| | Event type

100 metres, Men

Date	23 – 24 November 1956
Status	Olympic
Location	Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Victoria
Participants	65 from 31 countries

Early in 1956 the favorite for both sprints at Melbourne appeared to be American Dave Sime of Duke University. In April and May he ran 9.3 twice and 9.4 six times for 100 yards, and broke the world record for the 220 yard on the straight. At the NCAA Championships, Sime came against Bobby Joe Morrow of Abilene Christian College and Morrow defeated him in the 100. Then in the 200, Sime pulled a hamstring and would not even make it out of the US Olympic Trials because of the injury. At the Trials, Morrow won both the 100 and 200 and was a heavy favorite at Melbourne. His only major competition seemed to be his diminutive teammate Ira Murchison, who at the CISM (Conseil International du Sport Militaire) Championships in Berlin in August, had run 10.1 for a world record in both the semi-final and final. In the final he met and defeated Willie Williams, who had not made the Olympic team, but had also run a world record 10.1 in the opening round. At Melbourne, Morrow was the class of the field. He won every round of the 100 and 200, and anchored the Americans to a gold medal in the 4 x 100 relay. His times were not outstanding because all the sprint races in Melbourne were run into the wind, but the outcomes were never in doubt.

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	R1	QF	SF	Final
1	55	Bobby Joe Morrow	USA	10.4 (1 h12)	10.3 (1 h1)	10.3 (1 h2)	10.5 (1)	Gold
2	54	Thane Baker	USA	10.7 (1 h9)	10.4 (1 h4)	10.4 (2 h2)	10.5 (2)	Silver
3	2	Hec Hogan	AUS	10.5 (1 h8)	10.5 (1 h3)	10.5 (3 h2)	10.6 (3)	Bronze
4	56	Ira Murchison	USA	10.5 (1 h1)	10.3 (1 h2)	10.5 (1 h1)	10.6 (4)
5	14	Manfred Germar	GER	10.7 (1 h6)	10.6 (2 h4)	10.6 (3 h1)	10.7 (5)
6	50	Mike Agostini	TTO	10.7 (1 h2)	10.5 (2 h1)	10.5 (2 h1)	10.7 (6)
4 h1 r3/4	36	Abdul Khaliq	PAK	10.8 (2 h3)	10.5 (2 h2)	10.6 (4 h1)	–
4 h2 r3/4	30	Morrie Rae	NZL	10.7 (1 h3)	10.6 (3 h1)	10.5 (4 h2)	–
5 h1 r3/4	8	Stan Levenson	CAN	10.8 (1 h10)	10.8 (3 h3)	10.7 (5 h1)	–
5 h2 r3/4	38	Marian Foik	POL	10.5 (1 h5)	10.6 (3 h4)	10.6 (5 h2)	–
6 h1 r3/4	58	Yury Konovalov	URS	10.6 (2 h12)	10.7 (3 h2)	10.8 (6 h1)	–
6 h2 r3/4	59	Boris Tokarev	URS	10.6 (2 h5)	10.7 (2 h3)	10.7 (6 h2)	–
4 h1 r2/4	683	Béla Goldoványi	HUN	10.8 (2 h7)	10.8 (4 h1)	–	–
4 h2 r2/4	22	Luigi Gnocchi	ITA	10.7 (2 h2)	10.8 (4 h2)	–	–
4 h3 r2/4	39	Jan Jarzembowski	POL	10.7 (2 h1)	10.8 (4 h3)	–	–
4 h4 r2/4	57	Leonid Bartenev	URS	10.7 (1 h7)	10.6 (4 h4)	–	–
5 h1 r2/4	13	Heinz Fütterer	GER	10.9 (2 h10)	10.8 (5 h1)	–	–
5 h2 r2/4	52	Edmund Turton	TTO	11.1 (2 h9)	11.2 (5 h2)	–	–
5 h3 r2/4	31	Edward Ajado	NGR	10.8 (1 h11)	10.9 (5 h3)	–	–
