# Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metres

The men's 100 metres was of one of 23 track events of the athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics, in Athens. It was contested at the Athens Olympic Stadium, from August 21 to 22, by a total of 82 sprinters from 62 nations. Each nation was limited to 3 athletes per rules in force since the 1930 Olympic Congress.
The event was won by Justin Gatlin of the United States, the nation's second consecutive title and 16th overall in the event. Portugal earned its first medal in the men's 100 metres, with Francis Obikwelu's silver. The final was the fastest and most disputed in Olympic history, with six runners covering the distance in 10.00 seconds or less (four of them under the 9.90 mark), and the gold and bronze medalist athletes separated by 0.02 seconds.
The medals for the competition were presented by Juan Antonio Samaranch, IOC Honorary President for Life, Spain; and the medalists' bouquets were presented by Lamine Diack, IAAF President, Senegal.

## Background

This was the twenty-fifth time the event was held, having appeared at every Olympics since the first in 1896. All three finalists from 2000 returned: defending gold medalist Maurice Greene of the United States, silver medalist Ato Boldon of Trinidad and Tobago, and bronze medalist Obadele Thompson of Barbados, along with three other finalists (Darren Campbell of Great Britain, Kim Collins of Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Aziz Zakari of Ghana). Two-time silver medalist (1992 and 1996) Frankie Fredericks of Namibia also returned after missing the Sydney Games with injury.
Collins was the reigning (2003) world champion, as well as Commonwealth champion. Francis Obikwelu of Portugal had won the 2002 European Championship. On the United States team, along with an aging Greene (still a medal contender, but no longer as dominant as in 2000), was a young Justin Gatlin.
Aruba, Jordan, Kiribati, the Federated States of Micronesia, and Slovenia appeared in the event for the first time. The United States made its 24rd appearance in the event, most of any country, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.

## Qualification

The Olympic qualification period for the athletics ran from 1 January 2003 to 9 August 2004. For this event, each National Olympic Committee (NOC) was permitted to enter up to three athletes, provided they had run below 10.21 seconds during this period in IAAF-sanctioned meetings or tournaments. If a NOC had no athletes qualified under this standard, it could enter up to one athlete that had run below 10.28 seconds.

## Competition format

The event retained the same basic four round format introduced in 1920: heats, quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final. The "fastest loser" system, introduced in 1968, was used again to ensure that the quarterfinals and subsequent rounds had exactly 8 runners per heat; this time, the system was used in both the heats and quarterfinals.
The first round consisted of 10 heats, each with 8 or 9 athletes. The top three runners in each heat advanced, along with the next ten fastest runners overall. This made 40 quarterfinalists, who were divided into 5 heats of 8 runners. The top three runners in each quarterfinal advanced, with one "fastest loser" place. The 16 semifinalists competed in two heats of 8, with the top four in each semifinal advancing to the eight-man final.

## Records

Prior to the competition, the existing world record, Olympic record, and world leading time were as follows.
| World record | Maurice Greene (USA) | 9.79 s | Athens, Greece | 16 June 1999 |
| Olympic record | Donovan Bailey (CAN) | 9.84 s | Atlanta, United States | 27 July 1996 |
| World Leading | Shawn Crawford (USA) | 9.88 s | Eugene, Oregon, United States | 19 June 2004 |
No new records were set during the competition.

## Schedule

All times are Eastern European Summer Time (UTC+3)
| Date | Time | Round |
| Saturday, 21 August 2004 | 10:35 19:40 | Round 1 Round 2 |
| Sunday, 22 August 2004 | 20:55 23:10 | Semifinals Final |

## Results
### Round 1

Qualification rule: The first three finishers in each heat (Q) plus the ten fastest times of those who finished fourth or lower in their heat (q) qualified.

