Athletics at the 1948 Summer Olympics – Men's 110 metres hurdles

The men's 110 metres hurdles event at the 1948 Summer Olympic Games took place on 3 and 4 August. Twenty-eight athletes from 18 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The final was won by American William Porter. Porter's compatriots, Clyde Scott and Craig Dixon took 2nd and 3rd place. It was the third of nine consecutive American victories, and the ninth overall gold medal for the United States in the 110 metres hurdles. It was also the first of four consecutive American podium sweeps, and the fifth overall sweep by the United States in the event.

Summary

With the absence of the best American hurdler Harrison Dillard, who did not qualify to the Olympics in the hurdles but did win gold in his secondary event, the 100 metres, the three Americans William Porter, Clyde Scott and Craig Dixon were headlong over the rest of the field. From the start to finish they ran almost neck to neck, with the others some five yards behind. In the finish, Porter gained a clear win with Scott beating Dixon by inches for second place.

Background

This was the 11th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Two finalists from the pre-war 1936 Games returned after the 12-year break: silver medalist (and 1932 bronze medalist) Don Finlay of Great Britain and fourth-place finisher Håkan Lidman of Sweden. The "prohibitive favorite" was Harrison Dillard of the United States—until he fell at the U.S. Olympic trials. The American team was deep, however, and Craig Dixon, William Porter, and Clyde Scott were all expected to medal.

Jamaica, Pakistan, Peru, Puerto Rico, Spain, and Turkey each made their first appearance in the event. The United States made its 11th appearance, the only nation to have competed in the 110 metres hurdles in each Games to that point.

Competition format

The competition used the basic three-round format introduced in 1908. The first round consisted of six heats, with 4 or 5 hurdlers each. The top two 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.Official Report, p. 255.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1948 Summer Olympics.

William Porter matched the Olympic record in the second semifinal, then broke it in the final to set a new record of 13.9 seconds. The other two medalists each finished equal to the old record time.

Schedule

All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1).

Date Time Round Tuesday, 3 August 1948 15:45 Round 1 Wednesday, 4 August 1948 15:1517:00 SemifinalsFinal

Results

Round 1

The first round was held on 3 August. The two fastest runners from each heat qualified to the semifinals.

Heat 1

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (auto) Notes 1 1 William Porter 14.3 14.5 2 3 Pol Braekman 15.2 15.33 3 2 Mario Recordón 15.3 15.55 4 4 Ray Barkway 15.3 15.53 5 5 Erdal Barkay Unknown — Wind: +1.8 m/s

Heat 2

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (auto) Notes 1 1 Clyde Scott 14.8 14.8 2 3 Hugues Frayer 15.5 — 3 2 Börje Rendin 15.5 — 4 4 Lazaros Petropoulakis Unknown — — 5 Üner Teoman — Wind: +0.8 m/s

Heat 3

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (auto) Notes 1 1 Alberto Triulzi 14.6 14.7 2 2 Peter Gardner 14.6 14.83 3 5 Manuel Suárez 15.9 16.10 4 3 Joe Birrell Unknown 17.29 5 4 Paul Crosfield Unknown 17.30 Wind: +1.7 m/s

Heat 4

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (auto) Notes 1 4 Jim Vickers 14.7 14.9 2 1 Håkan Lidman 14.7 — 3 5 Julio Sabater 15.3 — 4 3 Jan Zwaan 15.4 — 5 2 Charles Green 15.4 — Wind: +0.0 m/s

Heat 5

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (auto) Notes 1 2 André Marie 14.4 15.0 2 3 Olivier Bernard 14.9 — 3 4 Sydney Foster 15.2 — — 1 Don Finlay — — 5 Santiago Ferrando — Wind: +0.3 m/s

Heat 6

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (auto) Notes 1 1 Craig Dixon 14.2 14.4 2 2 Ray Weinberg 15.0 — 3 3 Gilbert Omnès 15.2 — 4 5 Hernán Alzamora Unknown — 5 4 Mazhar-Ul-Haque Khan Unknown — Wind: +0.3 m/s

Semifinals

The semifinals were held on 4 August. The three fastest runners advanced to the final.

Semifinal 1

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (auto) Notes 1 1 Craig Dixon 14.2 14.4 2 2 Peter Gardner 14.5 14.78 3 3 Håkan Lidman 14.6 14.84 4 6 Pol Braekman Unknown 15.22 5 5 Olivier Bernard Unknown — — 4 André Marie — Wind: +0.9 m/s

Semifinal 2

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (auto) Notes 1 1 William Porter 14.1 14.2 , 2 4 Clyde Scott 14.2 14.2 3 2 Alberto Triulzi 14.6 14.76 4 3 Jim Vickers Unknown 15.09 5 5 Ray Weinberg Unknown 15.27 6 6 Hugues Frayer Unknown 15.35 Wind: +0.0 m/s

Final

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (auto) Notes 2 William Porter 13.9 14.2 6 Clyde Scott 14.1 14.24 1 Craig Dixon 14.1 14.29 4 4 Alberto Triulzi 14.6 14.71 5 5 Peter Gardner 14.7 14.79 6 3 Håkan Lidman 14.8 14.86 Wind: +0.0 m/s

References

External links Organising Committee for the XIV Olympiad, The (1948). The Official Report of the Organising Committee for the XIV Olympiad. LA84 Foundation. Retrieved 5 September 2016.