Forrest Smithson

Forrest Custer Smithson ( born September 26, 1884 in Portland, Oregon, † November 24, 1962 in Contra Costa County, California ) was an American track and field athlete.

Smithson was a student of theology at Oregon State University. 1907 and 1908 he won the championship of the Amateur Athletic Union in the 120 - yards hurdles. At the finals of the 110- meter hurdles race of the Olympic Games in London in 1908 four Americans were at the start. The final was played on a grass runway and also the hurdles can not be compared with today's models. The feet were in both directions, so that the obstacles were not easy to tip over, on the other hand you could be disqualified if you knocked over too many hurdles. Smithson won the race superior in 15.0 seconds, undercutting Alvin Kraenzleins world record by 0.2 seconds.

The widespread legend, Smithson won the gold medal with a Bible in his left hand, to protest against the implementation of the competition on a Sunday, is demonstrably false. First, no competition was held on Sunday. Second, this story was not mentioned either in the newspapers or in the official report. The legend was probably due to a photo that is shown in the official report. But this was taken only after the finale and is clearly detected. The only truth is that Smithson was a devout man.