Athletics at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metres
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These are the official results of the men's 100 metres event at the
1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...
in
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
. There were a total number of 106 participating athletes from 75 nations, with twelve heats in round 1, five quarterfinals, two semifinals and a final. Each nation was limited to 3 athletes per rules in force since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by
Donovan Bailey Donovan Bailey (born December 16, 1967) is a retired Jamaican-Canadian sprinter. He once held the world record for the 100 metres. He recorded a time of 9.84 seconds to win the gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games. He was the first Canadian ...
of Canada, the nation's first title in the event since Percy Williams won it in 1928.


Summary

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
's
Donovan Bailey Donovan Bailey (born December 16, 1967) is a retired Jamaican-Canadian sprinter. He once held the world record for the 100 metres. He recorded a time of 9.84 seconds to win the gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games. He was the first Canadian ...
won the gold medal, breaking the world record that
Leroy Burrell Leroy Russel Burrell (born February 21, 1967) is an American former track and field athlete, who twice set the world record for the 100 m sprint. Early life Burrell grew up in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania, and attended Penn Wood High School, w ...
of the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
had set in 1994.
Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...
's
Frankie Fredericks Frank "Frankie" Fredericks (born 2 October 1967) is a former track and field athlete from Namibia. Running in the 100 metres and 200 metres, he won four silver medals at the Olympic Games (two in 1992 and two in 1996), making him Namibia's only ...
won the silver medal for a second consecutive Olympics, while
Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...
sprinter Ato Boldon won the bronze. It was Trinidad and Tobago's first medal in the event since 1976. For Fredericks and Boldon, this was the first of two events where they both medaled behind a world record setting run; Fredericks took silver and Boldon bronze in the 200 metre event where Michael Johnson ran 19.32 to win. At first Bailey who was going to be the eventual winner did not get a great start. Mitchell and Boldon got terrific starts. Boldon led the race till the 60 metre mark, the point where Canadian
Donovan Bailey Donovan Bailey (born December 16, 1967) is a retired Jamaican-Canadian sprinter. He once held the world record for the 100 metres. He recorded a time of 9.84 seconds to win the gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games. He was the first Canadian ...
was gaining on the field. He had an unbelievable surge with a top end speed of over 12 m/s, world record at that time. He won the race with a new 100 metres men's world record time of 9.84 which was 100th of a second faster than the previous record. Fredericks of Namibia edged past Boldon of Trinidad to take silver. While
Linford Christie Linford Cicero Christie (born 2 April 1960) is a Jamaican-born British former sprinter. He is the only British man to have won gold medals in the 100 metres at all four major competitions open to British athletes: the Olympic Games, the World ...
the defending Olympic Champion was watching the entire event unfold from the point of view of a spectator, having been disqualified after two false starts, the second of which was controversial. This marked the first time since 1976 (and the boycotted 1980 Games) that no American runner medaled in the 100 metres, with 1992 bronze medalist
Dennis Mitchell Dennis Allen Mitchell (born February 20, 1966) is an American former college and international track and field athlete, who was a member of the gold medal-winning team in the 4 x 100 meters relay race at ...
placing fourth behind Boldon. Counting 1980, it was only the fourth time that the United States missed the podium.


