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 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.