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1987 World Championships in Athletics Rome, Italy

1987 2nd IAAF World Championships - Rome - Men's 100m

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Details: Parent Category: World Championships in Athletics; Category: 1987 World Championships in Athletics Rome, Italy; Last Updated: 12 July 2020; Hits: 301

Host City: Rome, Italy

Format: First round (First 4 & 4 fastest to second round) (Aug 29)

Dates: August 28 – September 6, 1987

Format: Second round (First 3 & 4 fastest to semi-finals) (Aug 29)

Nations participating: 159

Format: Semi-finals (First 4 to final) (Aug 30)

Athletes participating: 1451

Main venue: Stadio Olimpico

Overview by IAAF

Rome was to see the first meeting of the year of the world’s two most exciting athletes, defending champion Lewis versus the World Indoor Champion Johnson. The Canadian had beaten the American 3-0 in 1986, but Lewis wasted no time in confirming his form by registering the fastest-ever first round clocking, 10.05. He was even quicker in the semis. Johnson also won his semi with an impressive start and pickup. Johnson and Lewis were drawn next to one another in the final. With his unusually fast start, Canadian gained an instant metre’s lead over Lewis, and he increased this by half as much again at halfway. None of the other finalists was near. It soon became clear that even Lewis’s renowned finish would make little impression on the Johnson, who stopped the stadium clock at a stunning 9.84. This was corrected to 9.83, a full one tenth quicker than the previous world record which Lewis equalled. Detailed analysis of the race showed that Johnson’s start made the difference.

His reaction time (originally reported as 0.129 but actually 0.109) was 0.085 quicker than that of Lewis, and he reached halfway in 5.53 (Lewis 5.64). The American made up just 0.01 in the second 50m. Johnson took 46.2 strides during the race compared with 44.6 by Lewis. “I did not do what I had to do out of the blocks,” said Lewis immediately after the race. “Ben is a great runner. He set a world record and ran a great race. He deserved to win today.” Others were less generous with their comments. Johnson’s feat provoked rumours of drug-taking for the remainder of the World Championships. In 1988, Johnson crossed the line first at the Olympic Games in 9.79, with Lewis again in second place. Three days later it was announced that he had tested positive for stanozolol, an anabolic steroid. The scandal led the Canadian Federal Government to establish the (Dubin) Commission of Inquiry into the widespread use of performance-enhancing substances. Throughout 1989, the inquiry heard testimonies from Johnson and others. The Canadian admitted that he had used steroids, testosterone and human growth hormone since 1981, but had not initially realised they were banned substances. That was in June 1989, then at the September IAAF Congress it was agreed that Johnson should lose his world title and world record from Rome 1987. Lewis therefore retained his title from Helsinki and effectively equalled the world record of the time.

These are the official results of the Men's 100 metres event at the 1987 IAAF World Championships in Rome, Italy. There were a total number of 56 participating athletes, with seven qualifying heats and the final held on Sunday 30 August 1987.

Ben Johnson of Canada initially won the final in a world record time of 9.83 seconds, but he was disqualified by the IAAF on 30 September 1989 after he admitted to the use of performance-enhancing drugs between 1981 and 1988.

Records

Existing records at the start of the event.

World Record	Calvin Smith (USA)	9.93	Colorado Springs, USA	July 3, 1983
Championship Record	Carl Lewis (USA)	10.07	Helsinki, Finland	August 8, 1983

	100m			*30 August*	1.0
	Final
1	Carl Lewis	USA	1 Jul 61	9.93
2	Ray Stewart	JAM	18 Mar 65	10.08
3	Linford Christie	GBR	2 Apr 60	10.14
4	Attila Kovács	HUN	2 Sep 60	10.20
5	Viktor Bryzgin	URS	22 Aug 62	10.25
6	Lee McRae	USA	23 Jan 66	10.34
7	Pierfrancesco Pavoni	ITA	21 Feb 63	16.23
	Ben Johnson	CAN	30 Dec 61	DQ 32.2.b 9.83
	Semifinals			*30 August*
	Heat 1				-0.3
2	Linford Christie	GBR		10,25
3	Pierfrancesco Pavoni	ITA		10,33
4	Lee McRae	USA		10,37
5	Andreas Berger	AUT		10,37
6	Eric Akogyiram	GHA		10,40
7	Andrew Smith	JAM		10,41
8	Aleksandr Yevgenyev	URS		10,51
1	Ben Johnson	CAN		10,15		DQ
	Heat 2				-1.3

