The men's 100 metres event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1924 Summer Olympics. This race was depicted in the film Chariots of Fire. The first two rounds were held on 6 July, with the semifinals and final on 7 July. Eighty-six sprinters from 34 countries competed. The event was won by Harold Abrahams of Great Britain—Great Britain's first Olympic gold medal in the men's 100 metres and only the second time that the United States failed to win (Reggie Walker of South Africa had won in 1908). Jackson Scholz kept the Americans on the podium with a silver. Arthur Porritt won the bronze, New Zealand's first medal in the event.

Chariots of Fire presents a fictionalized version of the event in which Eric Liddell, a devout Christian, dropped out shortly before the competition because the heat was on Sunday, and his faith compelled him to keep Sunday as the Sabbath. While the basic story is accurate, the true timeline was less dramatic, as "Liddell knew about the Olympic schedule several months in advance and never intended to run the 100 in Paris."

Background

This was the seventh time the event was held, having appeared at every Olympics since the first in 1896. For the first time (excluding the 1906 Intercalated Games), a defending gold medalist (Charley Paddock) attempted to retain his title. Two other 1920 finalists, Loren Murchison and Jackson Scholz, also returned. Other notable entrants included Great Britain's Harold Abrahams, a favorite along with Paddock.

Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Estonia, Haiti, Ireland (newly independent from Great Britain), Latvia, Mexico, the Philippines, Poland, and Turkey were represented in the event for the first time. The United States was the only nation to have appeared at each of the first seven Olympic men's 100 metres events.

Competition format

The event retained the four round format from 1920: heats, quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final. There were 17 heats, of 3–6 athletes each, with the top 2 in each heat advancing to the quarterfinals. The 34 quarterfinalists were placed into 6 heats of 5 or 6 athletes. Again, the top 2 advanced. There were 2 heats of 6 semifinalists, this time with the top 3 advancing to the 6-man final.

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows:Olympic.org

No new records were set in 1924, though Harold Abrahams equalled the Olympic record three times.

Results

All times shown are in seconds.

Heats

The first round was held on 6 July. The first two runners of each heat qualified for the second round.

Heat 1

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Loren Murchison 10.8 Q 2 Arthur Porritt 10.9 Q 3 Camilo Rivas 4 Mariano Aguilar 5 Alberto Jurado

Heat 2

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Cyril Coaffee 11.0 Q 2 Ernesto Bonacina 11.2 Q 3 Mogens Truelsen 4 Gentil dos Santos 5 Alois Linka 11.6

Heat 3

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Charles Paddock 11.2 Q 2 Oto Seviško 11.8 Q 3 Ferdinand Kaindl 4 Leo Jørgensen 5 Fortunato Catalon 6 Bohus Fleischer

Heat 4

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Maurice Degrelle 11.0 Q 2 Reijo Halme 11.1 Q 3 Frederik Lamp 4 Fritz Schedl 5 Władysław Dobrowolski 11.5 6 Rauf Hasağası

Heat 5

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Lajos Kurunczy 11.4 Q 2 Johans Oja Q 3 Henricus Cockuyt 4 Wilfred Hildreth 5 Lawrence Betts 6 Stanko Perpar

Heat 6

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Henricus Broos 11.0 Q 2 George Dunston 11.2 Q 3 Antonín Svoboda 11.3 4 Poul Schiang 11.5 5 José-María Larrabeiti 11.6 6 David Nepomuceno

Heat 7

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Lancelot Royle 11.0 Q 2 Giovanni Frangipane 11.1 Q 3 André Théard 11.2 4 Juan Junqueras 11.3 5 Zygmunt Weiss 11.4

Heat 8

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Walter Rangeley 11.0 Q 2 Marinus van den Berge 11.1 Q 3 Diego Ordóñez 4 Victor Moriaud 5 Karel Pott 6 Miguel Enrico

Heat 9

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Albert Heisé 11.2 Q 2 Gusztáv Rózsahegyi 11.3 Q 3 Lauri Härö 11.3 4 Curt Wiberg 11.4 5 Alexandros Papafingos

