The answer to this is now known, but many sports fans would have guessed it in advance: It was Usain Bolt. Halfway through the race, Bolt pulled away from his competitors, making it look effortless. He finished in 9.63 seconds; this beat the previous Olympic record, which was set by Bolt himself in Beijing in 2008. It was also his own second-fastest time ever (his fastest time so far is 9.58 seconds). This was Bolt's second gold medal for this event; he is the only sprinter apart from Carl Lewis to win gold for it twice. Bolt also holds the world record for the 200 metres.

The silver medal was won by fellow Jamican Yohan Blake with a time of 9.75 seconds, and bronze went to American Justin Gatlin at 9.79.

His next race is in Zurich at the 800 metres, where he will race against the reigning world champion David Rudicha.