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.[1] Sixty-three athletes from 40 nations competed.[2] Each nation was limited to 3 athletes per rules in force since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by 0.02 seconds by Hasely Crawford of Trinidad and Tobago, earning the nation's first gold medal and making Crawford a national hero. Don Quarrie's silver medal made Jamaica only the third country to reach the men's 100 metres podium three consecutive times (after the United States, which had streaks of 9 Games and 7 Games, and Great Britain, which had medaled consecutively in 1920, 1924, and 1928). Valeriy Borzov of the Soviet Union was unable to defend his title, but by taking bronze became the third man to medal twice in the event. For only the second time (after 1928), the United States did not have a medalist in the event.

Men's 100 metres
at the Games of the XXI Olympiad
VenueOlympic Stadium
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
DatesJuly 23, 1976 (heats, quarterfinals)
July 24, 1976 (semifinals, final)
Competitors63 from 40 nations
Winning time10.06 seconds
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Hasely Crawford
 Trinidad and Tobago
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Don Quarrie
 Jamaica
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Valeriy Borzov
 Soviet Union
← 1972
1980 →

In the preliminary rounds, all the top athletes were running times in the 10.30s to 10.40s, while by the semi-finals some times dropped to the 10.20s. 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 Harvey Glance, 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.

Background

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This was the eighteenth time the event was held, having appeared at every Olympics since the first in 1896. Two finalists from 1972 returned: gold medal winner Valeriy Borzov of the Soviet Union and Hasely Crawford of Trinidad and Tobago, who had not finished the Munich final. The favorite was Jamaican Don Quarrie (1970 and 1974 Commonwealth Games champion, with a share of the world record at 9.9 seconds), particularly with American Steve Williams (who had run 9.9 seconds four times) having been injured at the U.S. Olympic trials. Borzov was "not the dominant sprinter he had been in 1972." The top American in Montreal was Harvey Glance, who had run the 9.9 second world record time twice. Cuban Silvio Leonard had also matched that time once.[2]

Three nations appeared in the event for the first time: Barbados, Belize, and the Netherlands Antilles. The United States was the only nation to have appeared at each of the first eighteen Olympic men's 100 metres events.

Competition format

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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, that system applied only in the preliminary heats.

The first round consisted of 9 heats, each with 6–8 athletes. The top three runners in each heat advanced, along with the next five fastest runners overall. This made 32 quarterfinalists, who were divided into 4 heats of 8 runners. The top four runners in each quarterfinal advanced, with no "fastest loser" places. The 16 semifinalists competed in two heats of 8, with the top four in each semifinal advancing to the eight-man final.[2][3]

Records

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These are the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1976 Summer Olympics.

World Record 9.95   Jim Hines Mexico City (MEX) October 14, 1968
Olympic Record 9.95   Jim Hines Mexico City (MEX) October 14, 1968

Results

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Heats

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The heats were held on July 23, 1976.

Heat 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Hasely Crawford   Trinidad and Tobago 10.42 Q
2 Alexander Thieme   East Germany 10.64 Q
3 Luciano Caravani   Italy 10.66 Q
4 Lambert Micha   Belgium 10.69
5 Gregory Simons   Bermuda 10.76
6 Bjarni Stefánsson   Iceland 11.28

Heat 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Johnny Lam Jones   United States 10.43 Q
2 Amadou Meïté   Ivory Coast 10.53 Q
3 Ainsley Armstrong   Trinidad and Tobago 10.59 Q
4 Mike Sharpe   Bermuda 10.70
5 Dominique Chauvelot   France 10.79
6 Mohamed Al-Sehly   Saudi Arabia 11.10
7 Werner Bastians   West Germany 11.17
8 Armando Padilla   Nicaragua 11.52

Heat 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Petar Petrov   Bulgaria 10.46 Q
2 Zenon Licznerski   Poland 10.60 Q
3 Rui da Silva   Brazil 10.61 Q
4 Christer Garpenborg   Sweden 10.64 q
5 Jean-Claude Amoureux   France 10.75
6 Abdul Kareem Al-Awad   Kuwait 11.27
7 Ayoub Bodaghi   Iran 11.39

Heat 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Don Quarrie   Jamaica 10.38 Q
2 Guy Abrahams   Panama 10.40 Q
3 Marvin Nash   Canada 10.59 Q
4 Mike Sands   Bahamas 10.65 q
5 Dennis Trott   Bermuda 10.67 q
6 Peter Fitzgerald   Australia 10.87
7 Ronald Russell   Virgin Islands 11.22

Heat 5

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Harvey Glance   United States 10.37 Q
2 Marian Woronin   Poland 10.56 Q
3 Aleksandr Aksinin   Soviet Union 10.60 Q
4 Colin Bradford   Jamaica 10.64 q
5 Pedro Ferrer   Puerto Rico 10.76
6 Vasilios Papageorgopoulos   Greece 10.82
7 Leonard Jervis   Bahamas 10.87

