The 100-metre race is the blue riband of athletics. The winner walks away with the title of the fastest man. So the 100m gold at the Olympic Games is a coveted medal won by all-time greats like Carl Lewis and Usain Bolt.
Here’s a look at the champion sprinters of the last four decades in the Olympics.
1984 Los Angeles & 1988 Seoul — Carl Lewis (USA)
Carl Lewis won the 100m Olympic gold twice — in 1984 in Los Angeles and 1988 in Seoul. In Los Angeles, the American sprinter emulated the great Jesse Owens, winning the gold in 100m, 200m, long jump and 4x100m relay. Lewis defended his 100m title in Seoul after Canadian Ben Johnson was disqualified. He also retained the long jump title and claimed the 200m silver in. In 1992 Barcelona, Lewis won a third gold medal in the long jump and anchored the US relay team to victory. The long jump gold in 1996 Atlanta — his fourth in the event — made him one of only four athletes to have won nine Olympic gold medals.
1992 Barcelona — Linford Christie (Great Britain)
Linford Christie, 32, is the oldest man to win the Olympic 100m gold, claiming the 1992 Barcelona title. During a 17-year international career, he won 23 major championship medals and became the first male 100m runner to simultaneously hold the Olympic, world, European, and Commonwealth titles in 1993.
1996 Atlanta — Donovan Bailey (Canada)
Donovan Bailey set the 100m world record at Atlanta in 1996 with a time of 9.84 seconds. A week later, the Canadian anchored the 4x100m relay team to the gold medal. The Jamaican-born sprinter continued to compete through 1997 until an Achilles tendon injury ended his career.
2000 Sydney — Maurice Greene (USA)
Maurice Greene dominated the sprints from 1997 to 2001, winning the 100m gold at Sydney 2000 and three consecutive 100m world titles. He also anchored the US 4 x 100m relay team to gold. His 60m indoor record (6.39 seconds) stands to this day.
2004 Athens — Justin Gatlin (USA)
Justin Gatlin is the most successful sprinter at major championships, winning three Olympic and five World Championship gold medals in 100m. He won the gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics, the bronze eight years later in London, and the silver in 2016 Rio de Janeiro. The American broke the 100m world record in 2006, but it was annulled after Gatlin returned a positive doping test. After a suspension, he returned to athletics in 2010.
2008 Beijing, 2012 London & 2016 Rio —Usain Bolt (Jamaica)
Usain Bolt is an Olympic legend, achieving the ‘Triple Triple’ — three gold medals at three consecutive Summer Games. His win streak started at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, winning the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay in world record times. The Jamaican repeated the medal haul in London four years later before completing the triple at the 2016 Rio Games. Usain, who won 11 World Championship titles, holds the world records in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m with times of 9.58 secs, 19.19 secs and 36.84 secs.
2020 Tokyo — Marcell Jacobs (Italy)
Lamont Marcell Jacobs succeeded Usain Bolt as Olympic 100m champion at the 2020 Tokyo Games. In the final, he became the first Italian to win the 100m gold (9.80 seconds), beating Fred Kerley (9.84) and Andre De Grasse (9.89).
2024 Paris — Noah Lyles (USA)
Noah Lyles spent some heart-stopping minutes before he was declared the winner at the Paris Games. The American edged Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson by five-thousandths of a second: Lyles 9.784 seconds, Thompson 9.789.
Lyles, who claimed the 200m bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, has also won six world titles at the world championships from 2019 to 23.
