Career
At London, the main favourites were Smithson"s teammates John Garrels and 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. 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.