Athletics at the 1992 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metres Athletics at the 1992 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metres These are the official results of the men's 100 metres event at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. There were a total number of 81 participating athletes, with ten qualifying heats (three qualified plus two fastest losers). The gold medal was won by Great Britain's Linford Christie, who had originally won the bronze medal in the Athletics at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metres in 1988 but was elevated to silver following the disqualification of gold medalist Ben Johnson for using performance-enhancing drugs. Silver went to Namibia's
100 metres at the Olympics the only one within the top ten that did not feature an American winner). The high-profile nature of 100 m Olympic finals in some countries has served to encourage participation in sport among the wider public, particularly in short sprinting. Successive generations of athletes cite previous 100 m Olympic champions as the reason for their entering the sport. The history of the event has had particular impact for African-American athletes: Jesse Owens' Olympic 100 m gold was an early example of a black American achieving success on an international stage while Wilma Rudolph's 1960 win inspired many black American women.