The men's 100 metres was a sprinting event on the athletics programme at the 1900 Summer Olympics

1900 Summer Olympics

The 1900 Summer Olympics, today officially known as the Games of the II Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1900 in Paris, France. No opening or closing ceremonies were held; competitions began on May 14 and ended on October 28. The Games were held as part of...

 in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

. It was held on July 14, 1900. 20 athletes from nine nations competed.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1900 Summer Olympics.

World Record	10.8(*)	Luther Cary	Paris Paris Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...  (FRA France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... )	July 4, 1891
	10.8(*)	Cecil Lee	Brussels Brussels Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...  (BEL Belgium Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many... )	September 25, 1892
	10.8(*)	Étienne De Re	Brussels Brussels Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...  (BEL Belgium Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many... )	August 4, 1893
	10.8(*)	L. Atcherley	Frankfurt/Main Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...  (GER German Empire The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German... )	April 13, 1895
	10.8(*)	Harry Beaton	Rotterdam Rotterdam Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...  (NED Netherlands The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders... )	August 28, 1895
	10.8(*)	Harald Anderson-Arbin	Helsingborg Helsingborg Helsingborg is a city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 97,122 inhabitants in 2010. Helsingborg is the centre of an area in the Øresund region of about 320,000 inhabitants in north-west Scania, and is Sweden's closest point to Denmark, with the Danish city...  (SWE Sweden Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund.... )	August 9, 1896
	10.8(*)	Isaac Westergren Isaac Westergren Isaac Westergren was a Swedish track and field athlete who competed at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, France....	Gävle Gävle Gävle is a city in Sweden, the seat of Gävle Municipality and the capital of Gävleborg County. It had 71,033 inhabitants in 12/31 2010. It is the oldest city in the historical Norrland , having received its charter in 1446 from Christopher of Bavaria.-History:It is believed that the name Gävle...  (SWE Sweden Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund.... )	September 11, 1898
	10.8(*)	Isaac Westergren Isaac Westergren Isaac Westergren was a Swedish track and field athlete who competed at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, France....	Gävle Gävle Gävle is a city in Sweden, the seat of Gävle Municipality and the capital of Gävleborg County. It had 71,033 inhabitants in 12/31 2010. It is the oldest city in the historical Norrland , having received its charter in 1446 from Christopher of Bavaria.-History:It is believed that the name Gävle...  (SWE Sweden Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund.... )	September 10, 1899
Olympic Record	11.8	Thomas Burke	Athens Athens Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...  (GRE Greece Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe.... )	April 6, 1896 (NS Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter... )

(*) unofficial

Arthur Duffey

Arthur Duffey

Arthur Francis Duffey was an American track and field athlete who competed at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. He was an alumnus of the Class of 1899 of Worcester Academy and Georgetown University...

 in the first heat of the first round and Walter Tewksbury in the second heat of the first round set new Olympic records with 11.4 seconds. In the third heat of the first round Frank Jarvis

Frank Jarvis

Frank Washington Jarvis was an American athlete, and the Olympic 100 m champion of 1900.Jarvis, an AAU champion in the 100 y, was among the pre-race favourites for the 100 m at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, but the hot favourite was American Arthur Duffey, who won the British Championships...

equalized the unofficial world record with 10.8 seconds. In the second semifinal Tewksbury also equalized the world record with 10.8 seconds.

First round

In the first round, there were six heats. The top two runners in each advanced to the semifinals.

First round, heat 1

Place	Athlete	Time
1		11.4 s OR
2		(11.5)
3		Unknown

Duffey was a metre ahead of Moloney at the finish.

First round, heat 2

Place	Athlete	Time
1		11.4 s EOR
2		(11.4)
3		Unknown

Tewksbury won this heat by six inches.

First round, heat 3

Place	Athlete	Time
1		10.8 s EWR
2		(10.9)
3		Unknown
4		Unknown

The fastest of the preliminary heats featured two of the eventual medallists; Jarvis won by a metre and equalled the world record.

First round, heat 4

Place	Athlete	Time
1		11.4 s
2		(11.5)
3		Unknown

Leiblee won this heat by half a yard.

First round, heat 5

Place	Athlete	Time
1		11.4 s
2		(11.5)
3		Unknown
4		Unknown

The fifth heat was the only one that was not won by an American runner; Pritchard beat Minahan by half a yard.

First round, heat 6

Place	Athlete	Time
1		11.4 s
2		(11.5)
3		Unknown

In an all-American heat, Burroughs defeated Boardman by about a metre, with Slack in third to become the only American runner to be eliminated in the first round.

Semifinals

There were three semifinals, each with four runners. The top runner in each of the semifinals advanced to the semifinal, while the second and third place runners competed in the repechage. The winner of the six-runner repechage advanced to the final as well.

Semifinal 1

Place	Athlete	Time
1		11.0 s
2		(11.2)
3		Unknown
4		Unknown

Duffey dropped almost half a second from his preliminary heat time to beat Rowley by five feet. Burroughs again defeated Boardman, eliminating Boardman from competition while remaining in contention in the repechage.

Semifinal 2

Place	Athlete	Time
1		10.8 s EWR
2		(10.9)
3		Unknown
—		DNF

Tewksbury equalled the world record, the second runner to accomplish that at the Paris Games, with Leiblee six inches behind him. There is some question as to whether Dörry started the race, but he did not finish it.

Semifinal 3

Place	Athlete	Time
1		11.2 s
2		(11.3)
3		Unknown
4		Unknown

Jarvis won by a yard, McClain and Pritchard were relegated to the repechage, and Minahan was eliminated.

Repechage

Place	Athlete	Time
1		11.0 s
2		(11.0)
3		Unknown
4-6		Unknown
		Unknown
		Unknown

The repechage was a very close race, with Rowley defeating Pritchard by two inches. Rowley advanced to the final while Pritchard and the four Americans were eliminated.

Final

Place	Athlete	Time
1		11.0 s
2		(11.1)
3		(11.2)
—		DNF

Duffey got away to an early lead, but pulled a tendon at the 50 meter mark. Jarvis beat Tewksbury by two feet, with Rowley half a yard behind.

Sources

• International Olympic Committee.
• De Wael, Herman. Herman's Full Olympians: "Athletics 1900". Accessed 18 March 2006. Available electronically at .