Forrest Smithson

Smithson and his running "style".

Personal information

Born

September 26, 1884
Portland, Oregon, USA

Died

November 25, 1962 (aged 78)
Contra Costa County, California, USA

Medal record

Men's athletics

Representing the United States
Olympic Games
	1908 London	110 m hurdles

Forrest Custer Smithson (September 26, 1884 – November 25, 1962) was an American

athlete, winner of 110 m hurdles at the 1908 Summer Olympics.^[1]

Born in Portland, Oregon, Smithson was a student of theology from Oregon State University and an AAU champion in 1907 and 1909 in the 120 yd (110 m) hurdles.

Arthur Shaw who had earlier equaled Alvin Kraenzlein's world record

of 15.2 seconds. The 110 m hurdles was not contested on a track as usual, but in a special path in the stadium grass. Only Americans reached the final, which was contested on the last day of the London Games. Smithson defeated Garrels and set a new world record of 15.0 seconds.

Forrest Smithson died in Contra Costa County, California, aged 78.

Bible story

There is a widespread story about Smithson winning the gold medal while carrying a Bible in his left hand (ostensibly to protest against the decision to run the 110 m hurdles final on a Sunday). At first, none of the 110 m hurdles heats nor the final were scheduled or planned to take place on Sunday. The story was not mentioned in the newspapers. This story is based on a picture published in the official report, which was taken during the final.

The fact was that Forrest Smithson was a strong Christian and often ran with a Bible in his hand to point people to the source of his strength and inspiration; his relationship with Jesus Christ.

References

^ "Forrest Smithson". Olympedia. Retrieved 9 March 2021.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Forrest Smithson.

Forrest Smithson biography and Olympic results at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived); retrieved 2010-02-02.

Olympic champions in men's 110 metres hurdles

v t e US National Championship winners in men's 110 m/120 yd hurdles
1876–1878 New York Athletic Club	1876: George Hitchcock 1877–78: Edwards Ficken
1879–1888 NAAAA	1879: Edward Haigh 1880: H.H. Moritz 1881–82: James Tivey (GBR) 1883–84: Silas Safford 1885–87: Alexander Jordan 1888^{Note 1}: Al Copland
1888–1979 Amateur Athletic Union	1888^{Note 1}: Alexander Jordan 1889: George Schwegler 1890: Fred Ducharme 1891: Al Copland 1892–93: Fred Puffer 1894–95: Stephen Chase 1896: William Rogers 1897: John Thompson 1898–99: Alvin Kraenzlein 1900: Ralph Hutchinson 1901: Walter Fishleigh 1902: R.H. Hadfield 1903: Frederick Schule 1904: Frank Castleman 1905: Hugo Friend 1906: William Armstrong 1907: Forrest Smithson 1908: Arthur Shaw 1909: Forrest Smithson 1910: John Case 1911: Arthur Shaw 1912: John Nicholson 1913: Fred Kelly 1914: Harry Goelitz 1915: Feg Murray 1916: Robert Simpson 1917: Harold Barron 1918: Earl Thomson (CAN) 1919: Robert Simpson 1920: Harold Barron 1921–22: Earl Thomson (CAN) 1923: Karl Anderson 1924: Ivan Riley 1925: George Guthrie 1926: Leighton Dye 1927: Chuck Werner 1928–30: Steve Anderson 1931: Percy Beard 1932: Jack Keller 1933: John Morriss 1934–35: Percy Beard 1936: Forrest Towns 1937: Allen Tolmich 1938: Fred Wolcott 1939: Joe Batiste 1940–41: Fred Wolcott 1942–43: Bill Cummins 1944: Owen Cassidy 1945: Charles Morgan 1946–47: Harrison Dillard 1948: William Porter 1949: Craig Dixon 1950–51: Dick Attlesey 1952: Harrison Dillard 1953–54: Jack Davis 1955: Milt Campbell 1956–57: Lee Calhoun 1958: Hayes Jones 1959: Lee Calhoun 1960–61: Hayes Jones 1962: Jerry Tarr 1963–64: Hayes Jones 1965–67: Willie Davenport 1968: Earl McCullouch 1969: Willie Davenport & Leon Coleman 1970: Thomas Hill 1971–72: Rod Milburn 1973: Thomas Hill 1974: Charles Foster 1975: Jerry Wilson 1976: Thomas Hill 1977: James Owens & Charles Foster 1978–79: Renaldo Nehemiah
1980–1992 The Athletics Congress	1980: Renaldo Nehemiah 1981: Greg Foster 1982: Willie Gault 1983: Greg Foster 1984: Tonie Campbell 1985: Roger Kingdom 1986–87: Greg Foster 1988–90: Roger Kingdom 1991: Greg Foster 1992: Jack Pierce
1993–present USA Track & Field	1993: Jack Pierce 1994: Mark Crear 1995: Roger Kingdom 1996–97: Allen Johnson 1998: Reggie Torian 1999: Mark Crear 2000–03: Allen Johnson 2004: Terrence Trammell 2005: Allen Johnson 2006: Dominique Arnold 2007: Terrence Trammell 2008: David Oliver 2009: David Payne 2010–11: David Oliver 2012: Aries Merritt 2013: Ryan Wilson 2014: Devon Allen 2015: David Oliver 2016: Devon Allen 2017: Aleec Harris 2018: Devon Allen 2019: Daniel Roberts 2021^{2020 OT}: Grant Holloway 2022-23: Daniel Roberts
Notes	Note 1: In 1888 both the NAAAA and the AAU held championships 120 yd hurdles 1876–1927, 1929–31, 1953–55, 1957–58, 1961–63, 1965–67 and 1969–71; 110 m hurdles otherwise. First place was shared in 1969 and 1977. The 1920, 1928, 1932, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 championships incorporated the Olympic Trials, otherwise held as a discrete event. 2020 OT: The 2020 Olympic Trials were delayed and held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Authority control databases
International	ISNI VIAF
National	France BnF data