Competitors 80 from 64 nations | Winning time 9.69 WR | |
 | ||
Venue Beijing National Stadium Dates 15 August (heats)
16 August (semifinal and final) | ||
The men's 100 metres sprint event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 15 and 16 August at the Beijing National Stadium. The final was won by Jamaican Usain Bolt in a world record time of 9.69 seconds.
Contents
Holding a considerable lead 70 metres into the race, Bolt opened his arms in celebration before slapping his chest. Kriss Akabusi criticized Usain Bolt's chest slapping before the finish line as showboating, shortly before Bolt captured the gold in the 100 meter sprint, noting that the actions cost Bolt an even faster record time. IOC president Jacques Rogge also condemned the Jamaican's actions as disrespectful. Bolt denied that this was the purpose of his mid-race celebration by saying "I wasn't bragging. When I saw I wasn't covered, I was just happy."
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows:
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
Qualification
Each National Olympic Committee (NOC) was able to enter up to three entrants providing they had met the A qualifying standard (10.21) in the qualifying period (1 January 2007 to 23 July 2008). NOCs were also permitted to enter one athlete providing he had met the B standard (10.28) in the same qualifying period.
Disqualification
Eight years after the event, the IOC reanalyzed doping samples and disqualified Samuel Francis for having stanozolol in his sample.
Results
All times shown are in seconds. The following abbreviations are used:
Heats
The first round was held on 15 August. The first three runners of each heat plus the next ten overall fastest runners qualified for the second round.
Heat 1
Heat 2
Heat 3
Heat 4
Heat 5
Heat 6
Heat 7
Heat 8
Heat 9
Heat 10
Q - Qualified as one of first 3 in heat q - Qualified as one of the next 10 fastestQuarterfinals
The quarterfinals was held on 15 August. The first three runners of each heat plus the next overall fastest runner qualified for the semifinals.
Quarterfinal 1
Quarterfinal 2
Quarterfinal 3
Quarterfinal 4
Quarterfinal 5
Semifinals
The semifinals were held on 16 August. The first four runners from each semifinal qualified for the final.
Semifinal 1
Semifinal 2
Final
The final was held on 16 August.