Lippincott set the world record in a heat 16 of 100 m. Richard Rau was considered to have the then unofficial world's best time of 10.5 s but this had not been properly ratified. The time was actually quoted as 10 3/5 s, as the hand watches of the day recorded race times in 1/5 (0.2) s increments. Lippincott would remain world record holder for eight years without peers (in 1920 Jackson Scholz gained a share of the record, and in 1921 Charlie Paddock recorded a new record of 10.4 s).