The men's 100 metres sprint event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 15 and 16 August at the Beijing National Stadium. 80 athletes from 64 nations competed. Each nation was limited to 3 athletes per rules in force since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The final was won by Jamaican Usain Bolt in a world record time of 9.69 seconds. It was Jamaica's first title in the event, and first medal in the event since 1976. Jamaica became the first country to join the men's 100 metre winners since Trinidad and Tobago, also in 1976; Richard Thompson won the country's fourth overall medal in the event with his silver.

Holding a considerable lead into the race, Bolt opened his arms in celebration before slapping his chest. British athlete and television presenter Kriss Akabusi criticized this gesture as showboating, noting that it cost Bolt an even faster record time. IOC president Jacques Rogge also criticized Bolt's actions as disrespectful. Bolt denied that this was the purpose of his mid-race celebration, stating, "I wasn't bragging. When I saw I wasn't covered, I was just happy."

Summary

Prior to the 2008 season, Usain Bolt was known as a 200-metre sprinter, having set the world youth best in the event four years earlier; he had only run in the 100 metres the year before, with a one-off race in Rethymno. While people were impressed with his time of 10.03 seconds, Bolt was not seen as a threat by other 100-metre sprinters who had previously hit times of 9.9 seconds.

In early May, Bolt persuaded his coach to let him try competing in the 100 metre sprint again. His resulting time of 9.76 seconds was the second-fastest in history, only .02 seconds behind fellow Jamaican Asafa Powell's world record. At the end of the month he entered another 100 metres at the Adidas Grand Prix in New York City. The result was a new world record of 9.72 seconds.

While Bolt's slow starts were seen as a liability, his speed once moving was difficult for other athletes to match. Bolt achieved the fastest times in both the quarterfinal and semi-final rounds, while injured Gay and Obikwelu were eliminated. The center lanes of the final, reserved for the fastest qualifiers, included Bolt, Powell, Dix and another collegiate phenom from LSU, Richard Thompson.

In the final, the third Jamaican in the race, Michael Frater, got the best start, along with Thompson and Darvis Patton. into the race, Bolt had reached his full running position and had pulled even with the leader, Thompson. By the next , Bolt had pulled away, with Thompson breaking up a sweep of Frater and Powell.

20 metres before the finish, already with a lead, Bolt held out his arms in celebration; behind him, Dix and Churandy Martina made a late rush to overtake Frater and Powell. Turning to look back at his fellow competitors, Bolt crossed the finish line sideways with his arms outstretched, finishing with a new world record of 9.69 seconds. Thompson later said that "I could see him slowing down ahead as I was still pumping away."

Background

The 2008 Olympic Games was the 26th time the event was held, having appeared at every Olympics since the first in 1896. Four finalists from 2004 returned: silver medalist Francis Obikwelu of Portugal, fifth-place finisher Asafa Powell of Jamaica, sixth-place finisher Kim Collins of Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Aziz Zakari of Ghana, who had been unable to finish the final. Collins and Zakari had also been to the final in 2000. Defending gold medalist Justin Gatlin was banned at the time for failing a second drugs test, testing positive for testosterone.

In Gatlin's absence, the United States team was led by Tyson Gay, the reigning world champion, who had suffered a hamstring injury at the U.S. trials. An ascendant Jamaican team included Powell, who had held the world record from 2005 to 2008, and Usain Bolt, who had taken the world record in May 2008.

The Czech Republic, the Marshall Islands, and Tuvalu appeared in the event for the first time. The United States made its 25th appearance in the event, the most of any country, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Olympic Games.

Qualification

Each National Olympic Committee (NOC) was able to enter up to three entrants providing they had met the A qualifying standard (10.21 seconds) in the qualifying period (1 January 2007 to 23 July 2008). NOCs were also permitted to enter one athlete providing he had met the B standard (10.28 seconds) in the same qualifying period.

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 10 heats, each with 8 or 9 athletes. The top three runners in each heat advanced, along with the next ten fastest runners overall. This made 40 quarterfinalists, who were divided into 5 heats of 8 runners. The top three 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.

Records

Prior to the competition, the existing world record, Olympic record, and world leading time were as follows:

World record9.72 secondsNew York City, United States31 May 2008Olympic record9.84 secondsAtlanta, United States27 July 1996World leading9.72 secondsNew York City, United States31 May 2008

The following new world and Olympic records were set during the competition:

Date Event Athlete Time OR WR 16 August Final 9.69 seconds OR WR

Schedule All times are China Standard Time (UTC+8).

