Winners in every track and field event from the 1900 Olympics
The number of track and field events at the 1900 Summer Olympic Games almost doubled, from 12 in 1896 to 23 in the 1900 Games, held in Paris. The number of competitors almost doubled as well, from 64 to 117 competitors, who came from a total of 15 nations. The United States again dominated the medal standings; as in 1896, winners received silver, not gold medals. American athletes won 16 of the 23 events and scored a total of 39 medals.
Great Britain won three events – the only nation other than the U.S. to win more than one – and was second in the medal count with eight.
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Sprints
The 1900 Summer Olympics featured four sprint races, as 60- and 200-meter events were added; U.S. athletes won all four sprints. As with all the track events at the Paris Games, the sprints were held on a 500-meter track laid out on a grass field.
Walter Tewksbury was the standout sprinter, as he won the 200 in 22.2 seconds, while taking second place in the 60- and 100-meter races. Tewksbury and American Frank Jarvis both tied the pre-IAAF world 100-meter record of 10.8 seconds during the prelims, before Jarvis won the final in 11.0. Alvin Kraenzlein edged Tewksbury by one-tenth of a second in the 60-meter final, with a winning time of 7.0.
India’s Norman Pritchard was second in the 200 (some sources credit his medal to Great Britain, because India wasn’t independent in 1900) while Australia’s Stan Rowley was third in the 60, 100 and 200.
Rowley and Tewksbury are the only Olympians to ever win three individual sprinting medals in the same year. Maxie Long won the 400 in 49.4 seconds, ahead of fellow American William Holland and Denmark’s Ernst Schultz.
Hurdles
Two new hurdles races were added in 1900, as the 200- and 400-meter hurdles joined the 110-meter event. The hurdles races would look almost unrecognizable to a modern observer, as telegraph poles were used for most of the hurdles, with the final “hurdle” being a steeplechase-like water barrier.
Kraenzlein won both the 110 (in a pre-IAAF world mark of 15.4 seconds) and 200 hurdles (25.4). Americans John McLean and Frederick Moloney took second and third, respectively, in the shorter race, while Pritchard and Tewksbury placed second and third in the 200. Tewksbury won the 400 hurdles in 57.6, giving him a total of five individual medals. Henri Tauzin of France was second and Canada’s George Orton third.
Distance Running and Steeplechase
The 800- and 1500-meter events, plus the marathon, were carried over from the Athens Games, while two steeplechase races, plus a 5000-meter team race, were introduced in Paris. British runners won the 800 and 1500 races, with Alfred Tysoe taking the shorter race in 2:01.2 – followed by Americans John Cregan and David Hall – while Charles Bennett won the 1500 in 4:06.2, with France’s Henri Deloge in second and American John Bray third.
Steeplechase distances varied in the early Olympics, with races held at 2500 and 4000 meters in 1900. In the 2500, Canada’s Orton passed three runners on the final straight to win in 7:34.4, with Sidney Robinson of Great Britain second and France’s Jacques Chastanie third. John Rimmer led a British sweep in the 4000-meter steeplechase, winning in 12:58.4, ahead of Bennett and Robinson. The 5000-meter team race was won by a squad then considered to be British, although the Australian Rowley was among the winners, along with Bennett, Rimmer, Robinson and Tysoe. France was the only other nation to compete. The event was run much like a cross-country team race, with each runner completing the 5000 meters and gaining team points according to his position. Bennett was the fastest overall, finishing in 15:29.2.
The marathoners ran four laps around the 500-meter track before entering a street course that meandered through Paris. Michel Theato won the race in 2:59:45, representing France, although he was actually from Luxemburg. France’s Emile Champion was second with Sweden’s Ernst Fast third.
Jumps
Three standing jumps were added to the four jumping events held in 1896, much to the benefit of Ray Ewry. The American won all three standing jumps in 1900 and went on to win eight Olympic championships in his career (plus two in the “intercalated” Games of 1906). Ewry, who overcame childhood polio, holds the record for the most individual-event track and field championships in Olympic history.
All three standing jumps were held on the same day, July 16, 1900. Ewry won the standing long jump with a leap of 3.20 meters (10 feet, 6 inches), as well as the standing triple jump (10.58/34-8½) and standing high jump (1.655/5-5). Fellow American Irving Baxter was second in all three events. France’s Emile Torcheboeuf took third in the standing long jump, while Americans Robert Garrett and Lewis Sheldon placed third in the standing triple and high jump, respectively.
Kraenzlein won the more traditional long jump, making him the only track and field athlete to win four individual events in a single Games. American Myer Prinstein had the longest jump in the qualifying round, 7.175/23-6½. Under the rules of the time, that jump would also count in the final tally for the medals. Prinstein later stated that he and Kraenzlein agreed not to compete in the final round, because it was held on Sunday (even though Prinstein was Jewish). Nevertheless, Kraenzlein did jump in the final, and beat Prinstein with a leap of 7.185/23-6¾, while Great Britain’s Patrick Leahy took third.
Prinstein won the triple jump (14.47/47-5½), ahead of Americans James Connolly, the defending champion, and Sheldon. Baxter won both the high jump (1.90/6-2¾) and pole vault (3.30/10-9¾), giving him five individual medals in his lone Olympic Games. Baxter had little vaulting experience, but after winning the high jump just minutes earlier, he decided to take a shot at the pole vault. Leahy was second and Hungary’s Lajos Gonczy third in the high jump. American Meredit Colket and Carl Albert Anderson of Norway were second and third, respectively, in the pole vault.
Throws
The hammer was added to the Olympic throwing menu in 1900, and John Flanagan led an American medal sweep by flinging the implement 51.01/167-4, with Truxton Hare second and Josiah McCracken third. American Richard Sheldon won the shot put (14.10/46-3), with McCracken second and defending champ Garrett third. Rudolf Bauer of Hungary earned the discus championship with a toss measuring 36.04/118-3, followed by Frantisek Janda-Suk of Bohemia (now the Czech Republic) and Richard Sheldon.
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