Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metres explained

Event:	Men's 100 metres
Games:	2016 Summer
Venue:	Olympic Stadium
Dates:	13 August 2016 (Preliminary round & heats) 14 August 2016 (semi-final & final)
Competitors:	84
Nations:	57
Win Value:	9.81
Gold:	Usain Bolt
Goldnoc:	JAM
Silver:	Justin Gatlin
Silvernoc:	USA
Bronze:	Andre De Grasse
Bronzenoc:	CAN
Prev:	2012
Next:	2020

The men's 100 metres event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place between 13–14 August at the Olympic Stadium.^[1] 84 athletes from 57 nations competed.^[2]

Background

Billed as one of the most anticipated races in history, Usain Bolt of Jamaica entered as the world record holder, defending Olympic champion and the reigning world champion. He sought to become the first man to win three Olympic 100 m titles, en route to the "Triple-Triple"; 100m, 200m and 4 × 100 metres relay gold medals at three consecutive Olympic Games. However, with recurring injury problems affecting his early season, he was ranked 4th in the year with 9.88 seconds, and only raced three 100 m finals before pulling out of the Jamaican Trials; he only qualified for the Olympics through a medical exemption. Meanwhile, his biggest rival was Justin Gatlin of the United States, the world leader for three consecutive years who had threatened Bolt's world titles in 2013 and more prominently in 2015. Despite also having injuries in the early season, the 34-year old Gatlin also went unbeaten in the season, going on to win the American Trials in a world-leading 9.80 seconds.

Trayvon Bromell, joint-bronze medalist at the 2015 World Championship and the world junior record holder, finished second to Gatlin at the American Trials with the second-fastest time of the year. Defending silver medallist and joint-second fastest man in history Yohan Blake, who won the Jamaican Trials in Bolt's absence, showed a strong return to form since his near career-ending injuries from 2013–2015.^[3] ^[4] Nickel Ashmeade and Marvin Bracy filled out the Jamaican and American rosters. Meanwhile, France's Jimmy Vicaut, co-European record holder, equaled the 9.86 record once again, and Akani Simbine was the last man under 9.9 seconds that year, with a South African record of 9.89. Other contenders included the other bronze medalist in the 2015 World Championship Andre De Grasse, 5th ranked Femi Ogunode who equaled his Asian record of 9.91, and the British trio of James Dasaolu, James Ellington, and Chijindu Ujah.

Macedonia and Palestine competed for the first time in the event. The United States made its 27th appearance in the event, the most of any country, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.

Summary

In the preliminary round, Hassan Saaid of the Maldives and Rodman Teltull of Palau were the fastest to progress, both managing under 10.6 seconds.^[5] Siueni Filimone qualified but pulled a hamstring at the finish and was unable to compete in the next round.

Gatlin was the fastest in the heats at 10.01, with Bolt not too far behind at 10.07. Kemarley Brown, Zhenye Xie and Ben Youssef Meite were surprise heat winners, while Vicaut and Bracy amazingly only qualified on time. The most prominent casualties were Ogunode, Ellington, European champion Churandy Martina, sub-10 Canadian Aaron Brown, 2008 silver medalist Richard Thompson, and his teammate Keston Bledman.^[6] ^[7]

Vicaut made up for his sluggish heat by winning the first semifinal in 9.95. In the second semifinal, Bolt silenced doubters by casually jogging 9.86 to win; Bolt had done the same in 9.87 and 9.85 at the previous two Olympic games, proving that he was in excellent shape. Andre De Grasse finished second in 9.92, equaling his personal best and boosting his status as a medal contender by tenfold. De Grasse also appeared to be mimicking Bolt, glancing at the field every time Bolt did. Gatlin won the last semifinal in an easy 9.94, then immediately left the arena to begin preparing for the final.

In the final, Gatlin's introduction prompted negative reception from the crowd, while Bolt's introduction filled the stadium with cheers once again. At the gun, Gatlin got the best start, slightly ahead of Simbine and Bromell to his inside. Two lanes outside, Bolt was behind and stayed level with De Grasse and Meite. By the middle of the race, Gatlin had 2 metres on Bolt and it seemed as though the Jamaican would be defeated. However, Bolt quickly hit top speed and surged ahead, catching the American at 75 meters and pulling away at 80. Usain thumped his chest as he crossed the line in first, making history as the first man in history to win 3 consecutive Olympic golds in the 100m. Gatlin was forced to settle for the silver and was nearly caught by De Grasse, who pipped Blake and Simbine for the Bronze medal.

