# Athletics at the 1981 Summer Universiade – Men's 100 metres

The men's 100 metres event at the 1981 Summer Universiade was held at the Stadionul Naţional in Bucharest on 21 and 22 July 1981.

## Medalists

| Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Mel Lattany United States | Calvin Smith United States | Ernest Obeng Ghana |

## Results
### Heats

Held on 21 July
Wind: Heat 1: -1.9 m/s, Heat 2: +1.9 m/s, Heat 3: -0.4 m/s, Heat 4: +0.3 m/s, Heat 5: +2.1 m/s, Heat 6: +0.7 m/s, Heat 7: ? m/s
| Rank | Heat | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 5 | Calvin Smith | United States | 10.29 | Q |
| 2 | 5 | Nikolay Sidorov | Soviet Union | 10.38 | Q |
| 3 | 1 | Mel Lattany | United States | 10.40 | Q |
| 4 | 6 | Théophile Nkounkou | Congo | 10.55 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | Ernest Obeng | Ghana | 10.62 | Q |
| 6 | 3 | Philippe Lejoncour | France | 10.65 | Q |
| 7 | 3 | Tomás González | Cuba | 10.66 | Q |
| 8 | 5 | László Babály | Hungary | 10.66 | Q |
| 8 | 7 | Cameron Sharp | Great Britain | 10.66 | Q |
| 10 | 2 | Paul Narracott | Australia | 10.69 | Q |
| 11 | 4 | Vasile Selever | Romania | 10.73 | Q |
| 11 | 6 | Diego Nodari | Italy | 10.73 | Q |
| 13 | 6 | Javier Martínez | Spain | 10.75 | Q |
| 13 | 7 | Stefano Curini | Italy | 10.75 | Q |
| 15 | 4 | Jesús Cabrera | Puerto Rico | 10.76 | Q |
| 15 | 5 | Jang Jae-keun | South Korea | 10.76 | q |
| 15 | 7 | Andrey Shlyapnikov | Soviet Union | 10.76 | Q |
| 15 | 7 | István Nagy | Hungary | 10.76 | q |
| 19 | 4 | Katsuhiko Nakaya | Brazil | 10.80 | Q |
| 20 | 1 | Leandro Peñalver | Cuba | 10.81 | Q |
| 20 | 4 | Gabriel Brothier | France | 10.81 | q |
| 22 | 3 | Josep Carbonell | Spain | 10.82 | Q |
| 23 | 5 | Barthélémy Koffi | Ivory Coast | 10.85 | |
| 24 | 2 | Brahim Badi | Algeria | 10.89 | Q |
| 25 | 4 | Henri Ndinga | Congo | 10.91 | |
| 26 | 6 | Kosmas Stratos | Greece | 10.92 | |
| 27 | 1 | Hirohito Yamazaki | Japan | 10.97 | Q |
| 28 | 7 | Rafael Domínguez | Mexico | 10.99 | |
| 29 | 4 | Aleksandar Popović | Yugoslavia | 11.02 | |
| 30 | 1 | Kazimierz Grubecki | Poland | 11.03 | |
| 31 | 3 | Sükrü Caprazli | Turkey | 11.04 | |
| 32 | 7 | Xiong Yuhui | China | 11.10 | |
| 33 | 4 | Boubacar Diallo | Senegal | 11.13 | |
| 34 | 5 | Sabidou Touré | Senegal | 11.18 | |
| 35 | 6 | Roland Dagher | Lebanon | 11.22 | |
| 36 | 6 | Don Wright | Australia | 11.25 | |
| 37 | 5 | Patrick Arache | Lebanon | 11.36 | |
| 38 | 4 | Jabir Mhana | Iraq | 11.44 | |
| 39 | 3 | Pham The Trieu | Vietnam | 11.54 | |
| 40 | 1 | Enrique Vizcarra | Mexico | 11.60 | |
| 41 | 7 | Constantin Ivan | Romania | 12.22 | |
| | 2 | Mohamed Bishty | Libya | DQ | |

### Semifinals

Held on 22 July
Wind: Heat 1: -0.8 m/s, Heat 2: +0.5 m/s, Heat 3: -0.6 m/s
| Rank | Heat | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 3 | Mel Lattany | United States | 10.19 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | Calvin Smith | United States | 10.21 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | Ernest Obeng | Ghana | 10.36 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | Nikolay Sidorov | Soviet Union | 10.43 | Q |
| 5 | 3 | Théophile Nkounkou | Congo | 10.46 | Q |
| 6 | 2 | István Nagy | Hungary | 10.49 | q |
| 7 | 2 | Cameron Sharp | Great Britain | 10.50 | q |
| 8 | 1 | Philippe Lejoncour | France | 10.52 | Q |
| 9 | 3 | Andrey Shlyapnikov | Soviet Union | 10.61 | |
| 10 | 1 | Tomás González | Cuba | 10.62 | |
| 11 | 3 | László Babály | Hungary | 10.64 | |
| 12 | 1 | Diego Nodari | Italy | 10.68 | |
| 13 | 1 | Javier Martínez | Spain | 10.69 | |
| 14 | 3 | Paul Narracott | Australia | 10.70 | |
| 15 | 1 | Katsuhiko Nakaya | Brazil | 10.71 | |
| 16 | 2 | Leandro Peñalver | Cuba | 10.72 | |
| 16 | 2 | Vasile Selever | Romania | 10.72 | |
| 16 | 3 | Josep Carbonell | Spain | 10.72 | |
| 19 | 2 | Stefano Curini | Italy | 10.74 | |
| 20 | 3 | Gabriel Brothier | France | 10.77 | |
| 21 | 1 | Jesús Cabrera | Puerto Rico | 10.78 | |
| 22 | 2 | Brahim Badi | Algeria | 10.91 | |
| | ? | Hirohito Yamazaki | Japan | ? | |
| | ? | Jang Jae-keun | South Korea | ? | |

### Final

Held on 22 July
Wind: -0.5 m/s
| Rank | Athlete | Nationality | Time |
| | Mel Lattany | United States | 10.18 |
| | Calvin Smith | United States | 10.26 |
| | Ernest Obeng | Ghana | 10.37 |
| 4 | Nikolay Sidorov | Soviet Union | 10.40 |
| 5 | Théophile Nkounkou | Congo | 10.45 |
| 6 | István Nagy | Hungary | 10.45 |
| 7 | Philippe Lejoncour | France | 10.51 |
| 8 | Cameron Sharp | Great Britain | 10.54 |