Date Time RoundFriday, 15 August 2008 09:4519:45HeatsQuarterfinalsSaturday, 16 August 2008 20:0022:30SemifinalsFinal

Disqualification

Eight years after the event, the IOC reanalyzed doping samples and disqualified Samuel Francis and Finks Chinger for having stanozolol in their samples.

Results

Heats

The first round was held on 15 August. The first three runners of each heat plus the next ten overall fastest runners qualified for the second round.

Heat 1

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes 1 3 Usain Bolt 0.186 10.20 2 9 Daniel Bailey 0.198 10.24 3 6 Vicente de Lima 0.168 10.26 , 4 2 Henry Vizcaíno 0.157 10.28 5 4 Fabio Cerutti 0.136 10.49 6 5 Jurgen Themen 0.179 10.61 7 8 Moses Kamut 0.18110.81 8 7 Francis Manioru 0.19711.09 Wind: -0.2 m/s

Heat 2

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes 1 5 Asafa Powell 0.142 10.16 2 3 Kim Collins 0.162 10.17 3 7 Craig Pickering 0.174 10.21 4 2 Daniel Grueso 0.178 10.35 5 9 Dariusz Kuć 0.144 10.44 6 8 Béranger Bosse 0.144 10.51 7 6 Aisea Tohi 0.15911.17 8 4 Roman William Cress 0.19011.18 Wind: 0.0 m/s

Heat 3

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes 1 8 Richard Thompson 0.188 10.24 2 5 Martial Mbandjock 0.162 10.26 3 4 Simone Collio 0.140 10.32 4 2 Aziz Zakari 0.177 10.34 5 6 Andrew Hinds 0.140 10.35 6 3 Suryo Agung Wibowo 0.175 10.46 7 7 Jared Lewis 0.12311.00 8 9 Rabangaki Nawai 0.15211.29 Wind: 0.0 m/s

Heat 4

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes 1 3 Michael Frater 0.156 10.15 2 4 Pierre Browne 0.141 10.22 3 6 Darrel Brown 0.139 10.22 4 7 Nobuharu Asahara 0.160 10.25 5 9 Holder da Silva 0.184 10.58 6 2 Idrissa Sanou 0.171 10.63 7 8 Ghyd-Kermeliss-Holly Olonghot 0.17211.01 8 5 Massoud Azizi 0.16011.45 Wind: 0.2 m/s

Heat 5

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes 1 2 Tyson Gay 0.148 10.22 2 5 Olusoji A. Fasuba 0.156 10.29 3 4 José Carlos Moreira 0.192 10.29 4 7 Ángel David Rodríguez 0.145 10.34 5 9 Lukas Milo 0.145 10.52 6 8 Mhadjou Youssouf 0.170 10.62 7 3 Danny D'Souza 0.18011.00 8 6 Shanahan Sanitoa 0.15812.60 Wind: 0.7 m/s

Heat 6

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes 1 5 Tyrone Edgar 0.138 10.13 2 6 Darvis Patton 0.149 10.25 3 7 Ronald Pognon 0.167 10.26 4 2 Hu Kai 0.152 10.39 5 4 Abdullah Al-Sooli 0.153 10.53 6 8 Desislav Gunev 0.152 10.66 7 3 Ali Shareef 0.17111.11 8 9 Souksavanh Tonsacktheva 0.18311.51 Wind: 0.9 m/s

Heat 7

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes 1 4 Francis Obikwelu 0.190 10.25 2 2 Obinna Metu 0.176 10.34 3 5 Walter Dix 0.167 10.35 4 6 Anson Henry 0.138 10.37 5 8 Dmytro Hlushchenko 0.200 10.57 6 3 Calvin Kang Li Loong 0.140 10.73 7 9 Jesse Tamangrow 0.14611.38 8 7 Reginaldo Micha Ndong 0.24211.61 Wind: -1.4 m/s

Heat 8

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes 1 3 Derrick Atkins 0.162 10.28 2 4 Andrey Yepishin 0.172 10.34 3 9 Jaysuma Saidy Ndure 0.164 10.37 4 6 Uchenna Emedolu 0.192 10.46 5 2 Suwaibou Sanneh 0.157 10.52 6 5 Sandro Viana 0.160 10.60 7 7 Lai Chun Ho 0.19910.63 8 8 Mohamed Abu Abdullah 0.17411.07 Wind: -0.1 m/s

