Gold medal winners in the 100-meter dash

American Thomas Burke was the first ever Olympic gold medalist to win the 100 meters. A Boston University law student, Burke also took home the gold in the 400 at the very first Olympic Games in Athens in 1896.

A fantastic all-around track and field athlete, Frank Jarvis took home the second ever gold medal in 100 at the Olympics in Paris in 1900. Jarvis upset fellow American Arthur Duffy to take home the gold.

American sprinter Archie Hahn dominated track and field at the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis. Along with winning the 100, Hahn also won gold in the 60 and 200. After his running career came to an end, Hahn became an influential coach and author on the sport.

Reggie Walker became the first non-American to win the 100-meter dash at the 1908 Olympics in London. The South African sprinter was not considered a favorite in the event, but Walker was just able to edge out American sprinter William W. May in the event, finishing with a time of 10.8 seconds.

Although he began his career in track and field as a hurdler, Ralph Craig proved he was a world-class athlete at the 1912 Olympics in Sweden when he won gold in both the 100 and 200. Born in Detroit, Craig was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2010.

A four-time Olympic medalist, American Charlie Paddock won his first gold medal in the 100 at the 1920 Games in Antwerp. After his running career, Paddock joined the Armed Forces during WWII and died in a plane crash in Alaska while serving in 1943.

The sprinter whom the Academy Award-winning film Chariots of Fire is largely based off of, Harold Abrahams won the gold medal in the 100-meter dash at the 1924 Olympics in Paris for Great Britain. Abrahams' successful track and field career would come to a sudden end, however, the following year in 1925 when he suffered a broken leg while long-jumping. Abrahams then went on to become a track and field commentator for the BBC for 40 years.

Percy Williams became the first Canadian athlete to win the 100-meter dash at the Olympics in 1928. Born in Vancouver, Williams also won the 200-meter dash at the games that year in Amsterdam as well.

For the first time, the 1928 Olympics included track and field competitions for women. American Betty Robinson became the first 100 winner, doing so in record time. Although Robinson was unable to compete at the 1932 Olympics due to injuries sustained in a plane crash, she was able to participate in the 1936 Games, helping the United States win a bronze medal in the 4x100 relay.

Nicknamed the “Midnight Express,” sprinter Eddie Tolan set world records in the 100 and 200 in the early 1930s. Tolan’s finest moment as a sprinter came at the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, when he won the gold in both events. Tolan was also a football player at the University of Michigan.

Stanisława Walasiewicz became the second woman to win the 100 at the 1932 Games. Representing Poland, Walasiewicz nearly defended her title four years later the 1936 Olympics but had to settle for a silver medal.

One of most famous and beloved Olympians ever, American Jesse Owens' four gold medal wins at the 1936 Games in Berlin have become a legendary tale. So upset that a non-Aryan could possibly achieve such amazing accomplishments (and on his home soil no less) German Chancellor Adolph Hitler refused shake Owens’ hand after he won his gold medals. Standing square in the face of the epicenter of Hitler’s heinous propaganda against Jews and other races, Owens made a statement to the world at the 1936 Games that race, religion or creed are irrelevant when it comes to athletic achievement.

Although the drama surrounding Jesse Owens was the main draw of the 1936 Olympics, it shouldn’t be forgotten that Helen Stephens also won the 100 for the United States on the women’s side. Stephens also anchored the Americans' gold medal win in the 4x100 relay over the Germans that summer.

The events of WWII forced the Olympics to be put aside for 12 years, but upon the games' return in 1948, another American took home gold in the 100-meter dash. Harrison Dillard won the event and also led the United States to an additional gold medal victory in the 4x100 relay at the 1948 Games in London. Dillard would win another two gold medals four years later in Helsinki and is the only male Olympian to win gold medals in both sprinting and hurdling events.

Dutch sprinter Fanny Blankers-Koen was in a class of her own at the 1948 Olympics. Blankers-Koen won gold in the 100, 200, 80 hurdles, and 4x100 relay events for the Netherlands. These feats were made all the more impressive when you thrown in the fact that Blankers-Koen won her gold medals as a 30-year-old mother of two.