5 h4 r2/4	11	René Bonino	FRA	10.8 (2 h8)	10.8 (5 h4)	–	–
6 h1 r2/4	3	Ray Land	AUS	10.8 (2 h6)	11.0 (6 h1)	–	–
6 h2 r2/4	53	Ben Nduga	UGA	10.7 (1 h4)	12.8 (6 h2)	–	–
6 h3 r2/4	16	Ken Box	GBR	10.7 (2 h4)	11.3 (6 h3)	–	–
6 h4 r2/4	17	Roy Sandstrom	GBR	10.8 (2 h11)	10.9 (6 h4)	–	–
3 h1 r1/4	637	Hilmar Þorbjörnsson	ISL	10.9 (3 h1)	–	–	–
3 h2 r1/4	32	Titus Erinle	NGR	10.9 (3 h2)	–	–	–
3 h3 r1/4	15	Manfred Steinbach	GER	10.8 (3 h3)	–	–	–
3 h4 r1/4	25	Kyohei Ushio	JPN	11.0 (3 h4)	–	–	–
3 h5 r1/4	21	Franco Galbiati	ITA	10.9 (3 h5)	–	–	–
3 h6 r1/4	23	Keith Gardner	JAM	11.1 (3 h6)	–	–	–
3 h7 r1/4	633	Clive Bonas	VEN	10.9 (3 h7)	–	–	–
3 h8 r1/4	682	Géza Varasdi	HUN	10.8 (3 h8)	–	–	–
3 h9 r1/4	27	Sinnayah Karuppiah Jarabalan	MAL	11.3 (3 h9)	–	–	–
3 h10 r1/4	6	João Pires Sobrinho	BRA	11.0 (3 h10)	–	–	–
3 h11 r1/4	7	Dick Harding	CAN	11.0 (3 h11)	–	–	–
3 h12 r1/4	18	David Segal	GBR	10.9 (3 h12)	–	–	–
4 h1 r1/4	20	Mario Colarossi	ITA	10.9 (4 h1)	–	–	–
4 h2 r1/4	5	Jorge de Barros	BRA	10.9 (4 h2)	–	–	–
4 h3 r1/4	632	Rafael Romero	VEN	10.9 (4 h3)	–	–	–
4 h4 r1/4	42	Kesevan Soon	SGP	11.4 (4 h4)	–	–	–
4 h5 r1/4	4	Tom Robinson	BAH	10.9 (4 h5)	–	–	–
4 h6 r1/4	12	Alain David	FRA	11.1 (4 h6)	–	–	–
4 h7 r1/4	1	Gavin Carragher	AUS	10.9 (4 h7)	–	–	–
4 h8 r1/4	24	Akira Kiyofuji	JPN	10.8 (4 h8)	–	–	–
4 h9 r1/4	43	Tan Eng Yoon	SGP	11.4 (4 h9)	–	–	–
4 h10 r1/4	51	Joe Goddard	TTO	11.1 (4 h10)	–	–	–
4 h11 r1/4	81	Sharif Butt	PAK	11.1 (4 h11)	–	–	–
4 h12 r1/4	47	Paiboon Vacharapan	THA	11.3 (4 h12)	–	–	–
5 h1 r1/4	29	René Ahumada	MEX	11.1 (5 h1)	–	–	–
5 h2 r1/4	42	Vanchak Voradilok	THA	11.5 (5 h2)	–	–	–
5 h3 r1/4	10	Evaristo Iglesias	CUB	11.3 (5 h3)	–	–	–
5 h4 r1/4	9	Jack Parrington	CAN	11.6 (5 h4)	–	–	–
5 h5 r1/4	465	Jootje Gozal	INA	10.9 (5 h5)	–	–	–
5 h6 r1/4	670	Emmanuel Putu	LBR	11.3 (5 h6)	–	–	–
5 h7 r1/4	33	Thomas Obi	NGR	11.0 (5 h7)	–	–	–
5 h10 r1/4	306	Oliver Hunter	GUY	11.1 (5 h10)	–	–	–
5 h11 r1/4	301	Abebe Hailou	ETH	11.3 (5 h11)	–	–	–
5 h12 r1/4	25	Lee Kah Fook	MAL	11.6 (5 h12)	–	–	–
6 h1 r1/4	28	Raja bin Ngah Ali	MAL	11.2 (6 h1)	–	–	–
6 h2 r1/4	300	Roba Negousse	ETH	11.8 (6 h2)	–	–	–
6 h5 r1/4	671	James Roberts	LBR	11.3 (6 h5)	–	–	–
6 h6 r1/4	302	Beyene Legesse	ETH	11.8 (6 h6)	–	–	–
6 h7 r1/4	34	Bjørn Nilsen	NOR	11.0 (6 h7)	–	–	–
6 h10 r1/4	37	Ghulam Raziq	PAK	11.2 (6 h10)	–	–	–
6 h11 r1/4	49	Sneh Wongchaoom	THA	11.8 (6 h11)	–	–	–
DNS	45	René Farine	SUI	– (DNS h1)	–	–	–
DNS	46	Walter Tschudi	SUI	– (DNS h3)	–	–	–
DNS	681	László Kiss	HUN	– (DNS h9)	–	–	–
DNS	19	Ghanim Mahmoud	IRQ	– (DNS h9)	–	–	–
DNS	40	Edward Szmidt	POL	– (DNS h8)	–	–	–
DNS	41	Norberto Cruz	PUR	– (DNS h4)	–	–	–
DNS	44	Fritz Vogelsang	SUI	– (DNS h12)	–	–	–
DNS	635	Alfonso Bruno	VEN	– (DNS h8)	–	–	–

Round One (23 November 1956 — 15:10)

Top two in each heat advanced to the quarter-finals.