Heat 9

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes 1 6 Samuel Francis 0.153 10.40 2 5 Marc Burns 0.160 10.46 3 9 Matic Osovnikar 0.187 10.46 4 7 Rolando Palacios 0.189 10.49 5 2 Ruslan Abbasov 0.154 10.58 6 4 Sébastien Gattuso 0.164 10.70 7 8 Jack Howard 0.20411.03 8 3 Gordon Heather 0.21411.41 Wind: -1.7 m/s

Heat 10

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes 1 4 Churandy Martina 0.164 10.35 2 5 Naoki Tsukahara 0.169 10.39 3 6 Simeon Williamson 0.183 10.42 4 9 Tobias Unger 0.161 10.46 5 8 Franklin Nazareno 0.178 10.60 6 7 Wilfried Bingangoye 0.171 10.87 7 2 Moumi Sebergue 0.21011.14 8 3 Okilani Tinilau 0.17411.48 Wind: -1.3 m/s

Quarterfinals

The quarterfinals were held on 15 August. The first three runners of each heat plus the next overall fastest runner qualified for the semifinals.

Quarterfinal 1

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes 1 4 Churandy Martina 0.142 9.99 , 2 7 Michael Frater 0.154 10.09 3 6 Naoki Tsukahara 0.156 10.23 , 4 9 Simeon Williamson 0.127 10.32 5 3 Henry Vizcaíno 0.167 10.33 6 5 Pierre Browne 0.144 10.36 7 2 Dariusz Kuć 0.17610.46 8 8 Darrel Brown 0.11910.93 Wind: -0.1 m/s

Quarterfinal 2

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes 1 6 Richard Thompson 0.170 9.99 2 4 Tyson Gay 0.146 10.09 3 7 Martial Mbandjock 0.160 10.16 4 5 Olusoji A. Fasuba 0.147 10.21 5 2 Andrew Hinds 0.148 10.25 6 8 José Carlos Moreira 0.193 10.32 7 9 Simone Collio 0.13810.33 8 3 Daniel Grueso 0.19310.37 Wind: 0.0 m/s

Quarterfinal 3

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes 1 6 Marc Burns 0.174 10.05 2 4 Kim Collins 0.150 10.07 , = 3 5 Tyrone Edgar 0.130 10.10 4 7 Samuel Francis 0.164 10.11 5 9 Ronald Pognon 0.167 10.21 6 8 Matic Osovnikar 0.171 10.24 7 2 Tobias Unger 0.13610.36 8 3 Nobuharu Asahara 0.14510.37 Wind: -0.2 m/s

Quarterfinal 4

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes 1 7 Usain Bolt 0.165 9.92 2 5 Darvis Patton 0.159 10.04 3 4 Francis Obikwelu 0.168 10.09 4 8 Jaysuma Saidy Ndure 0.133 10.14 5 9 Craig Pickering 0.144 10.18 6 6 Obinna Metu 0.174 10.27 7 3 Anson Henry 0.14210.33 8 2 Ángel David Rodríguez 0.15410.35 Wind: 0.1 m/s

Quarterfinal 5

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes 1 7 Asafa Powell 0.149 10.02 2 9 Walter Dix 0.163 10.08 3 5 Derrick Atkins 0.179 10.14 4 4 Daniel Bailey 0.149 10.23 5 3 Aziz Zakari 0.167 10.24 6 6 Andrey Yepishin 0.158 10.25 7 8 Vicente de Lima 0.15710.31 8 2 Hu Kai 0.16510.40 Wind: -0.1 m/s

Semifinals

The semifinals were held on 16 August. The first four runners from each semifinal qualified for the final.

Semifinal 1

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes 1 7 Usain Bolt 0.161 9.85 2 6 Walter Dix 0.143 9.95 , 3 4 Marc Burns 0.124 9.97 , = 4 9 Michael Frater 0.163 10.01 5 5 Kim Collins 0.163 10.05 6 2 Derrick Atkins 0.159 10.13 7 8 Tyrone Edgar 0.14310.18 — 3 Samuel Francis 0.14610.20 Wind: -0.1 m/s

Semifinal 2

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes 1 6 Asafa Powell 0.161 9.91 2 7 Richard Thompson 0.175 9.93 , = 3 5 Churandy Martina 0.138 9.94 , 4 4 Darvis Patton 0.149 10.03 5 9 Tyson Gay 0.145 10.05 6 8 Francis Obikwelu 0.157 10.10 7 3 Naoki Tsukahara 0.14310.16 8 2 Martial Mbandjock 0.14810.18 Wind: 0.3 m/s

Final

The final was held on 16 August.