Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's 110 metres hurdles

Did You Know?

• The United States missed only the boycotted 1980 Games, making its 24th appearance.
• The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress.

Summary

Ladji Doucouré led all preliminary rounds, but in the final Liu Xiang took the lead from the start and ran a flawless race, equaling Colin Jackson's world record with 12.91. Terrence Trammell, despite touching nearly every hurdle, held a slight lead until Staņislavs Olijars hit the sixth hurdle and fell back. Doucouré then moved into silver position but struck the final hurdle and stumbled across last. Trammell edged Anier García for his second successive silver.

Background

This was the 25th appearance of the event, one of 12 athletics events held at every Summer Olympics. Five finalists from 2000 returned, including gold medalist Anier García and silver medalist Terrence Trammell. Allen Johnson, the 1996 gold medalist and 2001 and 2003 world champion, also returned. Liu Xiang, third at the 2003 worlds, was favored in Athens. Croatia, Ecuador, Estonia, Georgia, Indonesia, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovenia, and Ukraine made their first appearance. The United States made its 24th appearance, most of any nation.

Qualification

The qualification period ran from 1 January 2003 to 9 August 2004. Each National Olympic Committee could enter up to three athletes who had run 13.55 seconds or faster during that period. If an NOC had no such athletes, one athlete who had run 13.72 seconds or faster could be entered. The maximum of three athletes per nation had been set since the 1930 Olympic Congress.

Competition format

The event followed a four-round structure, first seen in 1960 and brought back in 1988, with eight runners in both the semifinals and finals, a standard since 1964. The opening round used the fastest loser rule, also from 1964. Six first-round heats sent the top four from each directly to round two, joined by the eight quickest remaining times. Four second-round heats then saw the top three from each, plus the next four fastest, move to two semifinals. Only the top four from each semifinal made the final.