# Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metres

The men's 100 metres sprint event at the 1984 Olympic Games took place between August 3 and August 4. Eighty-two athletes from 59 countries participated. Each nation was limited to 3 athletes per rules in force since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Carl Lewis of the United States, that nation's first title after two Games of missing the podium (4th in 1976, boycotted in 1980). Canada's Ben Johnson took bronze to break up the Americans' bid to sweep the podium (which they had done in 1904 and 1912); it was Canada's first medal in the event since 1964.

## Background

This was the twentieth time the event was held, having appeared at every Olympics since the first in 1896. Defending gold medal winner Allan Wells of Great Britain was the only finalist from the Moscow Games to return. The American team was strong, led by 1983 World Championship winner Carl Lewis, who was attempting to match Jesse Owens's 1936 quadruple (100, 200, 4x100, and long jump). Sam Graddy and Ron Brown were the other members of the United States squad, edging out world record holder and World Championships runner-up Calvin Smith. Challengers to the hosts included World Championship finalists Wells, Paul Narracott of Australia, Christian Haas of West Germany, and Desai Williams of Canada, as well as up-and-coming Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson.
Thirteen nations appeared in the event for the first time: Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, the British Virgin Islands, China (in its People's Republic form), Costa Rica, Equatorial Guinea, The Gambia, Mauritius, Oman, Qatar, the Solomon Islands, Swaziland, and the United Arab Emirates. The United States made its 19th appearance in the event, most of any country, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.

## 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 preliminaries and quarterfinals.
The first round consisted of 11 heats, each with 7 or 8 athletes. The top three runners in each heat advanced, along with the next seven 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

These are the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1980 Summer Olympics.
| World Record | 9.93 | Calvin Smith | Colorado Springs (United States) | July 3, 1983 |
| Olympic Record | 9.95 | Jim Hines | Mexico City (Mexico) | October 14, 1968 |

## Results
### Heats

The top three runners in each of the eleven heats and the next seven fastest, advanced to the quarterfinal round.

#### Heat 1

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Carl Lewis | United States | 10.32 | Q |
| 2 | Tony Sharpe | Canada | 10.38 | Q |
| 3 | Mike McFarlane | Great Britain | 10.47 | Q |
| 4 | Hasely Crawford | Trinidad and Tobago | 10.48 | q |
| 5 | Peter Van Miltenburg | Australia | 10.55 | q |
| 6 | Vicente Daniel | Mozambique | 10.81 | |
| 7 | Henry Ngolwe | Zambia | 10.94 | |
| 8 | Paul Réneau | Belize | 10.96 | |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Allan Wells | Great Britain | 10.32 | Q |
| 2 | Mohamed Purnomo | Indonesia | 10.40 | Q |
| 3 | José Javier Arqués | Spain | 10.42 | Q |
| 4 | Marc Gasparoni | France | 10.47 | q |
| 5 | Emilio Samayoa | Guatemala | 10.84 | |
| 6 | Barnabé Messomo | Cameroon | 10.98 | |
| 7 | Charles Mbazira | Uganda | 11.03 | |
| 8 | Mohamed Abdullah | United Arab Emirates | 11.11 | |

#### Heat 3

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Desai Williams | Canada | 10.35 | Q |
| 2 | Chidi Imoh | Nigeria | 10.39 | Q |
| 3 | Charles-Louis Seck | Senegal | 10.45 | Q |
| 4 | Christian Nenepath | Indonesia | 10.66 | |
| 4 | Henri Ndinga | Republic of the Congo | 10.66 | |
| 6 | Abdullah Sulaiman Al-Akbary | Oman | 10.86 | |
| 7 | Inoke Bainimoli | Fiji | 11.15 | |
| 8 | Daniel André | Mauritius | 11.19 | |

#### Heat 4

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Sumet Promna | Thailand | 10.52 | Q |
| 2 | Paul Narracott | Australia | 10.55 | Q |
| 3 | Neville Hodge | Virgin Islands | 10.58 | Q |
| 4 | Audrick Lightbourne | Bahamas | 10.64 | |
| 5 | Gus Young | Jamaica | 10.64 | |
| 6 | Bill Trott | Bermuda | 10.76 | |
| 7 | Kgosiemang Khumoyarano | Botswana | 11.49 | |

