Olympic Games Preview Capsules
Men's Sprints
This is the first in a series of 13 posts in which TFI will preview all 48 events that will comprise the athletics portion of the Olympic Games in Paris. The track and field competition will run from Thursday, August 1, through Sunday, August 11. Once all of the preview capsules have been posted they will be pinned on the TFI home page for easy reference. The next post after this one? The women’s sprints.
100 METERS
World Record: 9.58, Usain Bolt (Jamaica), 2009.
Olympic Record: 9.63, Usain Bolt (Jamaica), 2012.
World Leader: 9.77, Kishane Thompson (Jamaica).
RECENT GLOBAL CHAMPIONS
2023 World Championships: Noah Lyles (US), 9.83 (wind 0.0 meters per second).
2022 World Championships: Fred Kerley (US), 9.86 (-0.1).
2021 Olympic Games: Marcell Jacobs (Italy), 9.80 (0.1).
2019 World Championships: Christian Coleman (US), 9.76 (0.6).
2017 World Championships: Justin Gatlin (US), 9.92 (-0.8).
2016 Olympic Games: Usain Bolt (Jamaica), 9.81 (0.2).
SCHEDULE
August 3: Preliminary Round – 4:35 a.m., Eastern Daylight Time; Round One – 5:55 a.m.
August 4: Semifinals – 2:05 p.m.; Final – 3:50 p.m.
OUTLOOK
Marcell Jacobs of Italy appears to be running as well as he has since he set a European record of 9.80 seconds in winning the Olympic title in Tokyo in 2021. But he will need to improve his season best of 9.92 if he wants to contend for a medal in Paris, for that time ties him for 10th on the meet’s list of entrants. Kishane Thompson of Jamaica ran a yearly world-leading time of 9.77 in winning his country’s national-title race on June 28 to move into a tie for ninth on the all-time performer list. He had preceded that performance with times of 9.82 in his first-round heat and 9.84 in his semifinal, and he followed it with a very easy-looking 9.91 clocking in the Gyulai Istvan Memorial in Szekesfehervar, Hungary, on July 9 while defeating second-place Letsile Tebogo of Botswana (9.99) and third-place Akani Simbine of South Africa (10.01). The next three competitors on the yearly world list are Ferdinand Omanyala of Kenya at 9.79, reigning World champion Noah Lyles of the U.S. at 9.81, and Oblique Seville of Jamaica at 9.82. This marks the fourth consecutive season that Omanyala has been amongst the fastest men in the world on the watch, but he underperformed in the previous three global championships, with his highest finish a seventh place in last year’s World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary. Lyles ran a personal best of 9.83 in winning the World title and he trimmed two hundredths of a second off that time on July 20 when he clocked a winning 9.81 in a Diamond League meet in London in which Simbine finished second in 9.86 and World silver medalist Tebogo placed third in a national record of 9.88. Seville, who placed fourth in the 2022 and ’23 World Championships, has twice run 9.82 this season. His first 9.82 clocking came in the Racers Grand Prix meet in Kingston, Jamaica, on June 1 when he defeated second-place Lyles by three hundredths of a second. The second occurred when he finished second to Thompson in the Jamaican title meet. Americans Kenny Bednarek and Fred Kerley also appear capable of contending for a medal. Bednarek was the silver medalist in the 200 in the Olympic Games in 2021 and in the World Championships in 2022, but he has run very well in the 100 this year. He clocked a personal best of 9.87 while finishing second to first-place Lyles (9.83) in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials on June 23. Kerley was eliminated in the semifinals of the World Championships last year, but he placed third in 9.88 in the U.S. Trials and won the World title in 2022 after winning the silver medal in Tokyo. Akeem Blake of Jamaica, Benjamin Richardson of South Africa, and Emmanuel Matadi of Liberia are three others to watch. Blake, who has run 9.92 this season, placed third in the Jamaican title race, but has yet to advance to the final of a global title meet. The 20-year-old Richardson slashed his personal best from 10.08 to 9.86 in a meet in Switzerland on July 14, but the Olympics in Paris will mark the first time he has competed in a global championship at the senior level. Matadi lowered his personal best from 9.97 to 9.91 when he won the Holloway Pro Classic in Gainesville, Florida, on July 19.
200 METERS
World Record: 19.19, Usain Bolt (Jamaica), 2009.
Olympic Record: 19.30, Usain Bolt (Jamaica), 2008.
World Leader: 19.53, Noah Lyles (US).
RECENT GOBAL CHAMPIONS
2023 World Championships: Noah Lyles (US), 19.52 (0.2).
2022 World Championships: Lyles, 19.31 (0.4).
2021 Olympic Games: Andre De Grasse (Canada), 19.62 (-0.5).
2019 World Championships: Lyles, 19.83 (0.3).
2017 World Championships: Ramil Guliyev (Turkey), 20.09 (-0.1).
2016 Olympic Games: Usain Bolt (Jamaica), 19.78 (-0.5).
SCHEDULE
August 5: Round One – 1:55 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time.
August 6: Repechage – 6:30 a.m.
August 7: Semifinals – 2:02 p.m.
August 8: Final – 2:30 p.m.