Heat One

Wind	0.0 m/s

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	7	Ira Murchison	USA	10.5	10.67	Q
2	2	Jan Jarzembowski	POL	10.7	10.95	Q
3	3	Hilmar Þorbjörnsson	ISL	10.9	11.12
4	5	Mario Colarossi	ITA	10.9	11.14
5	4	René Ahumada	MEX	11.1	11.26
6	6	Raja bin Ngah Ali	MAL	11.2	11.41
DNS	1	René Farine	SUI	–	–

Heat Two

Wind	-1.2 m/s

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	2	Mike Agostini	TTO	10.7	10.98	Q
2	1	Luigi Gnocchi	ITA	10.7	11.04	Q
3	4	Titus Erinle	NGR	10.9	11.09
4	6	Jorge de Barros	BRA	10.9	11.15
5	3	Vanchak Voradilok	THA	11.5	11.78
6	5	Roba Negousse	ETH	11.8	12.07

Heat Three

Wind	-2.8 m/s

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	5	Morrie Rae	NZL	10.7	10.84	Q
2	2	Abdul Khaliq	PAK	10.8	10.97	Q
3	3	Manfred Steinbach	GER	10.8	10.99
4	1	Rafael Romero	VEN	10.9	11.14
5	4	Evaristo Iglesias	CUB	11.3	11.50
DNS	6	Walter Tschudi	SUI	–	–

Heat Four

Wind	0.0 m/s

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	3	Ben Nduga	UGA	10.7	10.88	Q
2	2	Ken Box	GBR	10.7	10.96	Q
3	4	Kyohei Ushio	JPN	11.0	11.09
4	5	Kesevan Soon	SGP	11.4	11.35
5	1	Jack Parrington	CAN	11.6	11.62
DNS	6	Norberto Cruz	PUR	–	–

Heat Five

Wind	0.1 m/s

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	6	Marian Foik	POL	10.5	10.74	Q
2	5	Boris Tokarev	URS	10.6	10.90	Q
3	3	Franco Galbiati	ITA	10.9	11.00
4	4	Tom Robinson	BAH	10.9	11.06
5	1	Jootje Gozal	INA	10.9	11.09
6	2	James Roberts	LBR	11.3	11.45

Heat Six

Wind	-0.5 m/s

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	1	Manfred Germar	GER	10.7	10.91	Q
2	3	Ray Land	AUS	10.8	11.05	Q
3	5	Keith Gardner	JAM	11.1	11.22
4	6	Alain David	FRA	11.1	11.24
5	2	Emmanuel Putu	LBR	11.3	11.44
6	4	Beyene Legesse	ETH	11.8	11.94

Heat Seven

Wind	-0.6 m/s

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	4	Leonid Bartenev	URS	10.7	10.87	Q
2	2	Béla Goldoványi	HUN	10.8	10.88	Q
3	3	Clive Bonas	VEN	10.9	10.99
4	1	Gavin Carragher	AUS	10.9	10.98
5	6	Thomas Obi	NGR	11.0	11.10
6	5	Bjørn Nilsen	NOR	11.0	11.11

Heat Eight

Wind	0.0 m/s

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	6	Hec Hogan	AUS	10.5	10.72	Q
2	3	René Bonino	FRA	10.8	10.96	Q
3	1	Géza Varasdi	HUN	10.8	11.00
4	2	Akira Kiyofuji	JPN	10.8	11.00
DNS	4	Edward Szmidt	POL	–	–
DNS	5	Alfonso Bruno	VEN	–	–

Heat Nine

Wind	-0.9 m/s

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	6	Thane Baker	USA	10.7	10.93	Q
2	2	Edmund Turton	TTO	11.1	11.38	Q
3	4	Sinnayah Karuppiah Jarabalan	MAL	11.3	11.56
4	3	Tan Eng Yoon	SGP	11.4	11.63
DNS	5	László Kiss	HUN	–	–
DNS	1	Ghanim Mahmoud	IRQ	–	–

