The worst pressure ever: Welcome to the Olympic 100-meter final, the most intimidating start line in sports | CNN (2024)

The worst pressure ever: Welcome to the Olympic 100-meter final, the most intimidating start line in sports | CNN (1)

Runners line up before the men's 100-meter final at the Tokyo Olympics

CNN

When an elite group of athletes crouch into starting blocks at Paris’ Stade de France this weekend, their bodies tense with adrenaline and anticipation, it’s hard to ignore that the next 10 seconds could define their lives and careers.

Few sporting events command the attention of the world like the men’s and women’s Olympic 100-meter finals, and few place such an intense weight of expectation on an athlete.

How do you silence your nerves when a hush descends on the stadium? How do you quieten the mind when an audience of millions is about to watch the biggest race of your life?

“I think it was the worst pressure you could ever be put under,” British former sprinter Allan Wells, who won 100m gold at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, told CNN Sport.

“You run through it in your head thousands of times – the start, the gun going off,” Wells added. “I think it’s the apprehension of what’s going to happen – you’ve got to get a good start … you’ve got to get into your running as quickly as possible.”

Professional sprinters, of course, are accustomed to performing in this kind of environment. The art of exiting a starting block, thighs pumping and elbows driving, is one to which they have devoted many hours of painstaking practice.

The worst pressure ever: Welcome to the Olympic 100-meter final, the most intimidating start line in sports | CNN (2)

Allan Wells (center) competes at the 1980 Moscow Olympics.

But at the Olympics, the stakes are higher than ever before. This is, after all, the most-watched event of the fortnight, with an audience of 35 million tuning in for Usain Bolt’s victory at the 2016 Rio Games on NBC.

An error here could be disastrous. Take British sprinter Zharnel Hughes, for example, who was disqualified from the 100m final in Tokyo three years ago for jumping out the blocks too soon. He later attributed the mistake to cramping in his calf, explaining in a social media post how the pain of disqualification “cuts real deep.”

It’s a fate that every athlete in the men’s and women’s races this year – most of all Hughes – will be desperate to avoid as they aim to keep their nerves and emotions in check on the start line.

“It was the worst feeling you could ever have but still be in control of what you were hoping to achieve,” said Wells, one of only three British sprinters to win 100m gold at the Olympics. “Put me in that situation right now, today, and I think I would just have a heart attack.”

For Olympic sprinters, mental preparation is just as, if not more, important than how they prepare physically.

The legendary Bolt, winner of three consecutive 100m gold medal between 2008 and 2016, said that he would try not to overthink things.

Bolt was famously relaxed on the start line, fist-bumping race officials and playing up to the crowd with gestures and poses. To distract himself before a race, he has previously said that he might think about playing video games or what he would have for dinner that evening.

The worst pressure ever: Welcome to the Olympic 100-meter final, the most intimidating start line in sports | CNN (3)

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For some, the challenge is in remaining calm while also being entirely focused on the task at hand.

“A combination of utmost power and utmost relaxation while the entire world is watching – that is really what’s in front of you,” Donovan Bailey, Canada’s 1996 Olympic 100m champion, told CNN Sport.

“You have to embrace all of those things and be completely at ease and totally relaxed. Sometimes I try to tell athletes, ‘Imagine yourself just sitting in your living room watching TV.’ That’s actually what it is. And it’s as simple as that.”

Bailey ran a record-breaking time of 9.84 seconds when he won gold in Atlanta to become the reigning Olympic champion, world champion and world record holder.

Never short on confidence, never questioning his ability, Bailey thrived on the biggest stages, famously orchestrating a one-on-one race over 150 meters against Michael Johnson in front of a TV audience of millions.

“When the light was shining brightest, I was always at my greatest comfort,” he said. “And so any of the athletes I consult with now, regardless of where they are from around the world, I tell them, ‘You have to embrace who you are.’”

The worst pressure ever: Welcome to the Olympic 100-meter final, the most intimidating start line in sports | CNN (4)

Donovan Bailey shows his delight at winning Olympic gold and breaking the world record.

