Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metres

The men's 100 metres sprint event at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, West Germany, was held at Olympiastadion on 31 August and 1 September.[1] Eighty-five athletes from 55 nations competed.[2] Each nation was limited to 3 athletes per rules in force since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Valeriy Borzov of the Soviet Union, the first medal in the men's 100 metres for that nation. Jamaican Lennox Miller, silver medalist four years earlier, became the second man to make the podium twice in the event by taking bronze (after Ralph Metcalfe in 1932 and 1936).

Men's 100 metres
at the Games of the XX Olympiad
Valeriy Borzov and Robert Taylor
VenueOlympiastadion
Munich, West Germany
Dates31 August (heats, quarterfinals)
1 September 1972 (semifinals, final)
Competitors85 from 55 nations
Winning time10.14 seconds
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Valeriy Borzov
 Soviet Union
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Robert Taylor
 United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Lennox Miller
 Jamaica
← 1968
1976 →
Video on YouTube Official Video Highlights

This event is notable for the absence of favourites and world record holders Eddie Hart and Rey Robinson from their quarterfinal heats due to American sprint coach Stan Wright being given the wrong starting time. The three qualified American athletes, Robinson, Hart and Robert Taylor, were at the ABC television headquarters watching what they believed were replays of their morning preliminary races before being informed they were watching live coverage of the races they were scheduled to run in. The athletes rushed to the stadium, but Hart and Robinson, scheduled in the first two races, missed their heats, while Robert Taylor hurried to take off his warm up uniform before running his heat. An appeal by American officials to have Robinson and Hart run in another heat was rejected.

Background

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This was the seventeenth time the event was held, having appeared at every Olympics since the first in 1896. Two finalists from 1968 returned: Lennox Miller of Jamaica and Jean-Louis Ravelomanantsoa of Madagascar. The favourite was Soviet Valeriy Borzov, the European champion. The American team was missing John Carlos, who had turned to professional football, but still had strong runners in Eddie Hart and Rey Robinson, who had matched the world record of 9.9 seconds in the U.S. Olympic trials, and Robert Taylor.[2]

Thirteen nations appeared in the event for the first time: Bolivia, Cambodia (then Khmer Republic), Chad, Kuwait, Lesotho, Malawi, Mongolia, Paraguay, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Upper Volta, the Virgin Islands, and Zambia (though Northern Rhodesia had competed previously). The United States was the only nation to have appeared at each of the first seventeen Olympic men's 100 metres events.

Competition format

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The event retained the same basic four round format introduced in 1920: heats, quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final. It also expanded the "fastest loser" system, introduced in 1968, to include the quarterfinals as well as the preliminary heats.

The first round consisted of 12 heats, each with 6–8 athletes. The top three runners in each heat advanced, along with the next four fastest runners overall. This made 40 quarterfinalists, who were divided into five heats of 8 runners. The top three runners in each quarterfinal advanced, along with the single fastest fourth-place finisher. 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

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

World record 9.9   Jim Hines Sacramento, United States 20 June 1968
9.9   Ronnie Ray Smith Sacramento, United States 20 June 1968
9.9   Charles Greene Sacramento, United States 20 June 1968
9.9   Jim Hines Mexico City, Mexico 14 October 1968
9.9   Eddie Hart Eugene, United States 1 July 1972
9.9   Rey Robinson Eugene, United States 1 July 1972
Olympic record 9.9   Jim Hines Mexico City, Mexico 14 October 1968

No records were set in the event at the 1972 Games.

Results

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Heats

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

Heat 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Lennox Miller   Jamaica 10.45 Q
2 Amadou Meïté   Ivory Coast 10.51 Q
3 Hans-Jürgen Bombach   East Germany 10.66 Q
4 Rudy Reid   Trinidad and Tobago 10.74
5 Dan Amuke   Kenya 10.76
6 Byambajavyn Enkhbaatar   Mongolia 10.93
7 Samphon Mao   Khmer Republic 10.95
8 Luis Alers   Puerto Rico 11.09

Heat 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Valeriy Borzov   Soviet Union 10.47 Q
2 Mike Sands   Bahamas 10.67 Q
3 Luděk Bohman   Czechoslovakia 10.72 Q
4 Gerhard Wucherer   West Germany 10.82
5 Tadeusz Cuch   Poland 10.89
6 Yeo Kian Chye   Singapore 10.92
7 Alphonse Yanghat   Republic of the Congo 10.95
8 Andrew Sartee   Liberia 11.09

Heat 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Manfred Kokot   East Germany 10.49 Q
2 Sandy Osei-Agyemang   Ghana 10.52 Q
3 Les Piggot   Great Britain 10.54 Q
4 John Mwebi   Kenya 10.60
5 Luís da Silva   Brazil 10.63
6 Kevin Johnson   Bahamas 10.91
7 Mansour Al-Juaid   Saudi Arabia 11.23
Robert Arega   Togo DNS

Heat 4

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The tailwind of 2.3 m/s made this heat ineligible for records purposes.