1	Carl Lewis	USA		10,03
2	Raymond Stewart	JAM		10,12
3	Attila Kovacs	HUN		10,22
4	Viktor Bryzgin	URS		10,23
5	Andres Simon	CUB		10,24
6	Chidi Imoh	NGR		10,29
7	Mike McFarlane	GBR		10,38
8	Valentin Atanasov	BUL		10,53
	Quarterfinals			*29 August*
	Heat 1				-2.9
1	Carl Lewis	USA		10,38
2	Linford Christie	GBR		10,40
3	Attila Kovacs	HUN		10,52
4	Robson Caetano Da Silva	BRA		10,53
5	Christian Haas	FRG		10,65
6	Ronald Desruelles	BEL		10,69
7	Ricardo Chacon	CUB		10,70
8	Vladimir Muravyov	URS		10,80
	Heat 2				-1.5
1	Viktor Bryzgin	URS		10,29
2	Andreas Berger	AUT		10,35
3	Mike McFarlane	GBR		10,35
4	Max Moriniere	FRA		10,39
5	Charles-Louis Seck	SEN		10,43
6	Desai Williams	CAN		10,43
7	Hsin-Fu Cheng	TPE		10,53
8	Harouna Pale	BKF		10,67
	Heat 3				-0.1
1	Chidi Imoh	NGR		10,20
2	Lee McRae	USA		10,21
3	Pierfrancesco Pavoni	ITA		10,28
4	Eric Akogyiram	GHA		10,31
5	Valentin Atanasov	BUL		10,37
6	Hiroki Fuwa	JPN		10,38
7	Achmed De Kom	NED		10,45
8	Joilto Bonfim	BRA		10,46
	Heat 4				-0.4
1	Raymond Stewart	JAM		10,14
3	Andres Simon	CUB		10,23
4	Aleksandr Yevgenyev	URS		10,37
5	Andrew Smith	JAM		10,37
6	Javier Arques	ESP		10,46
7	Mustapha Kamel Selmi	ALG		10,48
8	Patrick Nwankwo	NGR		10,49
2	Ben Johnson	CAN		10,14		DQ
	Heats			*29 August*
	Heat 1				1.8
1	Raymond Stewart	JAM		10,23
2	Ronald Desruelles	BEL		10,39
3	Mike McFarlane	GBR		10,39
4	Hsin-Fu Cheng	TPE		10,41
5	Mark Witherspoon	USA		10,65
6	Leandro Penalver	CUB		10,65
7	Earl Hazel	STK		10,96
8	Robert Loua	GUI		11,09
	Heat 2				1.3
1	Max Moriniere	FRA		10,29
2	Aleksandr Yevgenyev	URS		10,33
3	Andres Simon	CUB		10,34
4	Lee McRae	USA		10,34
5	Christian Haas	FRG		10,39
6	Oussen Issa Allassane	BEN		10,68
7	Ziad Hanna	LIB		11,04
8	Amawi Mohd Eid Ismail	PAL		11,56
	Heat 3				0.4
1	Robson Caetano Da Silva	BRA		10,42
2	Achmed De Kom	NED		10,49
3	Vladimir Muravyov	URS		10,53
4	Harouna Pale	BKF		10,68
5	Theophile Nkounkou	CGO		10,89
-	Allan Wells	GBR		DNS
-	Greg Barnes	ISV		DNS
-	Youssouf Ali	COM		DNS
	Heat 4				1.6
1	Pierfrancesco Pavoni	ITA		10,24
2	Viktor Bryzgin	URS		10,25
3	Linford Christie	GBR		10,29
4	Hiroki Fuwa	JPN		10,43
5	Tao Li	CHN		10,52
6	Julien Thode	AHO		10,69
7	Oscar Fernandez	PER		11,04
8	Alan Zammit	MLT		11,32
	Heat 5				1.5
2	Andrew Smith	JAM		10,39
3	Javier Arques	ESP		10,41
4	Charles-Louis Seck	SEN		10,43
5	Patrick Nwankwo	NGR		10,43
6	Mustapha Kamel Selmi	ALG		10,48
7	Rodney Cox	TKS		11,18
8	Gilbert Bessi	MON		11,77
1	Ben Johnson	CAN		10,24		DQ
	Heat 6				1.5
1	Carl Lewis	USA		10,05
2	Attila Kovacs	HUN		10,26
3	Valentin Atanasov	BUL		10,39
4	Ricardo Chacon	CUB		10,43
5	Dirk Schweisfurth	FRG		10,50
6	Arnaldo Abrantes	POR		10,64
7	Rick Hiram	NAU		11,37
-	Trevor Davis	ANG		DNS
	Heat 7				2.5
1	Chidi Imoh	NGR		10,22
2	Andreas Berger	AUT		10,22
3	Desai Williams	CAN		10,30
4	Eric Akogyiram	GHA		10,37
5	Joilto Bonfim	BRA		10,41
6	Jerome Jeremiah	VAN		10,81
7	Ibrahim Mohamed-Waheed	MLD		11,48
-	Takale Tuna	PNG		DNS