Each athlete, then, will have a different approach to big races.

American Noah Lyles, for instance – one of the favorites to win gold this weekend – likes playing to the cameras. Before competing at the US Olympic trials, he pulled a series of rare Yu-Gi-Oh! cards out from under his sprint suit as a nod to his love for anime.

“Noah loves the crowd,” Jo Brown, a physio and performance coach who has been working with Lyles, told CNN Sport. “That’s easy for him at the big events. He doesn’t like the smaller meets as much; he likes a big crowd.

“We had a conversation once. I was like, ‘Oh, what music did you put on to help you fire up?’ And he goes, ‘I don’t actually perform well fired up, I perform best when I’m happy. Music can be a really big part of the build-up and the planning of the day and what songs you have on your playlist.’”

According to Brown, Lyles might listen to The Bee Gees – known for their upbeat dance hits “Night Fever” and “Stayin’ Alive” – before a race. Other athletes, she’s noticed, prefer a different tactic.

“Some people, you’ll see them getting really fired up, getting really aggressive,” said Brown. “They’ll beat their chest and they want to bring anger – anger is that emotion that they essentially bring to the fight.

“Their self-talk in their head might be something about ‘get in the fight,’ or whatever it is that they need to do that is a trigger for them.”

The worst pressure ever: Welcome to the Olympic 100-meter final, the most intimidating start line in sports | CNN (5)

Noah Lyles reveals a Yu-Gi-Oh! card at the US Olympic trials.

Having worked with elite athletes across several sports, Brown is acutely aware of the way in which pressure can influence performance. With sprinters, she would guide them through visualizations in the days before a race, laying out how they want to think and feel while coiled up in the starting blocks.

“In the 100 meters, the body, yes, we need to have it primed and we go through specific activation strategies. … But I think it’s actually more about what the mind can do to really stay in the race in those first few meters,” said Brown.

“To execute your best performance, my question to anyone is: Have you done everything in your power to execute your best performance in the moment today? And if you’re standing behind the blocks in the Olympic Games and you can answer that question and go, ‘Yes, I’ve done everything in my power to execute my best performance today,’ all you have to do is do at that point.

“The 100 meters, 100% it’s a doing race. … The whole idea with visualization is that, by the time you actually go to execute the race, you’ve already done all the work mentally and physically. At that point, you don’t have to think, you have to do.”

Although Lyles is the favorite to win the men’s 100m final on Sunday, a handful of runners – Jamaican duo Kishane Thompson and Oblique Seville, as well as Kenyan Ferdinand Omanyala – have run similar times to the reigning world champion this year.

His teammate Sha’Carri Richardson has the fastest women’s time this year and will face competition from Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who will end her decorated career after the Olympics.

But the 100m is not always a straightforward event to predict. For Bailey, both the men’s and women’s races are “wide open” this year, especially in the high-pressure environment of an Olympic final.

“It’s going to be the person who’s most prepared mentally, physically and psychologically,” he said. “In every single way, you have to be the most disciplined human being in that field.”

The worst pressure ever: Welcome to the Olympic 100-meter final, the most intimidating start line in sports | CNN (2024)

FAQs

Who's in the men's 100m final? ›

Lyles came from behind to win a dramatic 100m final on Sunday night, winning gold by 0.005s, and when he trailed Letsile Tebogo and Kenny Bednarek coming into the final bend at the Stade de France it looked as if he could repeat the trick.

Which of these sprinters won the Olympic 100 Metres gold medal first? ›

Olympic 100m winners list
GamesGoldBronze
Athens 1896Thomas Burke (USA)Francis Lane (USA) / Alajos Szokolyi (Hungary)
Paris 1900Frank Jarvis (USA)Stan Rowley (Australia)
St Louis 1904Archie Hahn (USA)William Hogenson (USA)
London 1908Reggie Walker (South Africa)Robert Kerr (Canada)
26 more rows
Aug 4, 2024

Who won the women's 100m sprint in the 1996 Olympics? ›

Gail Devers edges out Merlene Ottey in a thrilling photo finish Olympic 100m final at Atlanta 1996 that could barely have been any closer.