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Jaroslav Matoušek   Czechoslovakia 10.37 Q
2 Brian Green   Great Britain 10.41 Q
3 Kouakou Komenan   Ivory Coast 10.50 Q
4 Walter Callander   Bahamas 10.78
5 George Calhern   Virgin Islands 10.90
6 Farhad Navab   Iran 11.02
7 Angel Guerreros   Paraguay 11.12
Anat Ratanapol   Thailand DNS

Heat 5

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Aleksandr Kornelyuk   Soviet Union 10.38 Q
2 Kola Abdulai   Nigeria 10.57 Q
3 Stanisław Wagner   Poland 10.62 Q
4 Juraj Demeč   Czechoslovakia 10.66
5 Félix Mata   Venezuela 10.73
6 Bjarni Stefánsson   Iceland 10.99
7 Younis Abdallah   Kuwait 11.20
Gaoussou Kone   Ivory Coast DNS

Heat 6

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Rey Robinson   United States 10.56 Q
2 Philippe Clerc   Switzerland 10.58 Q
3 Sammy Monsels   Suriname 10.61 Q
4 George Daniels   Ghana 10.65
5 André Bicaba   Upper Volta 10.71
6 Motsapi Moorosi   Lesotho 10.74
7 William Dralu   Uganda 10.92

Heat 7

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Hasely Crawford   Trinidad and Tobago 10.50 Q
2 Don Halliday   Great Britain 10.58 Q
3 Erik Gustafsson   Finland 10.68 Q
4 Guillermo González   Puerto Rico 10.73
5 Norman Chihota   Tanzania 10.79
6 Egzi Gebre-Gebre   Ethiopia 10.89
7 Pierre-Richard Gaetjens   Haiti 11.50
Pablo Montes   Cuba DNS

Heat 8

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The tailwind of 2.10 m/s made this heat ineligible for records purposes.

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Barka Sy   Senegal 10.30 Q
2 Bernd Borth   East Germany 10.48 Q
3 Audun Garshol   Norway 10.49 Q
4 Su Wen-Ho   Republic of China 10.59 q
5 Gana Abba Kimet   Chad 10.89
6 Raimo Vilén   Finland 11.00
7 Lionel Caero   Bolivia 11.19

Heat 9

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Alain Sarteur   France 10.42 Q
2 Saleh Alah-Djaba   Chad 10.65 Q
3 Charlie Francis   Canada 10.68 Q
4 Andrés Calonge   Argentina 10.73
5 Laurie D'Arcy   New Zealand 10.77
6 Larmeck Mukonde   Zambia 11.16
Hermes Ramirez   Cuba DNS

Heat 10

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Vasilios Papageorgopoulos   Greece 10.24 Q
2 Jean-Louis Ravelomanantsoa   Madagascar 10.29 Q
3 Michael Fray   Jamaica 10.47 Q
4 Antti Rajamäki   Finland 10.52 q
5 Ainsley Armstrong   Trinidad and Tobago 10.56 q
6 Jorge Vizcarrondo   Puerto Rico 10.79
7 Zain-ud-Din bin Abdul Wahab   Malaysia 10.80

Heat 11

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Eddie Hart   United States 10.47 Q
2 Dominique Chauvelot   France 10.66 Q
3 Klaus Ehl   West Germany 10.67 Q
4 Benedict Majekodunmi   Nigeria 10.70
5 Gaston Malam   Cameroon 10.88
6 Sunil Gunawardene   Ceylon 11.00
7 Tukal Mokalam   Philippines 11.02

Heat 12

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Robert Taylor   United States 10.32 Q
2 Jobst Hirscht   West Germany 10.36 Q
3 Zenon Nowosz   Poland 10.36 Q
4 Volodymyr Atamas   Soviet Union 10.51 q
5 Axel Nepraunik   Austria 10.61
6 André Byrame   France 10.64
7 Moustafa Matola   Malawi 11.31

Quarterfinals

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

Quarterfinal 1

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Hart failed to appear due to a scheduling change and coaching error.