OUTLOOK
Noah Lyles is the three-time defending World champion in this event and he has won 17 consecutive finals since finishing third in the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021. However, compatriot Kenny Bednarek led Lyles for the first 180 meters of the U.S. Olympic Team Trials on June 29 before Lyles overtook him on his way to recording a yearly world-leading time of 19.53 seconds to Bednarek’s personal best of 19.59. Lyles, the American record-holder at 19.31, clocked a winning 19.77 in his only other final of the season while running into a wind of 1.6 meters-per-second in the USA Track & Field New York City Grand Prix on June 9. Bednarek finished fifth in the World Athletics Championships last year after winning silver medals in the Olympic Games in 2021 and in the World Championships in 2022, but he is in the midst of what could be the best season of his career as he lowered his personal best to 9.87 in finishing second to Lyles (9.83) in the 100 in the U.S. Trials and he had previously run a career best of 19.67 in winning a 200 in a Diamond League meet in Doha, Qatar, on May 10. Third American Erriyon Knighton has placed fourth, third, and second in the last three global championships and he should contend for a medal in Paris after placing third in the U.S. Olympic Trials in 19.77. Letsile Tebogo of Botswana appears to be the sprinter with the best chance of preventing a U.S. sweep of the top three spots as he has run 19.71 this season and finished third in the 200 in last year’s World Championships after placing second in the 100. Tarsis Orogot of Uganda set a national record of 19.75 in winning the SEC title for the University of Alabama in early May, but he placed fourth in 20.14 in the NCAA championships in early June and ran 20.18, 20.32, and 20.50 in a trio of races in Europe earlier this month. There are several other entrants who have run under 20 seconds this season, including Ryan Zeze of France at 19.90, Cheickna Traore of Cote D’ivoire at 19.93, Zharnel Hughes of Great Britain at 19.96, and Andre DeGrasse of Canada and Alexander Ogando of the Dominican Republic, both at 19.98. Traore won the NCAA title for Penn State and Hughes placed fourth in last year’s World Championships. Defending Olympic champion De Grasse finished sixth in that race and Ogando was seventh after placing fifth in the 2022 World Championships.
400 METERS
World Record: 43.03, Wayde van Niekirk (South Africa), 2016.
Olympic Record: 43.03, Wayde van Niekirk (South Africa), 2016.
World Leader: 43.74, Matthew Hudson-Smith (Great Britain).
RECENT CHAMPIONS
2023 World Championships: Antonio Watson (Jamaica), 44.22.
2022 World Championships: Michael Norman (US), 44.29.
2021 Olympic Games: Stephen Gardiner (Bahamas), 43.85.
2019 World Championships: Gardiner, 43.48.
2017 World Championships: Wayde van Niekirk (South Africa), 43.98.
2016 Olympic Games: van Niekirk, 43.03 WR.
SCHEDULE
August 4: Round One - 1:05 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time.
August 5: Repechage - 5:20 a.m.
August 6: Semifinals – 1:35 p.m.
August 7: Final – 3:20 p.m.
OUTLOOK
Matthew Hudson-Smith of Great Britain and Quincy Hall of the U.S. are on personal best streaks entering the Games after winning the silver and bronze medals, respectively, in the World Athletics Championships last year. Hudson-Smith, who also placed third in the 2022 global title meet, lowered the European record to 43.74 seconds in winning the Diamond League meet in London on July 20 after previously clocking a continental best of 44.07 in the Bislett Games in Oslo on May 30. Hall, who specialized in the intermediate hurdles until last year, ran 43.80 in the Herculis EBS Diamond League meet in Fontvieille, Monaco, on July 12 after setting a then-personal best of 44.17 in winning the U.S. Olympic Team Trials on June 24. Hudson-Smith’s time moved him into a tie for 12th on the all-time performer list and Hall’s best puts him at 14th. No one else has run under 44 seconds this season, but there are plenty of entrants who have bettered 44.50. World indoor champion Alexander Doom of Belgium set a national record of 44.15 while winning the European title on June 10 and Jereem Richards of Trinidad and Tobago clocked 44.18 while finishing third in the London Diamond League meet behind Hudson-Smith and Vernon Norwood of the U.S., who ran 44.10 after placing fourth in the U.S. Olympic Trials. Michael Norman of the U.S., the 2022 World champion, has a season best of 44.21 and Charles Dobson of Great Britain ran a personal best of 44.23 while finishing fourth in London. Kirani James of Grenada has run 44.38 this year and the only man in history to win a gold, silver, and bronze medal in the 400 in the Olympic Games placed second to Norman in the 2022 World Championships. Defending Olympic champion Steven Gardiner of the Bahamas has a season best of 44.39 and is undefeated in four races. He could contend for a medal as he was a co-favorite in the World Championships last year before an injury caused him to pull up at the 300-meter mark of his semifinal. DeAndre Watkin ran a personal best of 44.48 in winning the Jamaican title in late June. Christopher Morales Williams of Canada and Bayapo Ndori of Botswana are the No. 3 and 4 entrants in the meet based on their yearly — and personal — bests of 44.07 and 44.10. But both of them have struggled in recent races in Europe. Morales Williams, who won NCAA indoor and outdoor titles for the University of Georgia, ran 45.11 and 44.90 while placing sixth in Diamond League races in Monaco and London. Ndori clocked 44.71 and 45.03 in finishing fifth and seventh, respectively, in those same meets. World record-holder Wayde van Niekirk of South Africa, who ran 44.74 in his lone 400-meter race of the season, has decided to bypass the one-lap event in favor of the 200 in Paris and is also expected to compete in the 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 relays.
Note — Competitors who do not automatically advance out of their first-round heats to the semifinals of the 200, 400, 800, and 1,500, as well as the straightaway and one-lap hurdle races, will have an opportunity to qualify for the semifinals by competing in a repechage round.