Born in Queens, Lindy Remigino earned the United States another gold medal in 100-meter dash at the 1952 Games in Helsinki. After his running career ended, Remigino became one of the most successful high school track and field coaches in the continental United States.

Marjorie Jackson became the first woman from Australia to win gold in the 100 and 200 when she did so in world-record times at the 1952 Games. After her athletic career came to an end, Jackson would become the 33rd governor of South Australia, an office she held form 2001 to 2007.

American sprinter Bobby Morrow won a total of three gold medals at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne. Born in the small city of Harlingen, Texas, Morrow’s performance in the 200-meter dash set a then-world record. Morrow is universally considered the most dominant sprinter of the 1950s.

Australian Betty Cuthbert won three gold medals in front of fans of her home country at the 1956 Melbourne Games. The “Golden Girl” of Australia, she became a national hero for her performances, and Cuthbert was one of the bearers of the Olympic torch at the opening ceremony of the 2000 Olympics when the games returned to Australia in Sydney.

German-born sprinter Armin Hary became the first non-American runner to win gold in the 100-meter dash since Percy Williams at the 1960 Olympics in Rome. Hary won the even in 10.2 seconds and added another gold medal in the 4x100 relay.

While the American men failed to win gold in 100, on the women’s side, Wilma Rudolph became the first American to finish first in the event since Helen Stephens did so in 1936. Nicknamed “The Tornado,” Rudolph won three gold medals in total at the 1960 Games in Rome.

Former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver “Bullet” Bob Hayes had that nickname for good reason. Before Hayes ever played an NFL game, he won gold in the 100 at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, setting a then-world record of 10.06 seconds. Hayes added a second gold medal victory in the 4x100 relay and then set his sights on a successful pro football career in which he was a two-time First-Team All-Pro for the Cowboys.

Born in Griffin, Ga., Wyomia Tyus is one of greatest female sprinters of all time. At just 19 years of age, Tyus won gold in the 100 at the 1964 Games and would have a chance to defend her throne four years later.

American sprinter Jim Hines' biggest claim to fame is that he is the first man to break the 10-second mark in the 100-meter dash. Hines, who won gold in the event at the 1968 Games in Mexico City, also helped the United States set a world-record time in the gold medal victory in the 4x100 relay that summer.

At the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, Wyomia Tyus became the first male or female Olympic athlete to win back-to-back gold medals in the 100-meter dash. Tyus also won gold in the 4x100 relay in Mexico City and was one of 11 athletes to carry the Olympic flag during the opening ceremony of the 1984 Games in Los Angeles.

Although the 1972 Olympics are remembered by most for the tragedy that befell Israel’s Olympic team, the world also took notice when Valeriy Borzov of the Soviet Union won gold in the 100-meter dash. Borzov won an event that athletes from the United States had historically dominated and did so in the midst of the Cold War.

Representing East Germany, Renate Stecher won gold in 100-meter dash at the 1972 Olympics in Munich. Stecher also won gold in the 200 and went on to win three more Olympic medals four years later in Montreal.

Hasely Crawford stunned Olympic audiences when the sprinter from the tiny country of Trinidad and Tobago won gold in the 100-meter dash as the 1976 Games in Montreal. The first gold medal winner in the event from a Caribbean country, Crawford won the event by a mere 0.02 seconds over Don Quarrie of Jamaica.

West German sprinter Annegret Richter won three medals at the 1976 Olympics, including gold in the 100-meter dash. Richter won the event in an upset against the defending gold medalist Renate Stecher.

Allan Wells became just the second British sprinter to win gold in the 100-meter dash at the 1980 Games in Moscow. That being said, the competition was a bit watered down, as 65 countries, including the United States, boycotted the games due to the Soviet war in Afghanistan.

Representing the USSR, Lyudmila Kondratyeva won gold in the 100 in front of fans of her native country at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow.  Kondratyeva won the event by just a tenth of a second over East German sprinter Marlies Gohr.

