| Final wind +1.0m/s | time | L | React. | | 1. Carl Lewis |  USA | 9.93s | 5 | 0.196 | | 2. Raymond Stewart |  JAM | 10.08s | | 0.235 | | 3. Linford Christie |  GBR | 10.14s | | 0.135 | | 4. Attila Kovacs |  HUN | 10.20s | | 0.201 | | 5. Viktor Bryzgin |  URS | 10.25s | | 0.139 | | 6. Lee McRae | USA | 10.34s | | 0.225 | | 7. Pierfrancesco Pavoni |  ITA | 16.23s | | 0.163 | | DQ.Ben Johnson |  CAN | 9.83s | 4 | 0.109 |
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Carl Lewis, now the Olympic Champion, had been regarded as the world’s number one between 1981 and 1985. Ben Johnson took over in 1986, beating Lewis 3-0. The Canadian had already won the world indoor title in 1987 and clocked 9.95 at sea level. Rome was to see the first meeting of the year of the world’s two most exciting athletes.
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. His time was slower but his start and pickup were impressive.
Johnson and Lewis were drawn in lanes 4 and 5 in the final. A paralysingly fast start by the Canadian gave him 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 Canadian, 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 reac-tion 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.
“I did not do what I had to do out of the blocks,” said Lewis imme-diately 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. Regretably, all these were confirmed, on admission by the Canadian in 1989. One year earlier, he had been disqualified for failing a doping control test at the Seoul Olympic Games. The IAAF Council acted to annul Johnson’s world record and strip him of his Rome gold, which went to Lewis, who thus retained his title. Lewis’s time therefore effectively equalled the world record of the time but was never ratified as such by the IAAF.
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| | | First 4 from each Semi-Final advanced to Final. |
| Semi 1 wind -0.3m/s | time | | 1. Ben Johnson | CAN | 10.15s | | 2. Linford Christie | GBR | 10.25s | | 3. Pierfrancesco Pavoni | ITA | 10.33s | | 4. Lee McRae | USA | 10.37s | | 5. Andreas Berger |  AUT | 10.37s | | 6. Eric Akogyiram |  GHA | 10.40s | | 7. Andrew Smith | JAM | 10.41s | | 8. Aleksandr Yevgenyev | URS | 10.51s |
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| Semi 2 wind -1.3m/s | time | | 1. Carl Lewis | USA | 10.03s | | 2. Raymond Stewart | JAM | 10.12s | | 3. Attila Kovacs | HUN | 10.22s | | 4. Viktor Bryzgin | URS | 10.23s | | 5. Andres Simon |  CUB | 10.24s | | 6. Chidi Imoh |  NGR | 10.29s | | 7. Mike McFarlane | GBR | 10.38s | | 8. Valentin Atanasov |  BUL | 10.53s |
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| | | First 3 from each Quarter-Final and Best 4 times advanced to Semi-Finals. |
| Quarter 1 wind -2.9m/s | time | | 1. Carl Lewis | USA | 10.38s | | 2. Linford Christie | GBR | 10.40s | | 3. Attila Kovacs | HUN | 10.52s | | 4. Robson Caetano Da Silva |  BRA | 10.53s | | 5. Christian Haas |  FRG | 10.65s | | 6. Ronald Desruelles |  BEL | 10.69s | | 7. Ricardo Chacon | CUB | 10.70s | | 8. Vladimir Muravyov | URS | 10.80s |
