110 metres Hurdles, Men

The Olympic record was 15.4, set by Al Kraenzlein in Paris in 1900. The world record was 15.2, co-held by America’s Johnny Garrells and Art Shaw. The Americans were the top hurdlers in the world, and it is instructive to look at the winners of their recent major meets. Forrest Smithson had won the 1907 AAU title, while in 1908, Art Shaw won that event. At the 1908 American Olympic Trial Meets, four different hurdlers won: Smithson (Western), Garrells (Central), Shaw (IC4A), and Leonard Howe of Yale (Eastern). Garrells had also won the IC4A crown in 1907.

This race was not run on the cinder track but on a grass track in the infield of the White City Stadium. Fourteen heats resulted in the elimination of only 11 competitors. In the second round, Forrest Smithson equalled the Olympic record and then set a world record of 15.0 in the final. The four American finalists were undoubtedly the best in the field but, surprisingly, they had never raced against each other before.

A well-known photograph suggests that Smithson won the final carrying a Bible in his left hand, and this false rumor has been oft repeated. But this was, in fact, a posed photograph taken to support Smithson’s protest against Sunday competition. Precisely to whom this protest was directed is not clear. The Olympic final was held on a Saturday, and Sunday competition was virtually unknown in England at the time. Smithson was a devoutly religious man and, after winning the 1909 AAU hurdles title, he became a minister.