The men's 100 metres event at the 2024 Summer Olympics took place on 3 August and 4 August at the Stade de France in Paris. Noah Lyles won the gold medal, setting a new personal best in the 100m and giving the United States its first victory in the event since 2004. Jamaican Kishane Thompson finished in second, taking the silver medal. The winning time of 9.79 was achieved by both Lyles and Thompson, but Lyles crossed the line 5 ms sooner to take gold. Lyles' teammate Fred Kerley finished third in 9.81, winning bronze.
Summary This was the thirtieth time that the men's 100 metres was contested at the Summer Olympics. Interestingly, the final contained 6 men who had recorded top-25 all-time records in the 100m, making this final one of the most tightly contested in history, as the difference between the fastest man in the field Fred Kerley (9.76) and the slowest Kenny Bednarek (9.87) was only 0.11 seconds. For the first time in 100m history, the final was contested by 8 men who had all run under 10 seconds in the semi-finals. In fact, 12 of the 27 semi-finalists all ran under 10 seconds, with the gap between 8th-placed semi-finalist Kenny Bednarek and 12th-placed Andre De Grasse being just 0.05 seconds.
Noah Lyles came through in 1st place, 0.005 seconds ahead of 2nd-placed Kishane Thompson, marking possibly one of the closest 1–2 finishes in Olympic 100-metre history. Both recorded times of 9.79; however, Lyles' time was 9.784, while Thompson's time was 9.789. Lyles had a slow start out of the blocks and, up until the 85-meter mark, was out of medal contention. Thompson was ahead for the entire race until the final inches of the race, where Lyles ran through.
During the final, Kishane Thompson was in lane 4 as the fastest qualifier with a time of 9.80 (he was also the fastest man in the world, this year). Lanes 6 and 7 contained Oblique Seville and Noah Lyles, respectively. These two men had competed in one of the semi-final heats, with Seville besting Lyles with a time of 9.81 to Lyles' 9.83. Fred Kerley, who won silver at the 2020 Summer Olympics was in lane 3 as the 4th fastest qualifier with a time of 9.84.
Places 5 to 8 ran the fastest times in history for those respective places. The time gap between 1st and 8th was only 0.12 seconds, which is the closest and overall fastest 100m race in history, and the first time in history that the entire field broke the 10-second barrier in a competitive race.
Fred Kerley finished with a season's best time taking 3rd place by just 0.01 ahead of Akani Simbine, who set a new national record for South Africa with a time of 9.82, bettering his time from the 2020 Olympics where he also finished 4th. Marcell Jacobs who was the gold medal winner in the 2020 Olympic 100 metres champion, finished 5th with a time of 9.85 which was also a season's best time for him. In 6th was Letsile Tebogo (who broke the 300 metres world record in February) also set a national record for Botswana with this time 9.86.
Kerley’s time of 9.81 was also the fastest time in history for any man who didn't finish either 1st/2nd in a final or didn't win their semi-final race. Noticeably absent in the final was Ferdinand Omanyala who had set the 2nd fastest time of 2024 just 6 weeks prior in June
Lyles' win was the first American gold medal in the 100m race since Justin Gatlin won in 2004. Lyles also set a seasons best and personal best with his winning time. The race was so close, Leigh Diffey calling the race for American NBC Sports declared Jamaican Kishane Thompson the winner, missing the American Noah Lyles.
The top 6 all ran times that would have guaranteed a gold, silver or bronze in every single Olympic 100m race prior (except for 2012). In fact, 6th-placed Letsile Tebogo's time of 9.86 would have won silver in each 100m Olympics apart from 2012 and 2020.
Background The men's 100 metres has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since 1896. The 100 metres is considered one of the blue ribbon events of the Olympics and is among the highest profile competitions at the games. It is the most prestigious 100 metres race at an elite level and is the shortest sprinting competition at the Olympics – a position it has held at every edition except for a brief period between 1900 and 1904, when a men's 60 metres was contested.