Background

This was the twenty-third time the event was held, having appeared at every Olympics since the first in 1896. For the first time, all three medalists from the previous Games (Great Britain's
Linford Christie Linford Cicero Christie (born 2 April 1960) is a Jamaican-born British former sprinter. He is the only British man to have won gold medals in the 100 metres at all four major competitions open to British athletes: the Olympic Games, the World ...
, Namibia's
Frankie Fredericks Frank "Frankie" Fredericks (born 2 October 1967) is a former track and field athlete from Namibia. Running in the 100 metres and 200 metres, he won four silver medals at the Olympic Games (two in 1992 and two in 1996), making him Namibia's only ...
, and the United States's
Dennis Mitchell Dennis Allen Mitchell (born February 20, 1966) is an American former college and international track and field athlete, who was a member of the gold medal-winning team in the 4 x 100 meters relay race at ...
) returned. Indeed, seven of the eight finalists from 1992 were back in 1996—the other returners were Canadian
Bruny Surin Bruny Surin (born July 12, 1967) is a Canadian former track and field athlete, winner of a gold medal in the 4×100 metres relay at the 1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known a ...
, Nigerians
Olapade Adeniken Olapade Charles Adeniken (born 19 August 1969 in Osogbo) is a retired Nigerian sprinter who specialized in the 100 and 200 metres, and is the father of Michael Adeniken. He won the silver medal in 4 x 100 m relay at the 1992 Olympic ...
and
Davidson Ezinwa Davidson Ezinwa (born 22 November 1971) is a former sprinter from Nigeria. He won a silver medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics as well as a silver medal at the 1997 World Championships, both in 4 x 100 metres relay. He also won a 60 metres si ...
, and Jamaican
Raymond Stewart Ray Stewart may refer to: * Ray Stewart (sprinter) (born 1965), Jamaican athlete * Ray Stewart (Scottish footballer) (born 1959), Scottish international footballer * Ray Stewart (Australian footballer) (1892–1966), Australian rules footballer *Ra ...
; only
Leroy Burrell Leroy Russel Burrell (born February 21, 1967) is an American former track and field athlete, who twice set the world record for the 100 m sprint. Early life Burrell grew up in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania, and attended Penn Wood High School, w ...
did not return to the 100 metres in 1996.
Donovan Bailey Donovan Bailey (born December 16, 1967) is a retired Jamaican-Canadian sprinter. He once held the world record for the 100 metres. He recorded a time of 9.84 seconds to win the gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games. He was the first Canadian ...
of Canada had won the 1995 world championships, followed by countryman Surin and then Trinidad and Tobago's Ato Boldon. Christie was the reigning Commonwealth and European champion, and had won the 1993 world championship. Azerbaijan, Comoros, Guinea-Bissau, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, São Tomé and Príncipe, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan appeared in the event for the first time. Russia appeared independently for the first time since 1912 and Latvia did so for the first time since 1924. The United States made its 22nd appearance in the event, most of any country, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.


Competition format

The event retained the same basic four round format introduced in 1920: heats, quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final. The "fastest loser" system, introduced in 1968, was used again to ensure that the quarterfinals and subsequent rounds had exactly 8 runners per heat; this time, the system was used in both the heats and quarterfinals. The first round consisted of 12 heats, each with 9 athletes scheduled (2 heats had 8 actually run due to withdrawals). The top three runners in each heat advanced, along with the next four fastest runners overall. This made 40 quarterfinalists, who were divided into 5 heats of 8 runners. The top four runners in each quarterfinal advanced, with one "fastest loser" place. The 16 semifinalists competed in two heats of 8, with the top four in each semifinal advancing to the eight-man final.Official Report, vol. 3, pp. 68–69.


Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1996 Summer Olympics.
Donovan Bailey Donovan Bailey (born December 16, 1967) is a retired Jamaican-Canadian sprinter. He once held the world record for the 100 metres. He recorded a time of 9.84 seconds to win the gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games. He was the first Canadian ...
's 9.84 seconds in the final broke both the world and Olympic records.


Schedule

All times are
Eastern Daylight Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small p ...
( UTC-4)


Results


Round 1


Heat 1

Wells had one false start (a second would have resulted in disqualification).


Heat 2


Heat 3

Markoullides had one false start (a second would have resulted in disqualification).


Heat 4


Heat 5

Borrega had one false start (a second would have resulted in disqualification).


Heat 6


Heat 7


Heat 8

Silva had one false start (a second would have resulted in disqualification).


Heat 9

Douhou had one false start (a second would have resulted in disqualification).


Heat 10


Heat 11

Karlsson had one false start (a second would have resulted in disqualification).


Heat 12


Quarterfinals


Quarterfinal 1


Quarterfinal 2


Quarterfinal 3


Quarterfinal 4


Quarterfinal 5


Semifinals


Semifinal 1

Bailey had one false start (a second would have resulted in disqualification).


Semifinal 2


Final

The final was held on July 27, 1996. Christie was disqualified after two false starts. Boldon also had one false start.Official Report, vol. 3, p. 69.


References


Official Report
{{DEFAULTSORT:Athletics at the 1996 Summer Olympics - Men's 100 metres
100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...
100 metres at the Olympics Men's events at the 1996 Summer Olympics