Heat Ten

Wind	-1.2 m/s

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	6	Stan Levenson	CAN	10.8	10.94	Q
2	5	Heinz Fütterer	GER	10.9	11.10	Q
3	1	João Pires Sobrinho	BRA	11.0	11.14
4	4	Joe Goddard	TTO	11.1	11.19
5	2	Oliver Hunter	GUY	11.1	11.22
6	3	Ghulam Raziq	PAK	11.2	11.26

Heat Eleven

Wind	-0.7 m/s

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	1	Edward Ajado	NGR	10.8	11.01	Q
2	4	Roy Sandstrom	GBR	10.8	11.05	Q
3	6	Dick Harding	CAN	11.0	11.20
4	2	Sharif Butt	PAK	11.1	11.26
5	3	Abebe Hailou	ETH	11.3	11.54
6	5	Sneh Wongchaoom	THA	11.8	11.95

Heat Twelve

Wind	0.0 m/s

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	1	Bobby Joe Morrow	USA	10.4	10.47	Q
2	3	Yury Konovalov	URS	10.6	10.92	Q
3	2	David Segal	GBR	10.9	11.02
4	5	Paiboon Vacharapan	THA	11.3	11.57
5	6	Lee Kah Fook	MAL	11.6	11.84
DNS	4	Fritz Vogelsang	SUI	–	–

Quarter-Finals (23 November 1956 — 17:05)

Top three in each heat advanced to the semi-finals.

Heat One

Wind	-1.4 m/s

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	3	Bobby Joe Morrow	USA	10.3	10.55	Q=OR
2	1	Mike Agostini	TTO	10.5	10.75	Q
3	5	Morrie Rae	NZL	10.6	10.78	Q
4	4	Béla Goldoványi	HUN	10.8	10.95
5	6	Heinz Fütterer	GER	10.8	10.99
6	2	Ray Land	AUS	11.0	11.15

Heat Two

Wind	0.0 m/s

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	1	Ira Murchison	USA	10.3	10.55	Q=OR
2	2	Abdul Khaliq	PAK	10.5	10.78	Q
3	3	Yury Konovalov	URS	10.7	10.93	Q
4	4	Luigi Gnocchi	ITA	10.8	10.96
5	6	Edmund Turton	TTO	11.2	11.37
6	5	Ben Nduga	UGA	12.8	12.95

Heat Three

Wind	-1.0 m/s

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	6	Hec Hogan	AUS	10.5	10.78	Q
2	4	Boris Tokarev	URS	10.7	10.87	Q
3	3	Stan Levenson	CAN	10.8	10.93	Q
4	1	Jan Jarzembowski	POL	10.8	10.98
5	2	Edward Ajado	NGR	10.9	11.02
6	5	Ken Box	GBR	11.3	11.45

Heat Four

Wind	-2.2 m/s

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	3	Thane Baker	USA	10.4	10.62	Q
2	3	Manfred Germar	GER	10.6	10.80	Q
3	5	Marian Foik	POL	10.6	10.83	Q
4	4	Leonid Bartenev	URS	10.6	10.84
5	1	René Bonino	FRA	10.8	10.96
6	2	Roy Sandstrom	GBR	10.9	11.03

Semi-Finals (24 November 1956 — 15:45)

Top three in each heat advanced to the final.

Heat One

Wind	-2.3 m/s

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	6	Ira Murchison	USA	10.5	10.79	Q	1
2	2	Mike Agostini	TTO	10.5	10.79	Q	2
3	1	Manfred Germar	GER	10.6	10.85	Q
4	4	Abdul Khaliq	PAK	10.6	10.93
5	3	Stan Levenson	CAN	10.7	10.94
6	5	Yury Konovalov	URS	10.8	11.11

Heat Two

Wind	-1.1 m/s

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	3	Bobby Joe Morrow	USA	10.3	10.52	Q=OR
2	5	Thane Baker	USA	10.4	10.61	Q
3	1	Hec Hogan	AUS	10.5	10.62	Q
4	2	Morrie Rae	NZL	10.5	10.68
5	4	Marian Foik	POL	10.6	10.84
6	6	Boris Tokarev	URS	10.7	10.91

Final (24 November 1956 — 17:30)

Wind	-2.5 m/s

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	4	Bobby Joe Morrow	USA	10.5	10.62
2	3	Thane Baker	USA	10.5	10.77
3	6	Hec Hogan	AUS	10.6	10.77
4	1	Ira Murchison	USA	10.6	10.79
5	5	Manfred Germar	GER	10.7	10.86
6	2	Mike Agostini	TTO	10.7	10.88