Mens 100 metres Final 2016-08-14

Home / Sport / Athletics / Olympics Athletics / 2016 / Mens 100 metres Final

Event
Mens 100 metres Final

Date
Sun 14th August 2016 (UTC)
Sun 14th August 2016 (Local)

Timestamp
2016-08-14T19:25:00

Time

19:25:00 UTC (22:25:00 Local)

Poster

Your Rating (Click a star below)

Star off icon

Total Rating
Star Icon (0 users)

Thumb

Square Poster

League
Olympics Athletics

Season
2016

Round
200

Status

Location
Estádio Olímpico Nilton Santos

Video Highlights

Play on YouTube

Description

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 3 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 3 100m 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 3 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 Beijing World Championships 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. 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 Beijing 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.

Reports

Result List

01	Usain Bolt	9.81 seconds
02	Justin Gatlin	9.89 Seconds
03	Andre De Grasse	9.91 Seconds

Result Description
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. 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.

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. 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.

Popular Tweets

Fanart