Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metres

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Men's 100 metres
at the Games of the XIX Olympiad
VenueEstadio Olímpico Universitario
Mexico City, Mexico
DatesOctober 13 (heats, quarterfinals)
October 14, 1968 (semifinals, final)
Competitors65 from 42 nations
Winning time9.95 seconds
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Jim Hines  United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Lennox Miller  Jamaica
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Charles Greene  United States
← 1964
1972 →

The men's 100 metres sprint event at the 1968 Olympic Games took place at Estadio Olímpico Universitario in Mexico City, Mexico, on October 13 and 14. Sixty-five athletes from 42 nations took part. Each nation was limited to 3 runners by rules in place since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The final was won by American Jim Hines, the second consecutive time the event was won by an American (and the nation's 12th title in the event overall). Jamaica won its first medal in the event since 1952. [1]

Background[]

This was the sixteenth time the event was held, having appeared at every Olympics since the first in 1896. The gold medalist from 1964, American Bob Hayes, did not return (playing in the National Football League instead), but Tokyo silver medalist Cuban Enrique Figuerola and bronze medalist Canadian Harry Jerome did. The American team was led by Jim Hines and Charles Greene, two of the three men to establish the world record at 9.9 seconds during the Night of Speed; Mel Pender, a 1964 finalist, was the third member of the team. Jamaican Lennox Miller was the strongest challenger to the Americans.[2]

El Salvador, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, Suriname, and Tanzania were represented in the event for the first time. East and West Germany also competed separately for the first time. The United States was the only nation to have appeared at each of the first sixteen Olympic men's 100 metres events.

Competition format[]

The event retained the same basic four round format from 1920–1964: heats, quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final. A significant change, however, was the introduction of the "fastest loser" system. Previously, advancement depended solely on the runners' place in their heat. The 1968 competition added advancement places to the fastest runners across the heats in the first round who did not advance based on place.

The first round consisted of nine heats, most with 7–8 athletes but the first having only 5. The top three runners in each heat advanced, along with the next five fastest runners overall. This made 32 quarterfinalists, who were divided into four heats of 8 runners. The top four runners in each quarterfinal advanced (with no "fastest loser" provision in rounds after the first). The 16 semifinalists competed in two heats of 8, with the top four in each semifinal advancing to the eight-man final.[2][3]

Records[]

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

World record 9.9 United States Jim Hines Sacramento, United States 20 June 1968
9.9 United States Ronnie Ray Smith Sacramento, United States 20 June 1968
9.9 United States Charles Greene Sacramento, United States 20 June 1968
Olympic record 10.0 United States Bob Hayes Tokyo, Japan 15 October 1964

Jim Hines had a time of 9.9 seconds (hand-timed) or 9.95 seconds (auto-timed) in the final. This equalled the world record and set a new Olympic record, which were measured by hand-timing at that point. The 9.95 second time was recognized as the initial world record for electronic timed results when the IAAF changed its records rules in 1977.

Results[]

Heats[]

The top three runners in each of the nine heats, and the next fastest five, advanced to the quarterfinal round.

Heat one[]

The 2.8 m/s tailwind made this heat ineligible for records.

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Charles Greene  United States 10.09 Q
2 Hideo Iijima  Japan 10.24 Q
3 Canagasabai Kunalan  Singapore 10.47 Q
4 Wiesław Maniak  Poland 10.49
5 Barka Sy  Senegal 10.61

Heat two[]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Jim Hines  United States 10.26 Q
2 Jean-Louis Ravelomanantsoa  Madagascar 10.30 Q
3 Gaoussou Koné  Ivory Coast 10.37 Q
4 Amos Omolo  Uganda 10.50 q
5 Porfirio Veras  Dominican Republic 10.51
6 Julius Sang  Kenya 10.64
7 Jorge Vizcarrondo  Puerto Rico 10.71
8 Manuel Planchart  Venezuela 10.80

Heat three[]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Enrique Figuerola  Cuba 10.40 Q
2 Iván Moreno  Chile 10.53 Q
3 Barrie Kelly  Great Britain 10.55 Q
4 Yevgeny Sinyayev  Soviet Union 10.56
5 Zenon Nowosz  Poland 10.57
6 Charles Asati  Kenya 10.63
7 Jimmy Sierra  Colombia 10.88

Heat four[]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Pablo Montes  Cuba 10.14 Q
2 Mel Pender  United States 10.35 Q
3 Ron Jones  Great Britain 10.45 Q
4 Oleksiy Khlopotnov  Soviet Union 10.49
5 Norris Stubbs  Bahamas 10.67
6 Chen Chuan-show  Taiwan 10.91
7 Philippe Housiaux  Belgium 10.94

Heat five[]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Roger Bambuck  France 10.18 Q
2 Heinz Erbstößer  East Germany 10.42 Q
3 Michael Ahey  Ghana 10.59 Q
4 Bernard Nottage  Bahamas 10.64
5 Ennio Preatoni  Italy 10.65
6 Hansruedi Wiedmer  Switzerland 10.75
7 Su Wen-ho  Taiwan 10.81

Heat six[]

The tailwind of 3.8 m/s made this heat ineligible for records.

