100 metres, Men

Usain Bolt had won the 100 metres in Beijing and London and came in as the favorite, looking to three-peat. He was no longer the dominant force he had once been, now aging and with some injury problems, but his only international defeat at 100 metres had come at the 2011 World Championships, when he false started and was disqualified. Bolt’s biggest challenger was expected to be American Justin Gatlin, who had lost the 2015 World Championships to Bolt by only 1/100th second. Gatlin had won the 100 gold medal at Athina in 2004, but had since served two doping suspensions, and many athletes, spectators, and media were not happy that he was still competing in major events. The two young challengers were considered to be Canada’s André de Grasse, bronze medallist at the 2015 Worlds, and the United States’ Trayvon Bromell.

All four of the leading contenders made it to the final, with Gatlin taking an early lead. Bolt opened up his huge stride at about 40 metres and the race was soon over, winning comfortably over Gatlin by 0.08 seconds, with de Grasse taking bronze. Bromell struggled and finished last in the final. Bolt would win the 200 later in the week and anchor Jamaica to a 4x100 gold medal, repeating his sprint triple from London, and cementing his status as the greatest sprinter of all-time. Gatlin had some consolation by becoming the oldest ever medallist in the 100 metres at 34-years-old. The podium was exactly the same as it had been at the 2015 World Championships.