Usain Bolt's win broke 2 records; becoming the first person to win the 100 meter race 3 times and also to medal 3 times in the 100 meter race. Previously, only Carl Lewis had won two gold medals in the 100m, a feat which Bolt had matched at the London 2012 Summer Olympics. However, finishing several hundredths of a second later, Gatlin, also having a place on the podium, joined him in winning three 100m medals; one gold, one silver (for this race), and one bronze, which itself made Gatlin the first man in history to win each medal in the 100 meters.^[8] Gatlin also became the holder of the record for the longest time between their first medal and last medal in the 100m, in terms of years. His first being his gold won at the 2004 Summer Olympics and his silver medal, 12 years later in this race.

Bolt's winning time of 9.81 seconds was his slowest at the Olympics, but a season's best and the second fastest of the year behind Gatlin. De Grasse' 9.91 was a new personal best, and Meite set a new national record of 9.96 for 6th. The final was significantly slower than London and slightly slower than Beijing, but was still one of the fastest in Olympic history. The race was strikingly similar to Beijing in 2008; the 2nd to 6th athletes finished very closely, with 2nd, 3rd and 4th being won in 9.89, 9.91 and 9.93 respectively, while 7th and 8th finished further behind the field and had a difference of 0.02 between them.

The following evening the medals were presented by Valeriy Borzov, IOC member, Ukraine, and Sebastian Coe, President of the IAAF.

Qualification

See main article: Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Qualification.

A National Olympic Committee (NOC) could enter up to 3 qualified athletes in the men's 100 metres event if all athletes meet the entry standard during the qualifying period. (The limit of 3 has been in place since the 1930 Olympic Congress.) The qualifying standard was 10.16 seconds. The qualifying period was from 1 May 2015 to 11 July 2016. The qualifying time standards could be obtained in various meets during the given period that have the approval of the IAAF. Only outdoor meets were eligible for the sprints and short hurdles, including the 100 metres. NOCs could also use their universality place—each NOC could enter one male athlete regardless of time if they had no male athletes meeting the entry standard for an athletics event—in the 100 metres.^[9] ^[10]

Competition format

The event continued to use the preliminaries plus three main rounds format introduced in 2012. Athletes not meeting the qualification standard competed in the preliminaries; those who met the standard started in the first round.

The preliminary round consisted of 3 heats, each with 7 or 8 athletes. The top two runners in each heat advanced, along with the next two fastest runners overall. They joined the faster entrants in the first round of heats, which consisted of 8 heats of 8 or 9 athletes each. The top two runners in each heat, along with the next eight fastest runners overall, moved on to the semifinals. The 24 semifinalists competed in three heats of 8, with the top two in each semifinal and the next two overall advancing to the eight-man final.^[2]

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing global and area records were as follows:

Record! scope="col"
Athlete (Nation)	Time (s)	Location	Date
World record		9.58	Berlin, Germany	16 August 2009
Olympic record		9.63	London, United Kingdom	5 August 2012
World leading		9.80 ^[11]	Eugene, Oregon, United States	3 July 2016

Time (s)	Area	Wind
+Area records before the 2016 Summer Olympics	Area
	9.85	+1.7
	9.91	+1.8
	9.91	+0.6
	9.86	+0.6
	9.86	+1.3
	9.86	+1.8
	9.58	+0.9
	9.93	+1.8
	10.00	+1.6

The following national records were established during the competition:

Country	Athlete	Round	Time (seconds)	Notes
align=left	Ivory Coast	align=left		Semifinals	9.97 s
align=left	Ivory Coast	align=left		Final	9.96 s

Schedule

All times are Brasilia Time (UTC-3)

Date	Time	Round
Saturday, 13 August 2016	09:30 12:00	Preliminaries Round 1
style=background:lemonchiffon	Sunday, 14 August 2016	style=background:lemonchiffon	21:00 22:25	style=background:lemonchiffon	Semifinals Final

Results

Preliminaries

The preliminary round featured athletes invited to compete who had not achieved the required qualifying standard. Athletes who had achieved the standard received a bye into the first round proper.Qualification rules: First 2 in each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) advance to Round 1.