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Jobst Hirscht   West Germany 10.25 Q
2 Jaroslav Matoušek   Czechoslovakia 10.35 Q
3 Bernd Borth   East Germany 10.44 Q
4 Philippe Clerc   Switzerland 10.45
5 Ainsley Armstrong   Trinidad and Tobago 10.47
6 Mike Sands   Bahamas 10.50
7 Audun Garshol   Norway 10.55
- Eddie Hart   United States DNS

Quarterfinal 2

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Robinson failed to appear due to a scheduling change and coaching error.

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Jean-Louis Ravelomanantsoa   Madagascar 10.47 Q
2 Brian Green   Great Britain 10.58 Q
3 Kouakou Komenan   Ivory Coast 10.60 Q
4 Stanisław Wagner   Poland 10.61
5 Sandy Osei-Agyemang   Ghana 10.66
6 Erik Gustafsson   Finland 10.78
7 Su Wen-Ho   Republic of China 10.82
- Rey Robinson   United States DNS

Quarterfinal 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Valeriy Borzov   Soviet Union 10.07 Q, ER
2 Robert Taylor   United States 10.16 Q
3 Hasely Crawford   Trinidad and Tobago 10.18 Q
4 Zenon Nowosz   Poland 10.40 q
5 Klaus Ehl   West Germany 10.44
6 Les Piggot   Great Britain 10.53
7 Dominique Chauvelot   France 10.54
8 Hans-Jürgen Bombach   East Germany 10.64

Quarterfinal 4

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The tailwind of 3.40 m/s made this heat ineligible for records purposes.

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Aleksandr Kornelyuk   Soviet Union 10.23 Q
2 Barka Sy   Senegal 10.27 Q
3 Michael Fray   Jamaica 10.28 Q
4 Kola Abdulai   Nigeria 10.41
5 Antti Rajamäki   Finland 10.43
6 Manfred Kokot   East Germany 10.44
7 Saleh Alah-Djaba   Chad 10.51
8 Charlie Francis   Canada 10.51

Quarterfinal 5

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Lennox Miller   Jamaica 10.33 Q
2 Alain Sarteur   France 10.40 Q
3 Vasilios Papageorgopoulos   Greece 10.45 Q
4 Amadou Meïté   Ivory Coast 10.52
5 Luděk Bohman   Czechoslovakia 10.52
6 Don Halliday   Great Britain 10.60
7 Sammy Monsels   Suriname 10.64
8 Vladimir Atamas   Soviet Union 10.83

Semifinals

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

Semifinal 1

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Papageorgopoulos was forced to scratch after he pulled a groin muscle in the quarter-finals.

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Valeriy Borzov   Soviet Union 10.21 Q
2 Hasely Crawford   Trinidad and Tobago 10.36 Q
3 Jobst Hirscht   West Germany 10.36 Q
4 Michael Fray   Jamaica 10.48 Q
5 Alain Sarteur   France 10.51
6 Kouakou Komenan   Ivory Coast 10.57
7 Bernd Borth   East Germany 10.60
- Vasilios Papageorgopoulos   Greece DNS

Semifinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Robert Taylor   United States 10.30 Q
2 Lennox Miller   Jamaica 10.31 Q
3 Aleksandr Kornelyuk   Soviet Union 10.35 Q
4 Zenon Nowosz   Poland 10.42 Q
5 Barka Sy   Senegal 10.42
6 Jean-Louis Ravelomanantsoa   Madagascar 10.46
7 Jaroslav Matoušek   Czechoslovakia 10.40
8 Brian Green   Great Britain 10.40

Final

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Borzov "won fairly easily."[2]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time
  2 Valeriy Borzov   Soviet Union 10.14
  4 Robert Taylor   United States 10.24
  5 Lennox Miller   Jamaica 10.33
4 6 Aleksandr Kornelyuk   Soviet Union 10.36
5 8 Michael Fray   Jamaica 10.40
6 7 Jobst Hirscht   West Germany 10.40
7 1 Zenon Nowosz   Poland 10.46
3 Hasely Crawford   Trinidad and Tobago DNF
  • Wind speed = 0.3 m/s (0.67 mph)

References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1972 Munich Summer Games: Men's 100 metres". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d "100 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  3. ^ Official Report, vol. 3, p. 48.

3. Die Spiele, The official report of the Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXth Olympiad Munich 1972, Volume 3 The competitions, page 49. [1]