#### Heat 1

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Reaction | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 5 | Frankie Fredericks | Namibia | 0.152 | 10.12 | Q, SB |
| 2 | 3 | Uchenna Emedolu | Nigeria | 0.222 | 10.22 | Q |
| 3 | 4 | Shingo Suetsugu | Japan | 0.174 | 10.27 | Q |
| 4 | 7 | Darren Campbell | Great Britain | 0.159 | 10.35 | |
| 5 | 9 | Chen Haijian | China | 0.181 | 10.45 | |
| 6 | 2 | Eric Nkansah | Ghana | 0.160 | 10.54 | |
| 7 | 6 | Poh Seng Song | Singapore | 0.160 | 10.75 | |
| 8 | 8 | Yazaldes Nascimento | São Tomé and Príncipe | 0.185 | 11.00 | |
| | | | | Wind: −0.2 m/s | Wind: −0.2 m/s | Wind: −0.2 m/s |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Reaction | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 5 | Mark Lewis-Francis | Great Britain | 0.149 | 10.13 | Q, SB |
| 2 | 7 | Aziz Zakari | Ghana | 0.188 | 10.19 | Q |
| 3 | 6 | Roland Németh | Hungary | 0.137 | 10.28 | Q |
| 4 | 3 | Salem Mubarak Al Yami | Saudi Arabia | 0.143 | 10.36 | |
| 5 | 4 | Darren Gilford | Malta | 0.177 | 10.67 | |
| 6 | 8 | Khalil Al Hanahneh | Jordan | 0.172 | 10.76 | |
| 7 | 2 | Kakianako Nariki | Kiribati | 0.183 | 11.62 | |
| — | 9 | Marc Burns | Trinidad and Tobago | | DSQ | R 162.7 |
| | | | | Wind: −0.4 m/s | Wind: −0.4 m/s | Wind: −0.4 m/s |

#### Heat 3

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Reaction | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 8 | Justin Gatlin | United States | 0.204 | 10.07 | Q |
| 2 | 6 | Kareem Streete-Thompson | Cayman Islands | 0.156 | 10.15 | Q, SB |
| 3 | 9 | Leonard Myles-Mills | Ghana | 0.133 | 10.21 | Q, SB |
| 4 | 4 | Vicente de Lima | Brazil | 0.169 | 10.23 | q |
| 5 | 1 | Andrey Yepishin | Russia | 0.146 | 10.29 | q |
| 6 | 2 | Georgios Theodoridis | Greece | 0.141 | 10.32 | q |
| 7 | 5 | Hadhari Djaffar | Comoros | 0.163 | 10.62 | |
| 8 | 7 | Sultan Saeed | Maldives | 0.239 | 11.72 | |
| — | 3 | Juan Sainfleur | Dominican Republic | 0.164 | DNF | |
| | | | | Wind: −0.1 m/s | Wind: −0.1 m/s | Wind: −0.1 m/s |

#### Heat 4

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Reaction | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 6 | Shawn Crawford | United States | 0.184 | 10.02 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | Obadele Thompson | Barbados | 0.141 | 10.08 | Q, SB |
| 3 | 4 | Matic Osovnikar | Slovenia | 0.112 | 10.15 | Q, NR |
| 4 | 5 | Idrissa Sanou | Burkina Faso | 0.175 | 10.33 | q |
| 5 | 3 | Diego Ferreira | Paraguay | 0.141 | 10.50 | NR |
| 6 | 9 | Pierre de Windt | Aruba | 0.234 | 11.02 | |
| 7 | 7 | Chamleunesouk Ao Oudomphonh | Laos | 0.202 | 11.30 | |
| 8 | 8 | Masoud Azizi | Afghanistan | 0.217 | 11.66 | |
| — | 2 | Hristoforos Hoidis | Greece | | DNS | |
| | | | | Wind: +0.8 m/s | Wind: +0.8 m/s | Wind: +0.8 m/s |

#### Heat 5

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Reaction | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | Francis Obikwelu | Portugal | 0.165 | 10.09 | Q |
| 2 | 5 | Ronald Pognon | France | 0.150 | 10.18 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | Jaysuma Saidy Ndure | The Gambia | 0.157 | 10.26 | Q, NR |
| 4 | 8 | Jarbas Mascarenhas | Brazil | 0.147 | 10.34 | q |
| 5 | 7 | Hiroyasu Tsuchie | Japan | 0.182 | 10.37 | |
| 6 | 9 | Adrian Durant | Virgin Islands | 0.223 | 10.52 | |
| 7 | 6 | Nabie Foday Fofanah | Guinea | 0.158 | 10.62 | |
| 8 | 4 | Harmon Harmon | Cook Islands | 0.173 | 11.22 | PB |
| | | | | Wind: +0.1 m/s | Wind: +0.1 m/s | Wind: +0.1 m/s |