Preliminary heat 1

Rank	Lane	Athlete	Reaction	Notes
1	9	align=left	align=left	0.145	10.72	,
2	8	align=left	align=left	0.136	10.77
3	4	align=left	align=left	0.176	10.82
4	5	align=left	align=left	0.165	10.97
5	6	align=left	align=left	0.145	11.03
6	2	align=left	align=left	0.145	11.05
7	7	align=left	align=left	0.170	11.56
8	3	align=left	align=left	0.136	11.81
			Wind: −0.2 m/s

Preliminary heat 2

Rank	Lane	Athlete	Reaction	Notes
1	2	align=left	align=left	0.130	10.43
2	6	align=left	align=left	0.155	10.76	,
3	7	align=left	align=left	0.167	11.04
4	5	align=left	align=left	0.137	11.34
5	4	align=left	align=left	0.141	11.51
6	8	align=left	align=left	0.178	11.65
7	3	align=left	align=left	0.145	11.65
			Wind: +0.4 m/s

Preliminary heat 3

Rank	Lane	Athlete	Reaction	Notes
1	7	align=left	align=left	0.135	10.53
2	6	align=left	align=left	0.140	10.84
3	3	align=left	align=left	0.163	10.92
4	4	align=left	align=left	0.146	10.95
5	5	align=left	align=left	0.159	11.42
6	2	align=left	align=left	0.157	11.44
7	8	align=left	align=left	0.143	11.81
			Wind: −0.3 m/s

Heats

Qualification rules: First 2 in each heat (Q) and the next 8 fastest (q) advance to the Semifinals.

Heat 1

Rank	Lane	Athlete	Reaction	Notes
1	3	align=left	align=left	0.146	10.13
2	5	align=left	align=left	0.150	10.13
3	7	align=left	align=left	0.155	10.16
4	2	align=left	align=left	0.139	10.26
5	1	align=left	align=left	0.170	10.28
6	8	align=left	align=left	0.145	10.43
7	9	align=left	align=left	0.150	10.47
8	6	align=left	align=left	0.143	10.53
9	4	align=left	align=left	0.151	10.95
			Wind: −1.2 m/s

Heat 2

Rank	Lane	Athlete	Reaction	Notes
1	8	align=left	align=left	0.160	10.01
2	7	align=left	align=left	0.153	10.20
3	1	align=left	align=left	0.112	10.23
4	5	align=left	align=left	0.146	10.27
5	9	align=left	align=left	0.166	10.29
6	6	align=left	align=left	0.151	10.37
7	3	align=left	align=left	0.166	10.37
8	2	align=left	align=left	0.133	10.64
9	4	align=left	align=left	0.163	10.71
			Wind: +0.8 m/s

Heat 3

Rank	Lane	Athlete	Reaction	Notes
1	5	align=left	align=left	0.143	10.08	,
2	3	align=left	align=left	0.132	10.13
3	6	align=left	align=left	0.150	10.17
4	2	align=left	align=left	0.151	10.18
5	4	align=left	align=left	0.154	10.26
6	7	align=left	align=left	0.158	10.34
7	9	align=left	align=left	0.160	10.34
8	8	align=left	align=left	0.138	10.39
			Wind: −0.1 m/s

Heat 4

Rank	Lane	Athlete	Reaction	Notes
1	3	align=left	align=left	0.148	10.04
2	9	align=left	align=left	0.137	10.13
3	2	align=left	align=left	0.146	10.17
4	1	align=left	align=left	0.164	10.19
5	7	align=left	align=left	0.142	10.22
6	5	align=left	align=left	0.146	10.31
7	8	align=left	align=left	0.135	10.34
8	6	align=left	align=left	0.145	10.68
9	4	align=left	align=left	0.122	10.70
			Wind: −0.5 m/s

Heat 5

Rank	Lane	Athlete	Reaction	Notes
1	9	align=left	align=left	0.145	10.03
2	5	align=left	align=left	0.165	10.13
3	4	align=left	align=left	0.150	10.16
4	7	align=left	align=left	0.156	10.20
5	8	align=left	align=left	0.150	10.20
6	1	align=left	align=left	0.123	10.22
7	6	align=left	align=left	0.131	10.28
8	2	align=left	align=left	0.135	10.47
	3	align=left	align=left
			Wind: +0.2 m/s

Heat 6

Rank	Lane	Athlete	Nation	Reaction	Notes
1	4	align=left		align=left	0.154	10.11
2	8	align=left		align=left	0.159	10.14
3	9	align=left	Barakat Alharthi	align=left	0.155	10.22
4	2	align=left		align=left	0.151	10.25
5	6	align=left		align=left	0.145	10.29
6	3	align=left		align=left	0.107	10.33
7	5	align=left		align=left	0.121	10.36
8	7	align=left		align=left	0.149	10.39
				Wind: −0.8 m/s