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Lennox Miller  Jamaica 10.15 Q
2 Hartmut Schelter  East Germany 10.34 Q
3 Manikavasagam Jegathesan  Malaysia 10.35 Q
4 Robert Ojo  Nigeria 10.47 q
5 Ron Monsegue  Trinidad and Tobago 10.56
6 Rogelio Onofre  Philippines 10.58
- Tom Robinson  Bahamas DNF

Heat seven[]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Harry Jerome  Canada 10.35 Q
2 Karl-Peter Schmidtke  West Germany 10.38 Q
3 Harald Eggers  East Germany 10.38 Q
4 Kola Abdulai  Nigeria 10.45 q
5 Miguel Angel González  Mexico 10.59
6 Pablo McNeil  Jamaica 10.62
7 Hassan El-Mech  Morocco 10.79
8 Morgan Gesmalla  Sudan 11.09

Heat eight[]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Gérard Fenouil  France 10.42 Q
2 Gerhard Wucherer  West Germany 10.42 Q
3 Marian Dudziak  Poland 10.46 Q
4 Vladislav Sapeya  Soviet Union 10.46 q
5 Eddy Monsels  Suriname 10.48 q
6 Greg Lewis  Australia 10.55
7 Félix Bécquer  Mexico 10.72
8 Rafael Santos  El Salvador 11.22

Heat nine[]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Hermes Ramírez  Cuba 10.30 Q
2 Andrés Calonge  Argentina 10.44 Q
3 Jocelyn Delecour  France 10.45 Q
4 Gert Metz  West Germany 10.55
5 Norman Chihota  Tanzania 10.57
6 Horacio Esteves  Venezuela 10.65
7 José Luis Sánchez Paraíso  Spain 10.69
8 Juan Argüello  Nicaragua 11.18

Quarterfinals[]

The top four runners in each of the four heats advanced to the semifinal round.

Quarterfinal one[]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Lennox Miller  Jamaica 10.11 Q
2 Jim Hines  United States 10.14 Q
3 Enrique Figuerola  Cuba 10.23 Q
4 Iván Moreno  Chile 10.37 Q
5 Andrés Calonge  Argentina 10.39
6 Ron Jones  Great Britain 10.42
7 Karl-Peter Schmidtke  West Germany 10.48
8 Vladislav Sapeya  Soviet Union 10.51

Quarterfinal two[]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Hermes Ramírez  Cuba 10.10 Q
2 Mel Pender  United States 10.16 Q
3 Roger Bambuck  France 10.17 Q
4 Harry Jerome  Canada 10.22 Q
5 Heinz Erbstößer  East Germany 10.28
6 Gerhard Wucherer  West Germany 10.33
7 Kola Abdulai  Nigeria 10.38
8 Michael Ahey  Ghana 10.49

Quarterfinal three[]

The 4.2 m/s tailwind made this heat ineligible for records.

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Pablo Montes  Cuba 10.16 Q
2 Hartmut Schelter  East Germany 10.29 Q
3 Hideo Iijima  Japan 10.31 Q
4 Gérard Fenouil  France 10.31 Q
5 Marian Dudziak  Poland 10.32
6 Manikavasagam Jegathesan  Malaysia 10.38
7 Amos Omolo  Uganda 10.45
8 Robert Ojo  Nigeria 10.45

Quarterfinal four[]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Charlie Greene  United States 10.02 Q
2 Jean-Louis Ravelomanantsoa  Madagascar 10.18 Q, NR
3 Gaoussou Koné  Ivory Coast 10.22 Q
4 Harald Eggers  East Germany 10.25 Q
5 Barrie Kelly  Great Britain 10.35
6 Jocelyn Delecour  France 10.36
7 Canagasabai Kunalan  Singapore 10.38
8 Eddy Monsels  Suriname 10.45

Semifinals[]

The top four runners in each of the two heats advanced to the final round.

Heat one[]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Jim Hines  United States 10.08 Q
2 Roger Bambuck  France 10.11 Q
3 Harry Jerome  Canada 10.17 Q
4 Mel Pender  United States 10.21 Q
5 Enrique Figuerola  Cuba 10.23
6 Hermes Ramírez  Cuba 10.25
7 Harald Eggers  East Germany 10.29
8 Hideo Iijima  Japan 10.34

Heat two[]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Charlie Greene  United States 10.13 Q
2 Lennox Miller  Jamaica 10.15 Q
3 Pablo Montes  Cuba 10.19 Q
4 Jean-Louis Ravelomanantsoa  Madagascar 10.26 Q
5 Gaoussou Koné  Ivory Coast 10.27
6 Iván Moreno  Chile 10.37
7 Gérard Fenouil  France 10.40
8 Hartmut Schelter  East Germany 10.40

Final[]

Mel Pender and Charlie Greene were known for their fast starts. In the final, while Greene reacted to the gun noticeably slower, Pender did not disappoint, taking a quick lead. Greene, Lennox Miller and Jim Hines were the next chase group, the three outer lanes already left behind. The diminutive Pender's lead disappeared, the much larger Miller leading the group in passing by the halfway point. Hines was just getting into gear, exploding past Miller and putting a gap on the field to take the race by two metres. Miller leaned but he already had a metre on Green who was a metre ahead of Pablo Montes, Roger Bambuck and Pender to take the bronze.

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time (h) Time (a) Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) 3 Jim Hines  United States 9.9 9.95 =WR (h), WR (a)
2nd place, silver medalist(s) 4 Lennox Miller  Jamaica 10.0 10.04
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 1 Charlie Greene  United States 10.0 10.07
4 2 Pablo Montes  Cuba 10.1 10.14
5 6 Roger Bambuck  France 10.1 10.14
6 5 Mel Pender  United States 10.1 10.17
7 7 Harry Jerome  Canada 10.2 10.20
8 8 Jean-Louis Ravelomanantsoa  Madagascar 10.2 10.28 Photo-finish shows 10.275
  • Wind speed = +0.3 m/s (0.67 mph)

References[]

  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1968 Mexico City Summer Games: Men's 100 metres". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  2. ^ a b "100 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  3. ^ Official Report, vol. 3, p. 521.
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