#### Heat 6

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Reaction | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 7 | Nobuharu Asahara | Japan | 0.162 | 10.33 | Q |
| 2 | 3 | Łukasz Chyła | Poland | 0.167 | 10.35 | Q |
| 3 | 4 | Eric Pacome N'Dri | Ivory Coast | 0.147 | 10.39 | Q |
| 4 | 9 | Ato Boldon | Trinidad and Tobago | 0.155 | 10.41 | |
| 5 | 6 | Issa Aime Nthepe | France | 0.159 | 10.67 | |
| 6 | 2 | Gábor Dobos | Hungary | 0.131 | 10.68 | |
| 7 | 8 | John Howard | Federated States of Micronesia | 0.195 | 10.85 | NR |
| 8 | 5 | Mohammad Shamsuddin | Bangladesh | 0.173 | 11.13 | |
| | | | | Wind: −1.1 m/s | Wind: −1.1 m/s | Wind: −1.1 m/s |

#### Heat 7

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Reaction | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 9 | Asafa Powell | Jamaica | 0.146 | 10.06 | Q |
| 2 | 5 | Jason Gardener | Great Britain | 0.155 | 10.15 | Q, SB |
| 3 | 4 | Joshua Ross | Australia | 0.153 | 10.24 | Q, =PB |
| 4 | 1 | André da Silva | Brazil | 0.145 | 10.28 | q |
| 5 | 8 | Pierre Browne | Canada | 0.169 | 10.32 | q |
| 6 | 7 | Lamin Tucker | Sierra Leone | 0.137 | 10.72 | |
| 7 | 6 | Kelsey Nakanelua | American Samoa | 0.160 | 11.25 | |
| 8 | 2 | Sopheak Phouk | Cambodia | 0.225 | 11.56 | PB |
| — | 3 | Djikoloum Mobele | Chad | | DNS | |
| | | | | Wind: +0.9 m/s | Wind: +0.9 m/s | Wind: +0.9 m/s |

#### Heat 8

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Reaction | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | Maurice Greene | United States | 0.142 | 10.18 | Q |
| 2 | 2 | Dwight Thomas | Jamaica | 0.135 | 10.21 | Q |
| 3 | 8 | Churandy Martina | Netherlands Antilles | 0.152 | 10.23 | Q |
| 4 | 3 | Alexander Kosenkow | Germany | 0.135 | 10.28 | q |
| 5 | 6 | Prodromos Katsantonis | Cyprus | 0.179 | 10.50 | SB |
| 6 | 7 | Chiang Wai Hung | Hong Kong | 0.157 | 10.70 | |
| 7 | 9 | Francis Manioru | Solomon Islands | 0.143 | 11.05 | |
| 8 | 5 | Teymur Gasimov | Azerbaijan | 0.179 | 11.17 | |
| 9 | 4 | Filipo Muller | Tonga | 0.181 | 11.18 | PB |
| | | | | Wind: −0.2 m/s | Wind: −0.2 m/s | Wind: −0.2 m/s |

#### Heat 9

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Reaction | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 9 | Deji Aliu | Nigeria | 0.191 | 10.39 | Q |
| 2 | 2 | Nicolas Macrozonaris | Canada | 0.153 | 10.40 | Q |
| 3 | 6 | Gennadiy Chernovol | Kazakhstan | 0.145 | 10.43 | Q |
| 4 | 3 | Souhalia Alamou | Benin | 0.167 | 10.48 | |
| 5 | 8 | Christie van Wyk | Namibia | 0.148 | 10.49 | |
| 6 | 4 | Daniel Bailey | Antigua and Barbuda | 0.154 | 10.51 | |
| 7 | 7 | Gian Nicola Berardi | San Marino | 0.143 | 10.76 | |
| 8 | 5 | Carlos Abaunza | Nicaragua | 0.173 | 11.17 | |
| | | | | Wind: −1.4 m/s | Wind: −1.4 m/s | Wind: −1.4 m/s |

#### Heat 10

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Reaction | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 6 | Kim Collins | Saint Kitts and Nevis | 0.154 | 10.11 | Q |
| 2 | 3 | Michael Frater | Jamaica | 0.161 | 10.20 | Q |
| 3 | 4 | Nicconnor Alexander | Trinidad and Tobago | 0.139 | 10.22 | Q |
| 4 | 7 | Simone Collio | Italy | 0.151 | 10.27 | q |
| 5 | 2 | Eddy de Lepine | France | 0.192 | 10.27 | q |
| 6 | 8 | Xavier James | Bermuda | 0.147 | 10.40 | SB |
| 7 | 9 | Sebastien Gattuso | Monaco | 0.152 | 10.58 | =NR |
| 8 | 5 | Wilfried Bingangoye | Gabon | 0.206 | 10.76 | PB |
| | | | | Wind: +0.7 m/s | Wind: +0.7 m/s | Wind: +0.7 m/s |

### Quarterfinals

Qualification rule: The first three finishers in each heat (Q) plus the next fastest overall sprinter (q) qualified.

