 Q
3 Franco Galbiati  Italy 11.13
4 Tom Robinson  Bahamas 11.30
5 Jalal Gozal  Indonesia 11.45
6 James Roberts  Liberia 11.45

Heat 6

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Manfred Germar  United Team of Germany 10.91 Q
2 Ray Land  Australia 11.05 Q
3 Keith Gardner  Jamaica 11.22
4 Alain David  France 11.24
5 Emmanuel Putu  Liberia 11.44
6 Beyene Legesse  Ethiopia 11.94

Heat 7

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Leonid Bartenev  Soviet Union 10.93 Q
2 Béla Goldoványi  Hungary 11.02 Q
3 Clive Bonas  Venezuela 11.17
4 Gavin Carragher  Australia 11.36
5 Thomas Obi  Nigeria 11.47
6 Bjørn Nilsen  Norway 11.58

Heat 8

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Hec Hogan  Australia 10.72 Q
2 René Bonino  France 10.96 Q
3 Géza Varasdi  Hungary 11.00
4 Akira Kiyofuji  Japan 11.00

Heat 9

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Thane Baker  United States 10.93 Q
2 Edmund Turton  Trinidad and Tobago 11.38 Q
3 Sinnayah Karuppiah Jarabalan  Malaya 11.56
4 Tan Eng Yoon  Singapore 11.63

Heat 10

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Stan Levenson  Canada 10.94 Q
2 Heinz Fütterer  United Team of Germany 11.10 Q
3 João Pires Sobrinho  Brazil 11.14
4 Joe Goddard  Trinidad and Tobago 11.19
5 Oliver Hunter  Guyana 11.22
6 Ghulam Raziq  Pakistan 11.26

Heat 11

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Edward Ajado  Nigeria 11.01 Q
2 Roy Sandstrom  Great Britain 11.05 Q
3 Dick Harding  Canada 11.20
4 Muhammad Sharif Butt  Pakistan 11.26
5 Abebe Hailou  Ethiopia 11.54
6 Sneh Wongchaoom  Thailand 11.95

Heat 12

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Bobby Morrow  United States 10.90 Q
2 Yuriy Konovalov  Soviet Union 11.04 Q
3 David Segal  Great Britain 11.19
4 Paiboon Vacharapan  Thailand 11.27
5 Lee Kah Fook  Malaya 11.84

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 Bobby Morrow  United States 10.55 Q, =OR (10.3 hand)
2 Mike Agostini  Trinidad and Tobago 10.75 Q
3 Maurice Rae  New Zealand 10.78 Q
4 Béla Goldoványi  Hungary 10.95
5 Heinz Fütterer  United Team of Germany 10.99
6 Ray Land  Australia 11.15

Quarterfinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Ira Murchison  United States 10.55 Q, =OR (10.3 hand)
2 Abdul Khaliq  Pakistan 10.78 Q
3 Yuriy Konovalov  Soviet Union 10.93 Q
4 Luigi Gnocchi  Italy 10.96
5 Edmund Turton  Trinidad and Tobago 11.37
6 Ben Nduga  Uganda 12.95

Quarterfinal 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Hec Hogan  Australia 10.78 Q
2 Boris Tokarev  Soviet Union 10.87 Q
3 Stan Levenson  Canada 10.93 Q
4 Jan Jarzembowski  Poland 10.98
5 Edward Ajado  Nigeria 11.02
6 Ken Box  Great Britain 11.45

Quarterfinal 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Thane Baker  United States 10.62 Q
2 Manfred Germar  Germany 10.80 Q
3 Marian Foik  Poland 10.83 Q
4 Leonid Bartenev  Soviet Union 10.84
5 René Bonino  France 10.96
6 Roy Sandstrom  Great Britain 11.03

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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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Ira Murchison  United States 10.79 Q
2 Mike Agostini  Trinidad and Tobago 10.79 Q
3 Manfred Germar  United Team of Germany 10.85 Q
4 Abdul Khaliq  Pakistan 10.93
5 Stan Levenson  Canada 10.94
6 Yuriy Konovalov  Soviet Union 11.11

Semifinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Bobby Morrow  United States 10.52 Q, =OR (10.3 hand)
2 Thane Baker  United States 10.61 Q
3 Hec Hogan  Australia 10.62 Q
4 Maurice Rae  New Zealand 10.68
5 Marian Foik  Poland 10.84
6 Boris Tokarev  Soviet Union 10.91

Final

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Wind -2.5 m/s

In lane 4, Bobby Morrow was out fast, sandwiched by his teammates Thane Baker in lane 6 and Ira Murchison in lane 1. Morrow just ran away from the field. Baker edged ahead of Murchison to get silver, and running before an Australian crowd, Hec Hogan came from behind to nip Murchison at the line. While Morrow was almost two metres ahead of Baker at the finish, the hand timing of the day gave them the same time of 10.5; the electronic timing system showed the margin to be a more accurate 0.15 of a second.

Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (automatic)
1st place, gold medalist(s) Bobby Morrow  United States 10.5 10.62
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Thane Baker  United States 10.5 10.77
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Hec Hogan  Australia 10.6 10.77
4 Ira Murchison  United States 10.6 10.79
5 Manfred Germar  United Team of Germany 10.7 10.86
6 Mike Agostini  Trinidad and Tobago 10.7 10.88

References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games: Men's 100 metres". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
  2. ^ Stanley Rowley's bronze medal in 1900 is retroactive; at the time, bronze medals were not awarded for third place. Thus, the 1956 Official Report states that Hogan's third-place finish "was the first time an Australian had won a sprint medal." Official Report, p. 269.
  3. ^ a b "100 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
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