100 metres, Men

The first event of the Modern Olympic Games was the first heat of the 100 metre dash, held on 6 April. Five runners toed the mark, with Frank Lane of the United States (and Princeton University) winning the first Modern Olympic “event”. Lane was trailed by Hungary’s Alajos Szokoly and Britain’s Charles Gmelin. In heat two, Tom Curtis (USA) defeated Greece’s Alexandros Chalkokondylis. Tom Burke of the United States won heat three quite easily, defeating Germany’s Fritz Hofmann. Thus began the Modern Olympic Games.

The field for the 100 metres, however, was missing many top sprinters. The world’s best in 1896 were Bernie Wefers of the United States and Charles Bradley of England. They had matched up in September 1895, at the London Athletic Club versus New York Athletic Club meet, with Wefers winning. Although Tom Burke was the U.S. champion at 400 metres, he had no real reputation in the short sprint. Conversely, the best Continental sprinter was probably Fritz Hofmann, who was present in Athens, and who, in 1893, had scored a double victory (100 and 400 metres) at the Championship of the Continent, in Berlin.

The finals of the 100 metres were held on 10 April, four days after the heats. Five runners came to the starting line: Tom Burke and Frank Lane of the United States, Fritz Hofmann (GER), Alajos Szokoly (HUN), and Greece’s Alexandros Chalkokondylis. Tom Curtis did not start the final, though he had won heat two. The start was even, but Burke and Hofmann pulled away at 50 metres. Burke outran Hofmann over the last 50 metres, winning by about two metres, in 12 seconds flat.