#### Quarterfinal 1

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Reaction | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 4 | Francis Obikwelu | Portugal | 0.165 | 9.93 | Q, NR |
| 2 | 5 | Mark Lewis-Francis | Great Britain | 0.162 | 10.12 | Q, =PB |
| 3 | 3 | Dwight Thomas | Jamaica | 0.149 | 10.12 | Q, SB |
| 4 | 6 | Ronald Pognon | France | 0.166 | 10.15 | q |
| 5 | 8 | Shingo Suetsugu | Japan | 0.150 | 10.19 | |
| 6 | 2 | Pierre Browne | Canada | 0.150 | 10.21 | |
| 7 | 7 | Churandy Martina | Netherlands Antilles | 0.152 | 10.24 | |
| 8 | 1 | André da Silva | Brazil | 0.136 | 10.34 | |
| | | | | Wind: 0.0 m/s | Wind: 0.0 m/s | Wind: 0.0 m/s |

#### Quarterfinal 2

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Reaction | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 4 | Shawn Crawford | United States | 0.167 | 9.89 | Q |
| 2 | 3 | Obadele Thompson | Barbados | 0.156 | 10.12 | Q |
| 3 | 7 | Vicente de Lima | Brazil | 0.158 | 10.26 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | Matic Osovnikar | Slovenia | 0.168 | 10.26 | |
| 5 | 6 | Deji Aliu | Nigeria | 0.185 | 10.26 | |
| 6 | 5 | Nicolas Macrozonaris | Canada | 0.161 | 10.28 | |
| 7 | 1 | Gennadiy Chernovol | Kazakhstan | 0.154 | 10.42 | |
| 8 | 8 | Idrissa Sanou | Burkina Faso | 0.178 | 10.43 | |
| | | | | Wind: 0.0 m/s | Wind: 0.0 m/s | Wind: 0.0 m/s |

#### Quarterfinal 3

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Reaction | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 4 | Justin Gatlin | United States | 0.178 | 9.96 | Q |
| 2 | 3 | Jason Gardener | Great Britain | 0.146 | 10.15 | Q, =SB |
| 3 | 5 | Uchenna Emedolu | Nigeria | 0.162 | 10.15 | Q |
| 4 | 6 | Nobuharu Asahara | Japan | 0.151 | 10.24 | |
| 5 | 2 | Georgios Theodoridis | Greece | 0.141 | 10.36 | |
| 6 | 7 | Roland Németh | Hungary | 0.151 | 10.38 | |
| 7 | 8 | Nicconnor Alexander | Trinidad and Tobago | 0.148 | 10.48 | |
| — | 1 | Eddy de Lepine | France | | DNS | |
| | | | | Wind: +0.2 m/s | Wind: +0.2 m/s | Wind: +0.2 m/s |

#### Quarterfinal 4

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Reaction | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 4 | Aziz Zakari | Ghana | 0.175 | 10.02 | Q |
| 2 | 6 | Kim Collins | Saint Kitts and Nevis | 0.152 | 10.05 | Q, SB |
| 3 | 5 | Michael Frater | Jamaica | 0.152 | 10.11 | Q |
| 4 | 3 | Frankie Fredericks | Namibia | 0.142 | 10.17 | |
| 5 | 7 | Joshua Ross | Australia | 0.163 | 10.22 | PB |
| 6 | 1 | Alexander Kosenkow | Germany | 0.113 | 10.24 | |
| 7 | 2 | Andrey Yepishin | Russia | 0.164 | 10.29 | |
| 8 | 8 | Jaysuma Saidy Ndure | The Gambia | 0.184 | 10.39 | |
| | | | | Wind: −0.1 m/s | Wind: −0.1 m/s | Wind: −0.1 m/s |