Heat 10

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Wilfred Nichol 11.0 Q 2 Paul Brochart 11.1 Q 3 Laurence Armstrong 4 Konstantinos Pantelidis 5 Gvido Jekals

Heat 11

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Chester Bowman 11.0 Q 2 Walter Strebi 11.2 Q 3 James Hall 11.3 4 Bror Österdahl 11.3 5 Félix Escobar 6 Herminio Ahumada

Heat 12

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 George Hester 11.2 Q 2 Johannes van Kampen 11.2 Q 3 Karl Borner 4 Bill Lowe 5 László Muskát – Eugène Moedbeck DQ

Heat 13

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Jackson Scholz 10.8 Q 2 Paul Hammer 11.3 Q 3 Terence Pitt 11.3 4 Knut Russell 11.3 5 Reinhold Kesküll 11.5

Heat 14

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Harold Abrahams 11.0 Q 2 Slip Carr 11.0 Q 3 Sasago Tani 4 Anton Husgafvel 5 Álvaro Ribeiro 6 Şekip Engineri

Heat 15

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 André Mourlon 11.0 Q 2 Enrico Torre 11.2 Q 3 Joseph Hilger

Heat 16

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Félix Mendizábal 11.4 Q 2 Anthony Vince 11.4 Q 3 Vittorio Zucca 11.5 4 Stanisław Sośnicki 11.6 5 Artūrs Gedvillo

Heat 17

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Ferenc Gerő 11.0 Q 2 René Mourlon 11.0 Q 3 Väinö Eskola 11.1 4 Aleksander Szenajch 5 Christiaan Steyn 6 Aleksa Spahic

Quarterfinals

The quarterfinals were held on 6 July. The first two runners of each heat qualified for the semifinals.

Quarterfinal 1

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Loren Murchison 10.8 Q 2 Giovanni Frangipane 11.0 Q 3 Henricus Broos 11.1 4 Paul Hammer 11.1 5 Reijo Halme 11.1 6 Anthony Vince

Quarterfinal 2

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Chester Bowman 10.8 Q 2 Arthur Porritt 10.9 Q 3 Walter Rangeley 11.0 4 René Mourlon 11.0 5 Lajos Kurunczy 11.0 6 Enrico Torre

Quarterfinal 3

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Cyril Coaffee 10.8 Q 2 Wilfred Nichol 11.0 Q 3 André Mourlon 11.1 4 Marinus van den Berge 5 Jānis Oja 6 Walter Strebi

Quarterfinal 4

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Harold Abrahams 10.6 Q 2 George Hester 10.7 Q 3 Ferenc Gerő 4 Albert Heisé 5 Ernesto Bonacina 6 Félix Mendizábal

Quarterfinal 5

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Charles Paddock 10.8 Q 2 Maurice Degrelle 11.0 Q 3 Johannes van Kampen 4 George Dunston 5 Gusztáv Rózsahegyi

Quarterfinal 6

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Jackson Scholz 10.8 Q 2 Slip Carr 10.9 Q 3 Lancelot Royle 4 Paul Brochart 5 Oto Seviško

Semifinals

The semifinals were held on 7 July. The first three runners from each semifinal qualified for the final.

Semifinal 1

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Jackson Scholz 10.8 Q 2 Arthur Porritt 11.1 Q 3 Loren Murchison 11.2 Q 4 Wilfred Nichol 11.3 5 Maurice Degrelle 11.4 6 George Hester 11.5

Semifinal 2

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Harold Abrahams 10.6 Q 2 Charles Paddock 10.7 Q 3 Chester Bowman 10.7 Q 4 Slip Carr 10.7 5 Cyril Coaffee 10.8 6 Giovanni Frangipane 11.2

Final

The final was held on 7 July.

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 4 Harold Abrahams 10.6 3 Jackson Scholz 10.7 6 Arthur Porritt 10.8 4 5 Chester Bowman 10.9 5 1 Charles Paddock 10.9 6 2 Loren Murchison 11.0

References

External links https://web.archive.org/web/20100904130200/http://www.databaseolympics.com/games/gamessport.htm?g=8&sp=ATH