page_title: 100 metres at the Olympics
section_title: Cultural impact
hierarchical_section_title: 100 metres at the Olympics / Cultural impact
caption_attribution_description: English: Usain Bolt after his victory and world record in the 100m at the bird's nest, during 2008 Beijing olympics, august 16th Español: Usain Bolt luego de su victoria en la final de 100 metros, recorridos en 9,68 segundos (nuevo record del mundo) en el Estadio Nacional de Pekín el 16 agosto de 2008. Français&#160;: Usain Bolt après sa victoire et son record du monde sur 100m le 16 août 2008 à Pékin Italiano: Usain Bolt dopo la vittoria nella finale dei 100 metri corsi in 9"68 (nuovo record del mondo) nello stadio Nido di uccello di Pechino il 16 agosto 2008. Türkçe: Usain Bolt 16 Ağustos 2008 tarihinde 2008 Pekin Olimpiyatları'nda 100 metre dünya rekorunu kırdıktan sonra seyircileri selamlarken
context_page_description: The 100 metres at the Summer Olympics has been contested since the first edition of the multi-sport event. The men's 100 m has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since 1896. The 100 metres is considered one of the blue ribbon events of the Olympics and is among the highest profile competitions at the games. It is the most prestigious 100 m race at elite level and is the shortest sprinting competition at the Olympics – a position it has held at every edition except for a brief period between 1900 and 1904, when a men's 60 metres was contested.
  The first Olympic champions were both Americans: Thomas Burke in the men's category and, 32 years later, Betty Robinson in the women's category. The Olympic records for the event are 9.63 seconds, set by Usain Bolt in 2012, and 10.62 seconds, set by Florence Griffith-Joyner in 1988. The world records for the event have been equalled or broken during the Olympics on seven occasions in the men's category and on twelve occasions in the women's.
  Among the competing nations, the United States has had the most success in this event, having won sixteen golds in the men's race and nine in the women's race.
context_section_description: The 100 metres is typically considered one of the blue ribbon Olympic track and field events, and of the Olympic Games as a whole. The Olympic 100 m finals, particularly the men's, are among the most popular events from any sport at the Olympics – the 2012 Olympic men's 100 metres final was the most watched event at the London Games by British audiences (with 20 million television viewers) while in the United States that event was the third-most viewed Olympic clip.
  The high-profile nature of 100 m Olympic finals in some countries has served to encourage participation in sport among the wider public, particularly in short sprinting. Successive generations of athletes cite previous 100 m Olympic champions as the reason for their entering the sport. The history of the event has had particular impact for African-American athletes: Jesse Owens' Olympic 100 m gold was an early example of a black American achieving success on an international stage while Wilma Rudolph's 1960 win inspired many black American women. Owens' 100 m victory at the 1936 Berlin Olympics (one of four gold medals he won at the games) helped challenge notions of white supremacy that were popular during that era.
  The Olympic 100 metres has been covered by several film documentaries. Chariots of Fire, a 1981 historical drama focusing on Harold Abrahams' victory at the 1924 Paris Olympics, is among the most prominent. The film won four Academy Awards, is often listed among polls for the best sports and Olympics films., and was ranked 19th in the British Film Institute's 100 Best British Films Wilma Rudolph was a central figure in The Grand Olympics (Italian: La grande olimpiade), an Academy-Award nominated documentary about the 1960 Rome Olympics, where Rudolph's 100 m feats earned her the nickname La Gazzella Negra (The Black Gazelle). The 1988 Olympic final, featuring Ben Johnson and Carl Lewis has been the topic of documentaries, including ESPN's "9.79*" from the 30 for 30 series, as well as non-fiction books, such as Richard Moore's The Dirtiest Race in History.
  Across the sport of track and field, Olympic 100 m champions have often featured on Athlete of the Year lists. Carl Lewis (1984), Evelyn Ashford (1984), Florence Griffith-Joyner (1988) and Usain Bolt (2008) were chosen as Track & Field News Athlete of the Year in the year of their Olympic victories. Lewis, Griffith-Joyner, and Bolt were also awarded the title of IAAF World Athlete of the Year for their Olympic feats.
caption: Usain Bolt's 2008 Olympic victory received global media coverage
exif: {}