The men's 100 metres was of one of 23 track events of the athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics

Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics

At the 2004 Summer Olympics, the athletics events were held at the Athens Olympic Stadium from August 18 to August 29, except for the marathons , the race walks , and the shot put...

, in Athens

Athens

Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

. It was contested at the Athens Olympic Stadium, from August 21 to August 22, by a total of 84 sprinters from 63 nations.

In the first round, the first three runners from each of the ten heats, together with the ten next fastest runners from all heats (10×3+10=40), automatically qualified for the second round. In the second round, these forty runners competed in five heats, with the first three from each heat and the single next fastest runner (5×3+1=16) qualifying for the semifinals. In the semifinals, only the first four runners from each of the two heats advanced to the final (2×4=8).

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.

Qualification

The Olympic qualification period for the athletics ran from January 1, 2003 to August 9, 2004. For this event, each National Olympic Committee

National Olympic Committee

National Olympic Committees are the national constituents of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, they are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games...

 (NOC) was permitted to enter up to three athletes, provided they had run below 10.21 seconds during this period in IAAF

International Association of Athletics Federations

The International Association of Athletics Federations is the international governing body for the sport of athletics. It was founded in 1912 at its first congress in Stockholm, Sweden by representatives from 17 national athletics federations as the International Amateur Athletics Federation...

-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.

Records

These are the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 2004 Summer Olympics.

World Record	9.78	Tim Montgomery Tim Montgomery Timothy Montgomery is a former American athlete. In 2005, he was stripped of his records – including a now void 100m world record of 9.78 seconds set in 2002 – after being found guilty of using performance-enhancing drugs...	Paris Paris Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...  (FRA France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... )	September 14, 2002
Olympic Record	9.84	Donovan Bailey Donovan Bailey Donovan Bailey is a retired Canadian sprinter, who once held the world record for the 100 metres race following his gold medal performance in the 1996 Olympic Games. He was the first Canadian to legally break the 10-second barrier in the 100 m...	Atlanta Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...  (USA United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... )	July 27, 1996

Results

All times shown are in seconds. The following abbreviations are used:

• Q denotes qualification by place
• q denotes qualification by time
• DNS denotes "did not start"
• DNF denotes "did not finish"
• DSQ denotes "disqualification"

• PB denotes "personal best"
• SB denotes "season best"
• NR denotes "national record
• CR denotes "continental record"

Round 1

The first round was held on 21 August. The first three runners of each heat plus the next ten overall fastest runners qualified for the second round.

Heat	Athlete	Nation	Time	Rank
1			10.12	SB	7	Q
1			10.22		18	Q
1			10.27		24	Q
1			10.35		36
1			10.45		46
1			10.54		53
1			10.75		62
1			11.00		67
2			10.13	SB	8	Q
2			10.19		14	Q
2			10.28		27	Q
2			10.36		38
2			10.67		57
2			10.76		63
2			11.62		78
2
3			10.07		3	Q
3			10.15	SB	9	Q
3			10.21	SB	16	Q
3			10.23		20	q
3			10.29		30	q
3			10.32		31	q
3			10.62		55
3			11.72		80
3
4			10.02		1	Q
4			10.08	SB	4	Q
4			10.15	NR	9	Q
4			10.33		33	q
4			10.50	NR	49
4			11.02		68
4			11.30		76
4			11.66		79
4
5			10.09		5	Q
5			10.18		12	Q
5			10.26	NR	23	Q
5			10.34		35	q
5			10.37		39
5			10.52		52
5			10.62		55
5			11.22	PB	74
6			10.33		33	Q
6			10.35		36	Q
6			10.39		40	Q
6			10.41		44
6			10.67		57
6			10.68		59
6			10.85	NR	66
6			11.13		70
7			10.06		2	Q
7			10.15	SB	9	Q
7			10.24	=PB	22	Q
7			10.28		27	q
7			10.32		31	q
7			10.72		61
7			11.25		75
7			11.56	PB	77
7
8			10.18		12	Q
8			10.21		16	Q
8			10.23		20	Q
8			10.28		27	q
8			10.50	SB	49
8			10.70		60
8			11.05		69
8			11.17		71
8			11.18	PB	73
9			10.39		40	Q
9			10.40		42	Q
9			10.43		45	Q
9			10.48		47
9			10.49		48
9			10.51		51
9			10.76		63
9			11.17		71
10			10.11		6	Q
10			10.20		15	Q
10			10.22		18	Q
10			10.27		24	q
10			10.27	SB	24	q
10			10.40		42
10			10.58	=NR	54
10			10.76	PB	63

Round 2

The second round was held on August 21. The first three runners of each heat plus the next overall fastest runner qualified for the semifinals.

Heat	Athlete	Nation	Time	Rank
1			9.93	NR	2	Q
1			10.12	=PB	9	Q
1			10.12	SB	9	Q
1			10.15		12	q
1			10.19		17
1			10.21		18
1			10.24		21
1			10.34		33
2			9.89		1	Q
2			10.12		9	Q
2			10.26		25	Q
2			10.26		25
2			10.26		25
2			10.28		28
2			10.42		37
2			10.43		38
3			9.96		4	Q
3			10.15	SB	12	Q
3			10.15		12	Q
3			10.24		21
3			10.36		34
3			10.38		35
3			10.48		39
3
4			10.02		6	Q
4			10.05	SB	7	Q
4			10.11		8	Q
4			10.17		15
4			10.22	PB	19
4			10.24		21
4			10.29		29
4			10.39		36
5			9.93		2	Q
5			9.99		5	Q
5			10.18	SB	16	Q
5			10.23		20
5			10.24		21
5			10.29		29
5			10.30		31
5			10.32		32

Semifinals

The semifinals were held on August 22. The first four runners from each semifinal qualified for the final.

Heat	Athlete	Nation	Time	Rank
1			10.07		5	Q
1			10.09		6	Q
1			10.11		7	Q
1			10.22		9	Q
1			10.28		11
1			10.29		14
1			10.32		15
1			10.35		16
2			9.95		1	Q
2			9.97		2	Q
2			9.97		2	Q
2			10.02	SB	4	Q
2			10.12	SB	8
2			10.22		9
2			10.28		11
2			10.28		11

Final

The final was held on August 22.

Rank	Athlete	Time
		9.85	PB
		9.86	AR
		9.87	SB
4		9.89
5		9.94
6		10.00	SB
7		10.10
—		DNF