Venue Bois de Boulogne Competitors 9 from 3 nations | Date July 14 | |
The men's 110 metres hurdles was the first of the track and field events on the athletics programme at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. It was held on July 14, 1900. Nine athletes from three nations competed in the shortest of the hurdling events.
Contents
Records
These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1900 Summer Olympics.
(*) unofficial 120 yards (= 109.73 m)
At first Alvin Kraenzlein set a new unofficial world record in the first heat of the first round with 15.6 seconds. In the final he improved this to 15.4 seconds.
First round
In the first round, there were three heats. The top runners in each advanced to the finals, with the other runners competing in repechage heats.
First round, heat 1
Kraenzlein set a new world record and won by three yards, though he was slower than his previous mark of 15.2 seconds in the slightly shorter 120 yard hurdles.
First round, heat 2
Klingelhoefer pulled up lame, leaving Pritchard to win by a yard and a half.
First round, heat 3
There was no competition in this heat, with the only hurdler advancing automatically.
Repechage
The two repechage heats consisted of all the hurdlers that had not qualified in the first round, except for the injured Adolphe Klingelhoefer, who withdrew. The winner of each heat joined the three top finishers of the first round in the final.
Repechage heat 1
Repechage heat 2
McLean won the second repechage heat easily to become the third person from the first preliminary heat to qualify for the final.
Final
McLean had a lead early, due in part to the error of the starter; even so, Kraenzlein was able to catch and pass him to win the first athletics competition of the 1900 Games, and Moloney, a better hurdler than McLean, nearly caught him as well. All three of the American hurdlers had come from the first preliminary heat. Pritchard, the winner of the second heat, pulled up lame.