The 2024 season began with lower-than-average times, compared to other years. The top time in the world in April was 9.93 by 17 year old American high school runner Christian Miller, while elite races like the Diamond League were being won in times slower than 10 seconds. In June the times were noticeably faster. Season leaders were Kishane Thompson with 9.77, Ferdinand Omanyala 9.79, reigning World Champion Noah Lyles 9.80 and Oblique Seville 9.82. The podium from three years earlier all returned, defending champion Marcell Jacobs, Fred Kerley and Andre De Grasse. +Global records before the 2024 Summer OlympicsRecordAthlete (nation)Time (s)LocationDateWorld record9.58"All time Top lists – Senior – 100 Metres men ", World Athletics, 29 June 2024. Retrieved 29 June 2024.Berlin, Germany16 August 2009Olympic record9.63London, United Kingdom5 August 2012World leading9.77"Season Top Lists – Senior 2024 – 100 Metres men ", World Athletics, 2024. Retrieved 29 June 2024.Kingston, Jamaica28 June 2024 +Area records before the 2024 Summer OlympicsArea recordAthlete (nation)Time (s)North, Central Americaand Caribbean 9.58 Africa 9.77Europe 9.80Asia 9.83Oceania 9.93South America 9.96
Competition format The event continued to use the preliminaries plus three main rounds format introduced in 2012. Athletes not meeting the qualification standard (that is, were entered through universality places) competed in the preliminaries; those who met the standard started in the first round. The 100 metres did not use the new repechage rounds introduced for other races in 2024, as there were already four rounds due to the preliminaries.
For the preliminary round, the top 2 in each of the 6 heats plus the next 4 fastest overall advanced to the first round, joining the automatic qualifiers. In the first round, the top 3 in each of the 8 heats plus the next 3 fastest overall advanced to the semi-finals (making 27 overall semi-finalists). The top 2 in each of the 3 semi-finals, plus the next 2 fastest overall, were the 8 finalists.
Qualification
For the men's 100 metres event, the qualification period was between 1 July 2023 and 30 June 2024.Sean McAlister, "How to qualify for athletics at Paris 2024. The Olympics qualification system explained ", Olympics.com, 20 December 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2024. 56 athletes were able to qualify for the event, with a maximum of three athletes per nation, by running the entry standard of 10.00 seconds or faster or by their World Athletics Ranking for this event. Additionally, universality places were given to NOCs that hadn't qualified athletes in any other event.
Results
Preliminaries The preliminary round was held on 3 August, starting at 10:35 (UTC+2) in the morning."Paris 2024 - Olympic Schedule - Athletics ", Olympics.com. Retrieved 29 June 2024. Unlike other events from 200 metres to 1500 metres, no 'repechage' round was included in the 100 metres. Instead, a preliminary round for athletes with slower qualification times preceded the first round. The 56 athletes qualified to enter the event through achieving the qualifying standard or through ranking skipped this round. The 46 athletes entered through universality or invitational places competed.
Qualification Rules: First 2 in each heat (Q) and the best 4 of remaining athletes (q) advance to Round 1.
Heat 1 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 2Ebrahima Camara 10.29 2 3Muhd Azeem Fahmi 10.42 3 4Marc Brian Louis 10.43 4 5Sha Mahmood Noor Zahi 10.64 5 6Seco Camara 10.76 67William Reed 11.29 78Karalo Maibuca 11.30 Wind: +0.6 m/s
Heat 2 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 2Davonte Howell 10.31 2 4Sibusiso Matsenjwa 10.39 3 6Didier Kiki 10.76 (.755) 4 5Hervé Toumandji 10.76 (.760) 5 7Kenaz Kaniwete 11.29 68Darko Pešić 11.85 —3Steven Sabino Wind: -0.3 m/s
Heat 3 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 2Noa Bibi 10.27 2 5Franko Burraj 10.60 (.596), 3 4 10.60 (.597) 4 3Diu Chun Hei 10.62 5 6Melique García 10.76 67 10.82 79Manuel Ataide 11.35 8 8 11.54 Wind: +0.1 m/s
Heat 4 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 2Christopher Borzor 10.26 2 4Marcos Santos 10.31, 3 3Hachim Maaroufou 10.44 4 9Taha Hussein Yaseen 10.51, 5 5Ibadulla Adam 10.55 66Shaun Gill 11.17 78Scott Fiti 11.61 8 7 11.89 Wind: +0.2 m/s
Heat 5 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 3Naquille Harris 10.33 2 2Lalu Muhammad Zohri 10.35 3 4Fodé Sissoko 10.66 4 7Joseph Green 10.85 56Winzar Kakiouea 11.15 69Remigio Santander 11.65 7 8Maleselo Fukofuka 12.11 — 5Dominique Mulamba DQ Wind: -0.4 m/s On 11 August 2024, Mulamba was issued with a provisional suspension (due to an Adverse Analytical Finding) and was disqualified from the Men’s 100m according to Anti-doping Rule 10.1.