#### Heat 5

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Sam Graddy | United States | 10.29 | Q |
| 2 | Donovan Reid | Great Britain | 10.41 | Q |
| 3 | Jürgen Evers | West Germany | 10.54 | Q |
| 4 | Hiroki Fuwa | Japan | 10.56 | |
| 5 | Philip Attipoe | Ghana | 10.60 | |
| 6 | Jean-Yves Mallat | Lebanon | 10.83 | |
| 7 | Markus Büchel | Liechtenstein | 10.98 | |
| 8 | Clifford Mamba | Swaziland | 11.24 | |

#### Heat 6

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Ray Stewart | Jamaica | 10.24 | Q |
| 2 | Antoine Richard | France | 10.35 | Q |
| 3 | Antonio Ullo | Italy | 10.36 | Q |
| 4 | Paulo Roberto Correia | Brazil | 10.45 | q |
| 5 | Anthony Jones | Barbados | 10.69 | |
| 6 | Oliver Daniels | Liberia | 10.76 | |
| 7 | Muhammad Mansha | Pakistan | 10.87 | |

#### Heat 7

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Ben Johnson | Canada | 10.35 | Q |
| 2 | Yu Zhuanghui | China | 10.53 | Q |
| 3 | Bruno Marie-Rose | France | 10.59 | Q |
| 4 | Earl Haley | Guyana | 10.74 | |
| 5 | Julien Thode | Netherlands Antilles | 10.92 | |
| 6 | Ronald Russell | Virgin Islands | 11.02 | |
| 7 | Denis Rose | Seychelles | 11.04 | |

#### Heat 8

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Ronald Desruelles | Belgium | 10.46 | Q |
| 2 | Stefano Tilli | Italy | 10.48 | Q |
| 3 | Fred Martin | Australia | 10.64 | Q |
| 4 | Luís Barroso | Portugal | 10.76 | |
| 5 | Gustavo Envela | Equatorial Guinea | 10.79 | |
| 6 | Oumar Fye | The Gambia | 10.87 | |
| 7 | Anthony Henry | Antigua and Barbuda | 10.99 | |
| 8 | Saidur Rahman Dawn | Bangladesh | 11.25 | |

#### Heat 9

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Ron Brown | United States | 10.58 | Q |
| 2 | Luis Morales | Puerto Rico | 10.60 | Q |
| 3 | Nelson dos Santos | Brazil | 10.70 | Q |
| 4 | Ralf Lübke | West Germany | 10.70 | |
| 5 | Collins Mensah | Ghana | 10.92 | |
| 6 | Ivan Benjamin | Sierra Leone | 11.13 | |
| 7 | Johnson Kere | Solomon Islands | 11.57 | |

#### Heat 10

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Norman Edwards | Jamaica | 10.57 | Q |
| 2 | Dudley Parker | Bahamas | 10.65 | Q |
| 3 | Kouadio Otokpa | Ivory Coast | 10.72 | Q |
| 4 | Pierfrancesco Pavoni | Italy | 10.72 | |
| 5 | Faraj Saad Marzouk | Qatar | 10.78 | |
| 6 | Odiya Silweya | Malawi | 11.22 | |
| 7 | Glen Abrahams | Costa Rica | 11.31 | |

#### Heat 11

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Christian Haas | West Germany | 10.41 | Q |
| 2 | Alfonso Pitters | Panama | 10.50 | Q |
| 3 | Katsuhiko Nakaya | Brazil | 10.55 | Q |
| 4 | Bakary Jarjue | The Gambia | 10.68 | |
| 5 | Sim Deok-seop | South Korea | 10.72 | |
| 6 | Guy Hill | British Virgin Islands | 11.11 | |
| 7 | Aldo Salandra | El Salvador | 11.31 | |

### Quarterfinals

The top three runners in each of the five heats and the next fastest one, advanced to the semifinal round.