Who is the fastest man ever to 100m? ›

The men's world record is 9.58 seconds, set by Jamaica's Usain Bolt in 2009, while the women's world record is 10.49 seconds, set by American Florence Griffith-Joyner in 1988.

How fast did Usain Bolt run 100m in mph? ›

The fastest recorded human foot speed is by Usain Bolt of Jamaica. He accomplished this feat during his world record-smashing 9.58-second 100-meter race in Berlin, Germany in 2009. Bolt was clocked at 44.72 km/h — which is 27.8 mph.

Who holds the current record for 100m? ›

The men's record is held by Usain Bolt, with his 2009 time of 9.58 seconds. So what would it look like if some of the fastest runners in the 100m race's history ran against each other, and how do Australia's speediest athletes compare?

Who won the 100m sprint in the last Olympics? ›

Lyles won 100m gold by five-thousandths of a second from Jamaica's Kishane Thompson in a dramatic photo finish on Sunday.

What is the qualifying time for the men's 100m dash? ›

Qualifying Standards
Men's StandardMen's Field Size & RoundsEvent
Men's Standard10.05* #Men's Field Size & Rounds(32-3)Event100m
Men's Standard20.24* #Men's Field Size & Rounds(30-3)Event200m
Men's Standard45.20*Men's Field Size & Rounds(28-3)Event400m
Men's Standard1:46.25Men's Field Size & Rounds(32-3)Event800m
18 more rows

Who is the oldest man to win the 100m Olympics? ›

The oldest man to win an Olympic 100m title, Linford Christie claimed the 1992 title in Barcelona aged 32. In all he competed in three Olympic Games.

When was the last time a white person won 100m? ›

The most recent white athlete to win the 100m sprint was Yulia Nestsiarenka of Belarus in 2004. The most recent white male athlete was Scottish Allan Wells (running for Great Britain) in the 1980 Olympics (which was boycotted by the USA). There were multiple other winners before that as well.

Is a 12 flat 100 good? ›

A 12-second 100m sprint is considered quite fast and impressive for most recreational runners and athletes. It's around the speed range seen in competitive track and field events. Achieving this time typically requires a combination of good sprinting technique, strength, and conditioning.

Who is the greatest 100m female sprinter of all time? ›

Florence Griffith-Joyner (10.49 seconds)

American sprinter Florence Griffith-Joyner registered a world record in women's 100m race after she clocked 10.49 seconds at the US Olympic Trials in July 1988. Joyner surpassed Evelyn Ashford's record of 10.79 seconds. Even after 35 years, Joyner's record remains unbroken.

Who holds the women's record for the 100m sprint? ›

100m World Record - Florence Griffith-Joyner - 10.49

Records! Records!

Who won the 1972 Olympic 100m? ›

Valeriy Borzov wins gold in the 100m sprint final at Munich 1972 after Americans Eddie Hart and Rey Robinson miss their heats.

Is Noah Lyles faster than Usain Bolt? ›

Noah Lyles became the “world's fastest man” when he won the 100 meters at the Paris Olympics on Sunday. But the American sprinter's time of 9.79 seconds fell short of the world record of 9.58 set by Usain Bolt of Jamaica 15 years ago.

Was Jesse Owens faster than Usain Bolt? ›

He was the world record holder in the men's 100-meter dash and his record of 10.3 seconds was not broken for more than 80 years. In 1936, when Jesse Owens broke the world record, he could run 21.7 miles per hour. During the 2009 world championships, a runner from Jamaica, Usain Bolt, ran the 100-meter dash in 9.572.

What is the 100m gold time? ›

In a photo finish now seared into Olympic history, Noah Lyles backed up his talk: he's the world's fastest man. Lyles edged past Jamaican Kishane Thompson to win his first Olympic gold medal in a lifetime-best 9.784 seconds.

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