#### Quarterfinal 5

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Reaction | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 4 | Maurice Greene | United States | 0.117 | 9.93 | Q |
| 2 | 6 | Asafa Powell | Jamaica | 0.142 | 9.99 | Q |
| 3 | 1 | Leonard Myles-Mills | Ghana | 0.145 | 10.18 | Q, SB |
| 4 | 5 | Łukasz Chyła | Poland | 0.167 | 10.23 | |
| 5 | 3 | Kareem Streete-Thompson | Cayman Islands | 0.162 | 10.24 | |
| 6 | 8 | Simone Collio | Italy | 0.135 | 10.29 | |
| 7 | 2 | Jarbas Mascarenhas | Brazil | 0.134 | 10.30 | |
| 8 | 7 | Eric Pacome N'Dri | Ivory Coast | 0.137 | 10.32 | |
| | | | | Wind: −0.2 m/s | Wind: −0.2 m/s | Wind: −0.2 m/s |

### Semifinals

Qualification rule: The first four runners in each semifinal heat (Q) moves on to the final.

#### Semifinal 1

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Reaction | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 3 | Shawn Crawford | United States | 0.173 | 10.07 | Q |
| 2 | 4 | Justin Gatlin | United States | 0.191 | 10.09 | Q |
| 3 | 6 | Aziz Zakari | Ghana | 0.155 | 10.11 | Q |
| 4 | 8 | Obadele Thompson | Barbados | 0.160 | 10.22 | Q |
| 5 | 5 | Mark Lewis-Francis | Great Britain | 0.163 | 10.28 | |
| 6 | 2 | Michael Frater | Jamaica | 0.146 | 10.29 | |
| 7 | 1 | Ronald Pognon | France | 0.144 | 10.32 | |
| 8 | 7 | Uchenna Emedolu | Nigeria | 0.188 | 10.35 | |
| | | | | Wind: −1.6 m/s | Wind: −1.6 m/s | Wind: −1.6 m/s |

#### Semifinal 2

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Reaction | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 4 | Asafa Powell | Jamaica | 0.158 | 9.95 | Q |
| 2 | 5 | Francis Obikwelu | Portugal | 0.181 | 9.97 | Q |
| 3 | 6 | Maurice Greene | United States | 0.125 | 9.97 | Q |
| 4 | 3 | Kim Collins | Saint Kitts and Nevis | 0.150 | 10.02 | Q, SB |
| 5 | 8 | Jason Gardener | Great Britain | 0.147 | 10.12 | SB |
| 6 | 1 | Leonard Myles-Mills | Ghana | 0.139 | 10.22 | |
| 7 | 7 | Dwight Thomas | Jamaica | 0.156 | 10.28 | |
| 8 | 2 | Vicente de Lima | Brazil | 0.163 | 10.28 | |
| | | | | Wind: +0.2 m/s | Wind: +0.2 m/s | Wind: +0.2 m/s |

### Final

In the final, the slowest to react was Justin Gatlin, still with the most powerful first steps, Gatlin led from the gun, with Kim Collins, the next slowest to react, also getting a typically fast start (typically in lane 1). A step behind, back from injuries, defending champion Maurice Greene, was fastest to react but running sideways in quicksand. He was joined by Francis Obikwelu and Shawn Crawford, who had a slight edge on the other competitors in the center of the track. Collins faded as Obikwelu, Crawford and Greene gained. Feeling his lead disappearing rapidly, Gatlin leaned early still maintaining the lead across the line. The tall Obikwelu perfectly timed his dip to clearly grab silver. Crawford's finish occurred two meters too late giving Greene another medal with the same time as his win four years earlier.
| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Reaction | Time | Notes |
| | 3 | Justin Gatlin | United States | 0.188 | 9.85 | WL, PB |
| | 5 | Francis Obikwelu | Portugal | 0.163 | 9.86 | AR |
| | 7 | Maurice Greene | United States | 0.151 | 9.87 | SB |
| 4 | 4 | Shawn Crawford | United States | 0.161 | 9.89 | PB |
| 5 | 6 | Asafa Powell | Jamaica | 0.166 | 9.94 | |
| 6 | 1 | Kim Collins | Saint Kitts and Nevis | 0.175 | 10.00 | SB |
| 7 | 8 | Obadele Thompson | Barbados | 0.164 | 10.10 | |
| — | 2 | Aziz Zakari | Ghana | 0.178 | DNF | |
| | | | | Wind: +0.6 m/s | Wind: +0.6 m/s | Wind: +0.6 m/s |