Heat 6

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Klaus-Dieter Kurrat   East Germany 10.37 Q
2 Valeriy Borzov   Soviet Union 10.53 Q
3 Dieter Steinmann   West Germany 10.68 Q
4 Francisco Gómez   Cuba 10.68 q
5 Barka Sy   Senegal 10.81
6 Masahide Jinno   Japan 10.94
7 Colin Thurton   Belize 11.03
8 Siegfried Regales   Netherlands Antilles 11.11

Heat 7

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Steve Riddick   United States 10.43 Q
2 Andrzej Świerczyński   Poland 10.62 Q
3 Adama Fall   Senegal 10.72 Q
4 Suchart Chairsuvaparb   Thailand 10.75
5 Roland Bombardella   Luxembourg 10.76
6 Clive Sands   Bahamas 10.82
7 Philippe Étienne   Haiti 11.05

Heat 8

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Gilles Échevin   France 10.53 Q
2 Klaus Bieler   West Germany 10.58 Q
3 Anat Ratanapol   Thailand 10.71 Q
4 Hermes Ramírez   Cuba 10.72
5 Momar N'Dao   Senegal 10.74
6 Ramli Ahmad   Malaysia 10.98

Heat 9

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Sammy Monsels   Suriname 10.58 Q
2 Silvio Leonard   Cuba 10.62 Q
3 Juris Silovs   Soviet Union 10.70 Q
4 Chris Brathwaite   Trinidad and Tobago 10.71
5 Endre Lépold   Hungary 10.82
6 Pearson Jordan   Barbados 10.95
7 Tony Moore   Fiji 11.16

Quarterfinals

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The quarterfinals were held on July 23, 1976.

Quarterfinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Don Quarrie   Jamaica 10.33 Q
2 Steve Riddick   United States 10.36 Q
3 Marvin Nash   Canada 10.48 Q
4 Aleksandr Aksinin   Soviet Union 10.55 Q
5 Dennis Trott   Bermuda 10.64
6 Anat Ratanapol   Thailand 10.65
7 Luciano Caravani   Italy 10.81
8 Gilles Échevin|   France 12.00

Quarterfinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Guy Abrahams   Panama 10.35 Q
2 Johnny Lam Jones   United States 10.46 Q
3 Alexander Thieme   East Germany 10.50 Q
4 Marian Woronin   Poland 10.53 Q
5 Silvio Leonard   Cuba 10.59
6 Sammy Monsels   Suriname 10.61
7 Colin Bradford   Jamaica 10.62
8 Christer Garpenborg   Sweden 10.63

Quarterfinal 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Hasely Crawford   Trinidad and Tobago 10.29 Q
2 Valeriy Borzov   Soviet Union 10.39 Q
3 Amadou Meïté   Ivory Coast 10.45 Q
4 Rui da Silva   Brazil 10.57 Q
5 Andrzej Świerczyński   Poland 10.59
6 Adama Fall   Senegal 10.60
7 Klaus Bieler   West Germany 10.80
Mike Sands   Bahamas DNS

Quarterfinal 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Harvey Glance   United States 10.23 Q
2 Klaus-Dieter Kurrat   East Germany 10.29 Q
3 Petar Petrov   Bulgaria 10.30 Q
4 Ainsley Armstrong   Trinidad and Tobago 10.46 Q
5 Francisco Gómez   Cuba 10.49
6 Zenon Licznerski   Poland 10.52
7 Dieter Steinmann   West Germany 10.67
Juris Silovs   Soviet Union DNS

Semifinals

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The semifinals were held on July 24, 1976.

Semifinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Harvey Glance   United States 10.24 Q
2 Valeriy Borzov   Soviet Union 10.30 Q
3 Klaus-Dieter Kurrat   East Germany 10.30 Q
4 Guy Abrahams   Panama 10.37 Q
5 Marvin Nash   Canada 10.52
6 Ainsley Armstrong   Trinidad and Tobago 10.52
7 Rui da Silva   Brazil 10.54
8 Marian Woronin   Poland 10.69

Semifinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Hasely Crawford   Trinidad and Tobago 10.22 Q
2 Don Quarrie   Jamaica 10.26 Q
3 Johnny Lam Jones   United States 10.30 Q
4 Petar Petrov   Bulgaria 10.30 Q
5 Steve Riddick   United States 10.33
6 Amadou Meïté   Ivory Coast 10.46
7 Aleksandr Aksinin   Soviet Union 10.50
8 Alexander Thieme   East Germany 10.50

Final

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The final was held on July 24, 1976.

Rank Athlete Nation Time
  Hasely Crawford   Trinidad and Tobago 10.06
  Don Quarrie   Jamaica 10.08
  Valeriy Borzov   Soviet Union 10.14
4 Harvey Glance   United States 10.19
5 Guy Abrahams   Panama 10.25
6 Johnny Lam Jones   United States 10.27
7 Klaus-Dieter Kurrat   East Germany 10.31
8 Petar Petrov   Bulgaria 10.35

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1976 Montreal Summer Games: Men's 100 metres". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "100 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  3. ^ Official Report, vol. 3, p. 51.