American sprinter Carl Lewis emerged as one of the most prolific Olympians of the 20th century at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. Not only did Lewis win gold in the 100-meter dash, but he also won the 200, 4x100 relay and the long jump competitions. Even after all of these incredible achievements, Lewis had his sights set on defending his gold medal victories four years later in Seoul.

Winning the event in an Olympic-record 10.97 seconds, Evelyn Ashford reaffirmed the United States' dominance in the 100 at the 1984 Olympics. Ashford, who won gold in the 4x100 relay as well, was the first woman to run the 100-meter dash in under 11 seconds.

After blowing away his competition at the 1984 Olympics, Carl Lewis did exactly the same at the 1988 Games. Lewis again won the 100-meter dash and took home the gold in the long jump. He ended his storied track and field career with an incredible nine Olympic gold medals.

On the women’s side of the 1988 Games in Seoul, American sprinter Florence Griffith-Joyner was able to win three gold medals. Griffith-Joyner won gold in the 100, 200 and 4x100 relay. “Flo-Jo” still holds the world record for fastest time in the 200.

At the 1992 Games in Barcelona, Linford Christie became the third British sprinter to win the 100-meter dash. Christie, who won silver in the event at the 1988 Games, became the oldest winner in the event’s history, as he was 32 years old at the time.

After overcoming Grave's disease (an autoimmune disease that nearly caused her legs to be amputated), American sprinter Gail Devers won the 100-meter dash at the 1992 Olympics. Devers, who was born in Seattle, would then attempt to defend her Olympic crown four years later in Atlanta.

Canadian sprinter Donovan Bailey set a then-world record in the 100 dash at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, finishing the event in 9.84 seconds. It would be the finest moment of Bailey’s track and field career, as an injury to his Achilles tendon a year later essentially ended his running career.

After winning gold in the 100, Gail Devers became the first female sprinter since Wyomia Tyus to successfully retain her gold medal in the event. In a photo finish, Devers was judged to have just barely finished in front of Jamaican sprinter Merlene Ottey to capture her second gold medal.

One of the most prolific sprinters of his era, Maurice Greene won the 100-meter dash at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney for the United States. Greene, who still remains the world-record holder in the 60-meter dash, would go on to win two more Olympics medals at the 2004 Games in Athens.

Although American sprinter Marion Jones won the 100-meter dash at the 2000 Olympics, she had her gold medal stripped from her after it was revealed she was part of a massive doping scandal. As of right now, the International Olympic Committee does not list a gold medal winner in the women’s 100-meter dash from the 2000 Olympics.

Edging out defending champion Maurice Greene, a 22-year-old Justin Gatlin won the 100-meter dash at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Since then, however, Gatlin’s career has been a whirlwind. He was banned from all competitions for four years in 2007 after a doping violation but has managed to make a successful return to the sport. Gatlin will compete once again at the Olympics this month in Rio.

At the 2004 Games, Yulia Nestsiarenka became the first and only woman from Belarus to take home gold in the 100. It was Nestsiarenka's lone Olympic medal.

With his record-breaking gold medal-winning performance in the 100-meter dash at the 2008 Olympics, Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt became one of the most famous men on the planet. It wasn’t just that Bolt won the event; it was the fact that he did it with such ease that made him a star. Bolt would break his own world record in the event just a year later.

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce became the first Jamaican-born woman to win the 100-meter dash at the 2008 Olympics. Fraser-Pryce’s accomplishment was made all the more impressive by the fact that she was just 21 years old at the time.

After trouncing his competition in 2008, Usain Bolt successfully repeated as gold medal winner in the 100-meter dash at the 2012 Olympics in London. Bolt, who as of now is the fastest man in recorded human history, will look for the first ever three-peat in the event this summer in Rio.

Another gold medal win the 100-meter dash in 2012 from Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce affirmed the country of Jamaica’s dominance in track and field. Fraser-Pryce, who is already one of the greatest female runners of all time, could very well win a third consecutive gold medal in the 100 in Rio.