Heat 6 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 2Arturo Deliser 10.34 2 4Dylan Sicobo 10.51 3 5 10.59 4 7 10.64 5 3 10.69 68Imranur Rahman 10.73 (.727) 76Waisake Tewa 10.73 (.729) 8 9Muhd Noor Firdaus Ar-Rasyid 10.86 Wind: +0.3 m/s
First round Round 1 was held on 3 August, starting at 11:45 (UTC+2) in the morning.
Heat 1 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 5Kishane Thompson10.00 2 6Benjamin Azamati10.08 3 1Reynaldo Espinosa10.11 4 2Felipe Bardi10.18 5 9Akihiro Higashida10.19 63Lalu Muhammad Zohri10.26 78Kayhan Özer10.34 87Sibusiso Matsenjwa10.394Jeremiah Azu Wind: +0.6 m/s
Heat 2 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 2Ferdinand Omanyala10.08 2 1Chituru Ali10.12 3 7Joshua Hartmann10.16 4 4Joshua Azzopardi10.20 5 6Devin Augustine10.31 69Erik Cardoso10.35 (.344) 73Arturo Deliser10.35 (.347) 85Jhonny Rentería10.38 98Muhd Azeem Fahmi10.45 Wind: +0.2 m/s
Heat 3 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 3Louie Hinchliffe9.98 2 6Noah Lyles10.04 3 4Shaun Maswanganyi10.06 4 7Xie Zhenye10.16 5 5Owen Ansah10.22 68Ali Anwar Al-Balushi10.26 71Naquille Harris10.38 82Markus Fuchs10.59 99Dylan Sicobo10.62 Wind: -0.2 m/s
Heat 4 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 6Oblique Seville9.99 2 4Abdul Hakim Sani Brown10.02 3 2Puripol Boonson10.13 4 3Favour Ashe10.16 5 5Duan Asemota10.17 67Terrence Jones10.31 71Marcos Santos10.40 88Franko Burraj10.66 99Oliwer Wdowik11.53 Wind: 0.0 m/s
Heat 5 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 2Kayinsola Ajayi10.02 2 4Marcell Jacobs10.05 3 5Abdul-Rasheed Saminu10.06 (.053) 4 6Benjamin Richardson10.06 (.060) 5 1Hassan Taftian10.18 63Davonte Howell10.24 (.232) 79Henrik Larsson10.24 (.232) 87Paulo André de Oliveira10.468Marc Brian Louis Wind: -0.3 m/s
Heat 6 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 5Akani Simbine10.03 2 3Ackeem Blake10.06 3 4Rikkoi Brathwaite10.13 4 1Ebrahima Camara10.21 5 2Wanya McCoy10.24 68Rohan Browning10.29= 79Simon Hansen10.39 86Emanuel Archibald10.40 97Hachim Maaroufou10.52 Wind: -1.1 m/s
Heat 7 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 2Kenny Bednarek9.97 2 1Emmanuel Eseme9.98, 3 5Andre De Grasse10.07 4 4Emmanuel Matadi10.08 5 6Ryuichiro Sakai10.17 63Noa Bibi10.19 77Ronal Longa10.29= 88José González10.40 99Taha Hussein Yaseen10.50 Wind: +0.3 m/s
Heat 8 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 5Fred Kerley9.97 2 2Letsile Tebogo10.01 3 4Zharnel Hughes10.03 4 3Cejhae Greene10.17 5 1Christopher Borzor10.28 66Arthur Cisse10.31 89Dorian Keletela10.58 —7Aaron Brown8Dominique Mulamba Wind: +0.2 m/s
Semi-finals The semi-finals were held on 4 August, starting at 20:00 (UTC+2) in the evening.
Heat 1 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 6Oblique Seville9.81, 2 4Noah Lyles9.83 3 5Louie Hinchliffe9.97 4 7Emmanuel Eseme10.00 5 9Shaun Maswanganyi10.02 61Favour Ashe10.08 78Chituru Ali10.14 82Rikkoi Brathwaite10.15 93Benjamin Azamati10.17 Wind: +0.7 m/s
Heat 2