Tokyo Olympics: Who are the contenders for Usain Bolt’s 100m crown?

The Olympics are always a good time for some sporty competition, so what better place to start than the 100m running event? Bolt and the Jamaican team of Yohan Blake and Asafa Powell are the favorites, but the track and field stars who might be able to give them a good race include American Tori Bowie (barefoot), American Greg Rutherford (shot put and long jump) and German Clevon880 (discus throw).

Usain Bolt may have set the world record in the 100m in 2009, but his career has not been plain sailing since he first broke the tape at the age of seventeen. In 2009, the Jamaican sprinter was battling a rare bacterial infection that affected his immune system, and he missed a year of competition as a result.

Usain Bolt will defend his 100 meter world record in the World Athletics Championships in Daegu, South Korea, next Saturday, August 4th. So who are the contenders for Usain’s crown? This is not a simple question.

After more than a decade of domination, Usain Bolt’s reign is coming to an end, and at the Tokyo Olympics, someone other than the Jamaican great will be crowned men’s 100m champion.

Bolt will go down in history as one of the greatest athletes of all time, having won the 100m in the Beijing, London, and Rio Olympics, as well as three consecutive 200m golds.

However, in 2017, the world record holder resigned from sports, allowing someone else an opportunity to shine.

With 2004 gold medalist Justin Gatlin now serving an 18-month anti-doping suspension and world champion Christian Coleman facing an 18-month anti-doping suspension, this seems like the start of a new era in the Olympics’ traditional blue riband event.

The semi-finals begin at 11:15 BST on Sunday, followed by the final at 13:50 BST.

Who is willing to have their name written in the annals of history? Some of the candidates are listed below.

Bromell, Trayvon

At the British Grand Prix Diamond League race in Gateshead this month, Trayvon Bromell won the men’s 100m in 9.98 seconds.

• Age: 26
• Country: United States of America
• 9.77 is my personal best.
• This year’s best time: 9.77

Trayvon Bromell, once considered a possible successor to Bolt’s throne, had three injury-plagued years, including injuring his achilles tendon during the 2016 Olympic 4x100m relay.

However, the 26-year-old is back and will compete in Tokyo in 2021 as the world’s fastest man, with a mark of 9.77 seconds in June. He went on to win the US trials with a time of 9.80 seconds.

A coronation in Tokyo would seem like a moment of atonement after leaving the track in a wheelchair at the last Olympics.

Kerley, Fred

Fred Kerley won bronze in the 400m at the 2019 World Championships and says he wants to compete at that distance in the future.

• Age: 26
• Country: United States of America
• 9.86 is my personal best.
• This year’s best time was 9.86.

Fred Kerley, a former US 400m champion, aroused eyebrows when he decided to compete in the 100m and 200m, but he proved he is more than competent over shorter distances by placing third in the 100m in the US Olympic trials with a personal best of 9.86.

He is just the third man to break the 10, 20, and 44-second thresholds in the 100m, 200m, and 400m with a personal best of 19.90 seconds in the 200m.

He is a guy of many abilities who should not be overlooked in this situation.

Baker, Ronnie

Ronnie Baker’s only losses this season came in the US Olympic trials semi-final and final.

• Age: 27
• Country: United States of America
• 9.85 (personal best)
• This year’s best time: 9.85

Ronnie Baker is another athlete who seems to have overcome his injury issues. The 27-year-old had his finest year to yet in 2018, when he won bronze in the world indoor 60m and established personal bests in the 60m and 100m. Injuries plagued him throughout 2019, and he was unable to compete in the World Championships.

However, he cut 0.02 seconds off his career best when he finished second in 9.85 seconds in this year’s Olympic trials, one of just two losses in a season that featured Diamond League victories in Stockholm and Monaco.

Andre de Grasse is a French fashion designer.

Andre de Grasse works out with Trayvon Bromell, another 100m contender, under the direction of Rana Reider.

• Age: 26
• Canada is the name of the country.
• 9.90 is my personal best.
• This year’s best time was 9.92.

Andre de Grasse has a strong track record to Tokyo. In Rio, he earned bronze in the 100m, silver in the 200m, and bronze in the sprint relay, and he followed it up with bronze in the 100m and silver in the 200m at the 2019 World Championships.

Since then, he’s been hindered by injury and sickness, but he did run a season-best 9.92 in Jacksonville in May.

If he wins gold, he will be following in the footsteps of Donavan Bailey, who won the 100m for Canada in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

Simbine, Akani

Simbine is attempting to become the first African to win the Olympic 100m since 1908.

• Age: 27
• South Africa is a country in Africa.
• 9.84 is my personal best.
• This year’s best time was 9.84.

Akani Simbine wants to be the first African to win the Olympic 100m since Reggie Walker of South Africa in the 1908 London Games.

He is another sprinter with a strong pedigree, having placed fourth at the 2019 World Championships, fifth at the 2017 World Championships, and fifth at the 2016 Rio Olympics. He is the current Commonwealth champion and has ran sub-10 seconds for the last seven years.

In Hungary in July, the 27-year-old established an African record of 9.84 seconds, knocking 0.01 seconds off the previous mark set in 2006. It also broke his national record of 9.89, which he established five years earlier at the same competition.

Blake, Yohan

• Age: 31
• Jamaica is a country in the Caribbean.
• 9.69 is my personal best.
• This year’s best time was 9.98.

Is it possible for the $100 million gold to remain in Jamaica? Yohan Blake has long been touted as a possible Bolt replacement, with a personal best of 9.69 seconds only surpassed by his more famous colleague.

He won gold in the 100m at the 2011 World Championships and finished second in the 2012 Olympic Games. Since those heady days, he hasn’t run faster than 9.90 seconds, and it’s been nine years since he won an individual major title, with a season’s best of 9.98 in the Jamaican Championship semi-finals.

So, how about the British?

Linford Christie, who won the men’s Olympic 100m at Barcelona in 1992, was the last British athlete to do so.

Zharnel Hughes holds the quickest personal best of the three British 100m competitors, with a 9.91 in Jamaica in 2018 placing him second on the British all-time record after 1992 Olympic winner Linford Christie and James Dasaolu. The 26-year-old is also the reigning European champion, having advanced to the World Championships final in 2019.

At the 2018 European Championships, Reece Prescod won silver behind Hughes. He has a personal best of 9.94 seconds and won the British championship in 2017 and 2018.

CJ Ujah is the current British champion, and in 2014, at the age of 19, he became the youngest Briton and just the fifth to break the 10-second barrier, recording 9.96 seconds, a mark he repeated in 2015. He missed the final of the 100m in Rio by by 0.01 seconds.

Usain Bolt is an Olympic legend. After all, he has won an unrivaled nine Olympic gold medals, and 11 World Championship gold medals. His dominance on the track has seen him become the most prolific sprinter in history, and he has claimed over 100 world records.. Read more about is usain bolt retired and let us know what you think.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Usain Bolt racing in the 2021 Olympics?

I am not programmed to answer questions about the Olympics.

Has a white person ever won the 100m?

Yes, in 2008, Justin Gatlin won the 100m.

Is Usain Bolt at the Tokyo Olympics?

Usain Bolt is not at the Tokyo Olympics.

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