Heat 7

Finished	Lane	Athlete	Reaction	Etc.
1	6	align=left	align=left	0.156	10.07
2	3	align=left	align=left	0.134	10.12
3	7	align=left	align=left	0.171	10.18
4	9	align=left	align=left	0.150	10.23
5	2	align=left	align=left	0.139	10.28
6	5	align=left	align=left	0.130	10.29
7	8	align=left	align=left	0.147	10.39
8	1	align=left	align=left	0.139	10.47
9	4	align=left	align=left	0.149	10.79
			Wind: −0.4 m/s

Heat 8

Rank	Lane	Athlete	Reaction	Notes
1	4	align=left	align=left	0.124	10.14
2	1	align=left	align=left	0.111	10.20
3	7	align=left	align=left	0.135	10.24
4	9	align=left	align=left	0.162	10.25
5	2	align=left	align=left	0.127	10.36
5	5	align=left	align=left	0.157	10.36
7	6	align=left	align=left	0.135	10.37
8	3	align=left	align=left	0.163	10.55
9	8	align=left	align=left	0.153	11.89
			Wind: −1.3 m/s

Semifinals

Qualification Rules: First 2 in each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) advance to the Final.

Semifinal 1

Rank	Lane	Athlete	Reaction	Notes
1	3	align=left	align=left	0.131	9.95
2	7	align=left	align=left	0.142	9.97	,
3	5	align=left	align=left	0.144	9.98
4	9	align=left	align=left	0.148	10.03
5	4	align=left	align=left	0.118	10.05
6	8	align=left	align=left	0.152	10.08
7	6	align=left	align=left	0.134	10.11
8	2	align=left	align=left	0.136	10.23
			Wind: +0.2 m/s

Semifinal 2

Rank	Lane	Athlete	Nation	Reaction	Time	Notes
1	6	align=left	Usain Bolt		0.143	9.86	,
2	5	align=left		align=left		0.130	9.92	,
3	9	align=left		align=left		0.128	10.01
4	7	align=left	Chijindu Ujah		0.160	10.01
5	8	align=left		align=left		0.109	10.05
6	3	align=left		align=left		0.138	10.12
7	2	align=left		align=left		0.143	10.13
	4	align=left		align=left
				Wind: +0.2 m/s

Semifinal 3

Rank	Lane	Reaction	Time
1	6	0.151	9.94
2	4	0.147	10.01
3	9	0.122	10.07
4	3	0.140	10.08
5	5	0.152	10.13
6	2	0.145	10.16
7	7	0.135	10.17
–	8
		Wind: 0.0 m/s

Final

Rank	Lane	Athlete	Reaction	Notes
	6	align=left	align=left	0.155	9.81
	4	align=left	align=left	0.152	9.89
	7	align=left	align=left	0.141	9.91
4	9	align=left	align=left	0.145	9.93
5	3	align=left	align=left	0.128	9.94
6	8	align=left	align=left	0.156	9.96
7	5	align=left	align=left	0.140	10.04
8	2	align=left	align=left	0.135	10.06
			Wind: +0.2 m/s

Notes and References

Web site: Men's 100m . Rio 2016 Organisation . 3 August 2016 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160822033050/https://www.rio2016.com/en/athletics-standings-at-mens-100m . 22 August 2016 .
Web site: 100 metres, Men . Olympedia . 27 July 2020.
Landells, Steve (10 August 2016). Preview: men's 100m – Rio 2016 Olympic Games. IAAF. Retrieved on 13 August 2016.
https://www.iaaf.org/records/toplists/sprints/100-metres/outdoor/men/senior/2016 senior outdoor 2016 100 Metres men
https://www.iaaf.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxi-olympic-games-5771/results/men/100-metres/preliminary-round/summary#resultheader Preliminary Round 100 Metres men The XXXI Olympic Games
https://www.iaaf.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxi-olympic-games-5771/news/report/men/100-metres/heats Report: men's 100m heats – Rio 2016 Olympic Games
Web site: Usain Bolt wins third straight 100m Olympic final – as it happened. 15 August 2016. Guardian. 16 August 2016.
Web site: Rio Olympics 2016: Usain Bolt wins 100m gold, Justin Gatlin second. 14 August 2016. BBC Sport. 16 August 2016.
News: IAAF approves entry standards for Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Athletics Weekly. 16 April 2015.
Web site: Qualification System – Games of the XXXI Olympiad – Athletics. IAAF. 15 July 2016.
"Season Top Lists – Senior 2016 – 100 Metres men", World Athletics, 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2024.