The men's 100 metres race was the first event run at the modern Olympics, on 6 April 1896. It was the shortest race on the Athletics at the 1896 Summer Olympics

Athletics at the 1896 Summer Olympics

At the 1896 Summer Olympics, twelve athletics events were contested. All of the events except the marathon were held in the Panathinaiko Stadium, which was also the finish for the marathon. Events were held on 6 April, 7 April, 9 April, and 10 April 1896 . 64 athletes, all men, from ten nations...

 programme. 21 athletes were entered in the first round, divided into three heats of seven runners, but six of them later withdrew. The top two athletes in each heat advanced to the final, which took place on 10 April.

15 athletes from 8 nations competed.

Heats

The first round of heats took place on 6 April. The first heat of the 100 metres was the first competition held in the Games. Francis Lane

Francis Lane

Francis Adonijah Lane was an American athlete. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Greece....

 won the first heat, thus becoming the first winner of a modern Olympic race. All heats were won by athletes from the United States.

Heat 1

Place	Athlete	Time
1		12.2 s
2		12.8 s
3		12.9 s
4		Unknown
5		Unknown

Heat 2

Place	Athlete	Time
1		12.2 s
2		12.8 s
3		12.9 s
4		Unknown
5		Unknown

Heat 3

Place	Athlete	Time
1	Both Burke and Hofmann were more well known for middle-distance events rather than sprinting. Burke's time of 11.8s became the inaugural Olympic record.	11.8 s
2		12.6 s
3		13.5 s
4-5 It is not clear which athlete received which place.		Unknown
		Unknown

notes:

Final

The final of the 100 metre race, run on 10 April, involved the six runners who had finished in the top two of their preliminary heats. Thomas Curtis withdrew to save himself for the 110 metre hurdles, which was the next race on the program. Burke beat his companion from the third heat, Hofmann, by two meters. Lane and Szokolyi dead-heated for third place, with Chalkokondylis six inches behind them.

Place	Athlete	Time
1		12.0 s
2		12.2 s
3		12.6 s
		12.6 s
5		12.6 s
–		DNS

Lane and Szokolyi are both considered to be bronze medal

Bronze medal

A bronze medal is a medal awarded to the third place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The practice of awarding bronze third place medals began at the 1904 Olympic Games in St...

lists by the International Olympic Committee

International Olympic Committee

The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...

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