100 metres

The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, it is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1928 for women.

The reigning 100 m Olympic champion is often named "the fastest man in the world." The World Championships 100 metres has been contested since 1983. Jamaicans Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce are the reigning world and Olympic champions in the men's and women's 100 metres, respectively.

On an outdoor 400 metres running track, the 100 m is run on the home straight, with the start usually being set on an extension to make it a straight-line race. Runners begin in the starting blocks and the race begins when an official fires the starter's pistol. Sprinters typically reach top speed after somewhere between 50–60 m. Their speed then slows towards the finish line.

The 10-second barrier has historically been a barometer of fast men's performances, while the best female sprinters take eleven seconds or less to complete the race. The current men's world record is 9.58 seconds, set by Jamaica's Usain Bolt in 2009, while the women's world record of 10.49 seconds set by American Florence Griffith-Joyner in 1988 remains unbroken.

Men's 100 metres world record progression

The first record in the 100 metres for men (athletics) was recognised by the International Amateur Athletics Federation, now known as the International Association of Athletics Federations, in 1912. The record now is 9.58 seconds which was run by Usain Bolt.

As of 21 June 2011, the IAAF had ratified 67 records in the event, not including rescinded records.

Unofficial progression before the IAAF

IAAF record progression

Records 1912–1976

The first manual time of 9.9 seconds was recorded for Bob Hayes in the final of the 100 metres at the 1964 Olympics. Hayes' official time of 10.0 seconds was determined from the electronic time of 10.06 and rounding down to the nearest tenth of a second to give the appearance of a manual time. This method was unique to the Olympics of 1964 and 1968. The officials at the track recorded Hayes' time as 9.9 seconds.

Records from 1977

From 1975, the IAAF accepted separate automatically electronically timed records for events up to 400 metres. Starting January 1, 1977, the IAAF required fully automatic timing to the hundredth of a second for these events.

2016 Summer Olympics

The 2016 Summer Olympics (Portuguese: Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially known as the Games of the XXXI Olympiad, and commonly known as Rio 2016, are a major international multi-sport event that will take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from August 5 to August 21, 2016. Record numbers of countries and sets of medals are awaiting in the games. More than 10,500 athletes from 206 National Olympic Committees (NOCs), including from Kosovo and South Sudan for the first time, will take part in this sporting event. With 306 sets of medals, the games will feature 28 Olympic sports — including rugby sevens and golf, which were added by the International Olympic Committee in 2009. These sporting events will take place on 33 venues in the host city and additionally on 5 venues in the cities of São Paulo (Brazil's largest city), Belo Horizonte, Salvador, Brasília (Brazil's capital), and Manaus.

The host city of Rio de Janeiro was announced at the 121st IOC Session held in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 2 October 2009. The other finalists were Madrid, Spain; Chicago, United States; and Tokyo, Japan. Rio will become the first South American city to host the Summer Olympics, the second city in Latin America to host the event after Mexico City in 1968, and the first since 2000 in the Southern Hemisphere. This will be the third time the Summer Olympics are held in a developing country, after the 1968 Games in Mexico and the 1988 Games in South Korea.

Adam Gemili

Adam Gemili (born 6 October 1993) is a British sprinter. He is the 2014 European champion at 200 metres, and 4 x 100 metre relay, a silver medalist in the 100 metres and 4 x 100 metres relay in the 2014 Commonwealth Games, and a former World Junior champion at 100 metres and European Under-23 champion at 100 metres and 4 x 100 metre relay.

Gemili won a gold medal over 100 metres at the 2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics in Barcelona. His winning time of 10.05 seconds established a new championship record, and is the second fastest ever run by a European junior, behind only Christophe Lemaitre (10.04). Having cleared the Olympic qualifying time with his 10.08 seconds in the 100 metres in June 2012, Gemili competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics where he, after a poor start, came third in the semi-final in a time of 10.06 s, 0.04 s short of qualifying for the final.

He was selected to run the 200 metres at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics. Having set a personal best in the first round, in the semi-final Gemili ran a time of 19.98, making him only the second British athlete, after John Regis, the third teenager (after Usain Bolt and Alonso Edward), and the ninth European athlete, to break 20 seconds in the event. 2013 was his first season training for the event.

Justin Gatlin

Justin Gatlin (born February 10, 1982) is an American sprinter, who is an Olympic gold medalist in the 100-meter dash. His 100m personal best is 9.74 seconds. He is a twice World indoor champion in the 60-meter dash.

In 2001, he incurred a two-year ban from Athletics for testing positive for a banned substance; the ban was later reduced to one year on appeal.

In 2006, he incurred a four-year ban from track and field for testing positive for a banned substance, with this sanction erasing his then-world-record time of 9.77s in the 100m. Gatlin began competing again in August 2010, soon after his eligibility was reinstated. In June 2012 at the US Olympic trials, Gatlin ran a time of 9.80s, which was the fastest-ever time for a man over the age of 30.

At the London 2012 Olympics, Gatlin ran a time of 9.79s in the 100 m final, earning him a bronze medal. His performance at the 2012 Olympic 100 meter final contributed to the fastest 100m race ever, which saw three men run under the 9.80-second barrier. Gatlin became the world leader of 2014 in the 200 meters on 18 July, when he won his race in 19.68 seconds at the Diamond League event in Monaco.