Which speed king will take the 100m crown from Usain Bolt at Tokyo Olympics?

Without Bolt, Christian Coleman banned, and Justin Gatlin turning 39, no one has any real clue who will earn the mantle of world’s fastest man. Here are the leading contenders...

Thu, 11 Feb, 2021 - 13:21

Cathal Dennehy

Who’s the fastest man in the world? Right now that’s a complicated question, one with three or more legitimate answers.

You could say Usain Bolt but, more than three years into his retirement, one filled with the fruits of his many achievements, it’s safe to say the Jamaican couldn’t come within an ass’s roar of a 9.58-second 100 metres these days.

Bolt had nothing left to prove when walking away in 2017 and, despite being young enough and more than gifted enough to still challenge for a medal in Tokyo, the 34-year-old has no intention to come out of retirement and chase a fourth successive Olympic 100m title.

You could say Christian Coleman, the 60m world record holder and the reigning world champion over 100m, but the American is banned from the sport until May 2022 after missing three drug tests in a 12-month period.

Coleman would be raging-hot favourite for the men’s 100m title in Tokyo but instead of being where he was supposed to be when drug testers came calling in December 2019, he went shopping, picking up groceries at Walmart and stopping for food at Chipotle, a decision that will likely cost him millions.

Justin Gatlin turned 39 this week and, even with his history of dabbling in the dark arts (doping), it’s hard to see how the 2017 world champion can out-run Father Time for much longer.

Which leaves the blue riband event of the Olympics in a strange place. Less than six months out from the Games, no one has any real clue who will earn the mantle of world’s fastest man. No one even knows who’s favourite.

One thing we can say with confidence: it will be a cleaner Olympic final. Even with the development of hyper-speed track surfaces and new-age, carbon-plated spikes, it’s highly unlikely we’ll see anyone get near Bolt’s world record of 9.58 in Tokyo, or indeed his Olympic record of 9.63.

In recent years, the Athletics Integrity Unit has taken a scorched-earth policy to anti-doping, with no name too big to fall and the loopholes in the whereabouts system — for years exploited by those up to no good — now being slammed shut.

The steroidal module — a longitudinal method of tracking steroid markers in athletes’ urine — has also helped flag for target testing those using the doping sprinter’s drug of choice: testosterone.

The Olympic 100m final won’t be fully clean, in all likelihood, but it should be a whole lot cleaner than in times past, and the trade-off for that is that we, the public, might have to accept a more mediocre winning time.

Who will hit the line in front? Right now it’s anyone’s guess, but these four athletes look to stand the best chance.

Michael Norman (USA)

For years the American has been known as a 200m-400m athlete, but that was exactly what Usain Bolt also was until, in 2008, he convinced his coach to let him give the 100m a shot. Norman ran one race last year and it opened everyone’s eyes to his potential at the short sprint, clocking 9.86 at a nothing meeting in Texas.

There is a chance he won’t target the 100m in Tokyo but in October, shortly after Coleman’s ban was announced, Norman posted a video of himself doing block starts with the caption “100m?” and this week the 23-year-old will open his season over 400m. There will never be another Bolt, but Norman’s range, his size, his stride length, looks the next best thing.

Noah Lyles (USA)

The reigning world champion over 200m, Lyles is also damn good over 100m and has a personal best of 9.86 seconds.

He’ll turn 24 the week before the Games begin and the likeable American appears capable of winning a medal in both sprints. If he makes the 100m final, he’ll be one of the slowest to halfway but by the far the fastest coming home.

Andre De Grasse (Canada)

A bronze medallist behind Bolt over 100m at the Rio Olympics, and runner-up to him over 200m, De Grasse is another whose progress stalled through injury in the years that followed.

In 2019 he bounced back to win 100m bronze at the World Championships in a PB of 9.90 and he has the raw ability to get to 9.80 or below — the time it will probably take to win gold.

Trayvon Bromell (USA)

The American was just 20 when winning bronze behind Bolt and Gatlin at the 2015 World Championships and after winning the world indoor 60m title the following year, he seemed primed to take over as sprint king. But an Achilles injury at the 2016 Olympics and multiple surgeries soon saw his career hanging by a thread.

Bromell eventually found his way back and clocked 9.90 for 100m last year, and a 6.48 60m last month suggests he’ll be right there when it matters in Tokyo.