Athletics at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metres the bronze. For Fredericks and Boldon, this was the second event where they both medaled behind a world record setting run; Fredericks took silver and Boldon bronze in the 200 metre event where Michael Johnson ran 19.32 to complete his Olympic goal of winning gold in the 200m and 400m events. This marked the first time since 1976 that no American runner medaled in the 100 metres, with 1992 bronze medalist Dennis Mitchell placing fourth behind Boldon. Defending gold medalist Linford Christie of Great Britain advanced to the final but was disqualified after false starting twice. This was his last
100 metres at the Olympics 35 – which is roughly contiguous with the period of peak physical fitness in humans. Consequently, the vast majority of participants in the Olympic 100 m fall within this age range. As of 2020, the qualification rules prohibit athletes younger than 16 at the end of the year of the Games. The record for the youngest athlete to participate in the Olympic 100 m is held by Katura Marae, who was 14 when she represented Vanuatu at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Merlene Ottey holds the records for both the oldest participant and the oldest medallist, having won bronze at age