Startlist

Heat 1 29 AUG 1987

ATHLETE	COUNTRY	PB	SB 1987
Hsin-Fu Cheng	TPE
Ronald Desruelles	BEL
Earl Hazel	SKN
Robert Loua	GUI
Mike McFarlane	GBR
Leandro Peñalver	CUB	10.06
Raymond Stewart	JAM	10.19
Mark Witherspoon	USA	10.04	10.04

Heat 2 29 AUG 1987

ATHLETE	COUNTRY	PB	SB 1987
Issa Allassane Oussen	BEN
Christian Haas	FRG	10.16
Ziad Hanna	LBN
Mohd Eid Ismail Amawi	PLE
Lee McRae	USA	10.07	10.07
Max Moriniére	FRA	10.09	10.09
Andrés Simón	CUB	10.06	10.06
Aleksandr Yevgenyev	URS

Heat 3 29 AUG 1987

ATHLETE	COUNTRY	PB	SB 1987
Youssouf Ali	COM
Greg Barnes	ISV
Robson da Silva	BRA	10.02	10.20
Achmed De Kom	NED
Vladimir Muravyov	URS
Théophile Nkounkou	CGO	10.28
Harouna Palé	BUR	10.42
Allan Wells	GBR	10.11

Heat 4 29 AUG 1987

ATHLETE	COUNTRY	PB
Viktor Bryzgin	URS	10.33
Linford Christie	GBR
Oscar Fernandez	PER	10.59
Hiroki Fuwa	JPN
Tao Li	CHN	10.26
Pierfrancesco Pavoni	ITA	10.22
Julien Thode	AHO
Alan Zammit	MLT	11.25

Heat 5 29 AUG 1987

ATHLETE	COUNTRY	PB	SB 1987
José Javier Arqués	ESP	10.21
Gilbert Bessi	MON
Rodney Cox	TKS
Ben Johnson	CAN	10.40
Patrick Nwankwo	NGR
Charles-Louis Seck	SEN	10.19
Mustapha Kamel Selmi	ALG	10.34	10.34
Andrew Smith	JAM

Heat 6 29 AUG 1987

ATHLETE	COUNTRY	PB	SB 1987
Arnaldo Abrantes	POR	10.44
Valentin Atanasov	BUL	10.63
Ricardo Chacon	CUB
Trevor Davis	AIA	11.53
Rick Hiram	NRU
Attila Kovács	HUN	10.09	10.09
Carl Lewis	USA	9.97
Dirk Schweisfurth	FRG

Heat 7 29 AUG 1987

ATHLETE	COUNTRY	PB
Eric Akogyiram	GHA
Andreas Berger	AUT
Joilto Bonfim	BRA
Chidi Imoh	NGR	10.00
Jerome Jeremiah	VAN	10.66
Ibrahim Mohamed-Waheed	MDV
Takale Tuna	PNG
Desai Williams	CAN	10.31