Athletics at the 1976 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metres

The men's 100 metres sprint event at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, was held at Olympic Stadium on July 23 and 24.

Contents

• Records
• Final
• Semifinals
• Quarterfinals
• Heats
• References

In the rounds, all the major players were running times in the 10.30's to 10.40's. In the semi-finals, some times dropped to the 10.20's but nobody knew who was fully extending themselves. They took the top 4 from each semi, so Steve Riddick was left out of the final even though he had run faster than Guy Abrahams in the earlier semi. With the #1 time from the semis, Hasely Crawford was still placed in lane 1, somewhat hidden from the other top contenders in the center of the track including American champion Harvey Glance, presumed 200 metre specialist Don Quarrie and the defending champion Valeriy Borzov. From the gun, Borzov was out fast in lane 3 gaining a half a metre on Quarrie next to him in 4, with Glance another half metre behind Quarrie. As Quarrie slowly gained on Borzov, Crawford was also speeding down lane 1. Quarrie went past Borzov, but Crawford was already ahead for a narrow victory, the leaning Borzov holding off Glance. Crawford became the first gold medalist and a national hero for Trinidad and Tobago.