#### Quarterfinal 1

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Ben Johnson | Canada | 10.41 | Q |
| 2 | Donovan Reid | Great Britain | 10.47 | Q |
| 3 | Christian Haas | West Germany | 10.51 | Q |
| 4 | Hasely Crawford | Trinidad and Tobago | 10.56 | |
| 5 | Antonio Ullo | Italy | 10.57 | |
| 6 | Bruno Marie-Rose | France | 10.60 | |
| 7 | Paul Narracott | Australia | 10.60 | |
| 8 | Alfonso Pitters | Panama | 10.63 | |

#### Quarterfinal 2

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Sam Graddy | United States | 10.15 | Q |
| 2 | Tony Sharpe | Canada | 10.33 | Q |
| 3 | Norman Edwards | Jamaica | 10.44 | Q |
| 4 | Nelson dos Santos | Brazil | 10.53 | |
| 5 | Charles-Louis Seck | Senegal | 10.54 | |
| 6 | Yu Zhuanghui | China | 10.59 | |
| 7 | Neville Hodge | Virgin Islands | 10.69 | |
| — | Ronald Desruelles | Belgium | DNS | |

#### Quarterfinal 3

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Stefano Tilli | Italy | 10.39 | Q |
| 2 | Ron Brown | United States | 10.40 | Q |
| 3 | Marc Gasparoni | France | 10.56 | Q |
| 4 | Sumet Promna | Thailand | 10.61 | |
| 5 | Katsuhiko Nakaya | Brazil | 10.69 | |
| 6 | Hiroki Fuwa | Japan | 10.75 | |
| 7 | Philip Attipoe | Ghana | 10.78 | |
| 8 | Kouadio Otokpa | Ivory Coast | 10.80 | |

#### Quarterfinal 4

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Ray Stewart | Jamaica | 10.30 | Q |
| 2 | Allan Wells | Great Britain | 10.33 | Q |
| 3 | Mohamed Purnomo | Indonesia | 10.43 | Q |
| 4 | José Javier Arqués | Spain | 10.52 | |
| 4 | Peter Van Miltenburg | Australia | 10.52 | |
| 6 | Antoine Richard | France | 10.53 | |
| 7 | Paulo Roberto Correia | Brazil | 10.54 | |
| 8 | Audrick Lightbourne | Bahamas | 10.59 | |

#### Quarterfinal 5

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Carl Lewis | United States | 10.04 | Q |
| 2 | Desai Williams | Canada | 10.27 | Q |
| 3 | Luis Morales | Puerto Rico | 10.35 | Q |
| 4 | Mike McFarlane | Great Britain | 10.36 | q |
| 5 | Chidi Imoh | Nigeria | 10.42 | |
| 6 | Dudley Parker | Bahamas | 10.58 | |
| 7 | Fred Martin | Australia | 10.61 | |
| 8 | Jürgen Evers | West Germany | 10.69 | |

### Semifinals

The top four runners in each of the two heats advanced to the final round.

#### Semifinal 1

The wind was +0.7 m/s.
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Ray Stewart | Jamaica | 10.26 | Q |
| 2 | Sam Graddy | United States | 10.27 | Q |
| 3 | Donovan Reid | Great Britain | 10.32 | Q |
| 4 | Ron Brown | United States | 10.34 | Q |
| 5 | Desai Williams | Canada | 10.34 | |
| 6 | Christian Haas | West Germany | 10.41 | |
| 7 | Marc Gasparoni | France | 10.49 | |
| 8 | Mohamed Purnomo | Indonesia | 10.51 | |

#### Semifinal 2

The wind was -1.5 m/s.
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Carl Lewis | United States | 10.14 | Q |
| 2 | Ben Johnson | Canada | 10.42 | Q |
| 3 | Mike McFarlane | Great Britain | 10.45 | Q |
| 4 | Tony Sharpe | Canada | 10.52 | Q |
| 5 | Luis Morales | Puerto Rico | 10.54 | |
| 6 | Stefano Tilli | Italy | 10.55 | |
| 7 | Norman Edwards | Jamaica | 10.63 | |
| 8 | Allan Wells | Great Britain | 10.71 | |

### Final

Wind = + 0.2 m/s
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time |
| | Carl Lewis | United States | 9.99 |
| | Sam Graddy | United States | 10.19 |
| | Ben Johnson | Canada | 10.22 |
| 4 | Ron Brown | United States | 10.26 |
| 5 | Mike McFarlane | Great Britain | 10.27 |
| 6 | Ray Stewart | Jamaica | 10.29 |
| 7 | Donovan Reid | Great Britain | 10.33 |
| 8 | Tony Sharpe | Canada | 10.35 |