100 metres, Men

The two top sprinters since 1972 were Jamaican Don Quarrie and American Steve Williams. Quarrie had won the 100/200 double at the 1970 and 1974 Commonwealth Games, and would win the 100 again in 1978. He was considered better at the 200, but was a top century sprinter as well. Williams spent 1973-76 amassing a series of superb times, equaling the world records in both 100 yards and 100 metres. Many experts consider him, at his best, the fastest man of the 70s, but injuries and boycotts prevented him from ever making an Olympic team.Both Williams and another top rated American Houston McTear missed the Games after suffering hamstring injuries at the US Trials. Another possible medal contender Silvio Leonard of Cuba failed to reach the final after reportedly being injured in a pillow fight shortly after arriving in Montreal.

Valery Borzov was back in 1976, but was not the dominant sprinter he had been in 1972 and was carrying a minor leg injury. Another finalist from 1972 who was back was Trinidad’s Hasely Crawford, who first was noticed placing third behind Quarrie at the 1970 Commonwealth Games in the 100 but who Track and Field News described as “a man of frequent high expectations who hasn’t yet fulfilled that promise”. In the Olympic final, Borzov and American Harvey Glance took the early lead, but Quarrie caught them by 20 metres. Crawford finished quickly to nip Quarrie at the line – by 1/100th of a second. Borzov added a bronze to his 1972 gold and Glance placed fourth.