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| Quarter 2 wind -1.5m/s | time | | 1. Viktor Bryzgin | URS | 10.29s | | 2. Andreas Berger | AUT | 10.35s | | 3. Mike McFarlane | GBR | 10.35s | | 4. Max Moriniere |  FRA | 10.39s | | 5. Charles-Louis Seck |  SEN | 10.43s | | 6. Desai Williams | CAN | 10.43s | | 7. Hsin-Fu Cheng |  TPE | 10.53s | | 8. Harouna Pale |  BKF | 10.67s |
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| Quarter 3 wind -0.1m/s | time | | 1. Chidi Imoh | NGR | 10.20s | | 2. Lee McRae | USA | 10.21s | | 3. Pierfrancesco Pavoni | ITA | 10.28s | | 4. Eric Akogyiram | GHA | 10.31s | | 5. Valentin Atanasov | BUL | 10.37s | | 6. Hiroki Fuwa |  JPN | 10.38s | | 7. Achmed De Kom |  NED | 10.45s | | 8. Joilto Bonfim | BRA | 10.46s |
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| Quarter 4 wind -0.4m/s | time | | 1. Raymond Stewart | JAM | 10.14s | | 2. Ben Johnson | CAN | 10.14s | | 3. Andres Simon | CUB | 10.23s | | 4. Aleksandr Yevgenyev | URS | 10.37s | | 5. Andrew Smith | JAM | 10.37s | | 6. Javier Arques |  ESP | 10.46s | | 7. Mustapha Kamel Selmi |  ALG | 10.48s | | 8. Patrick Nwankwo | NGR | 10.49s |
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Heats - Saturday 29.08 | | First 4 from each Heat and 4 best times advanced to Quarter-Finals. |
| Heat 1 wind +1.8m/s | time | | 1. Raymond Stewart | JAM | 10.23s | | 2. Ronald Desruelles | BEL | 10.39s | | 3. Mike McFarlane | GBR | 10.39s | | 4. Hsin-Fu Cheng | TPE | 10.41s | | 5. Mark Witherspoon | USA | 10.65s | | 6. Leandro Penalver | CUB | 10.65s | | 7. Earl Hazel |  STK | 10.96s | | 8. Robert Loua |  GUI | 11.09s |
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| Heat 2 wind +1.3m/s | time | | 1. Max Moriniere | FRA | 10.29s | | 2. Aleksandr Yevgenyev | URS | 10.33s | | 3. Andres Simon | CUB | 10.34s | | 4. Lee McRae | USA | 10.34s | | 5. Christian Haas | FRG | 10.39s | | 6. Oussen Issa Allassane |  BEN | 10.68s | | 7. Ziad Hanna |  LIB | 11.04s | | 8. Amawi Mohd Eid Ismail |  PAL | 11.56s |
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| Heat 3 wind +0.4m/s | time | | 1. Robson Caetano Da Silva | BRA | 10.42s | | 2. Achmed De Kom | NED | 10.49s | | 3. Vladimir Muravyov | URS | 10.53s | | 4. Harouna Pale | BKF | 10.68s | | 5. Theophile Nkounkou |  CGO | 10.89s | | -. Allan Wells | GBR | DNS | | -. Greg Barnes |  ISV | DNS | | -. Youssouf Ali |  COM | DNS |
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| Heat 4 wind +1.6m/s | time | | 1. Pierfrancesco Pavoni | ITA | 10.24s | | 2. Viktor Bryzgin | URS | 10.25s | | 3. Linford Christie | GBR | 10.29s | | 4. Hiroki Fuwa | JPN | 10.43s | | 5. Tao Li |  CHN | 10.52s | | 6. Julien Thode |  AHO | 10.69s | | 7. Oscar Fernandez |  PER | 11.04s | | 8. Alan Zammit |  MLT | 11.32s |
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| Heat 5 wind +1.5m/s | time | | 1. Ben Johnson | CAN | 10.24s | | 2. Andrew Smith | JAM | 10.39s | | 3. Javier Arques | ESP | 10.41s | | 4. Charles-Louis Seck | SEN | 10.43s | | 5. Patrick Nwankwo | NGR | 10.43s | | 6. Mustapha Kamel Selmi | ALG | 10.48s | | 7. Rodney Cox |  TKS | 11.18s | | 8. Gilbert Bessi |  MON | 11.77s |
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| Heat 6 wind +1.5m/s | time | | 1. Carl Lewis | USA | 10.05s | | 2. Attila Kovacs | HUN | 10.26s | | 3. Valentin Atanasov | BUL | 10.39s | | 4. Ricardo Chacon | CUB | 10.43s | | 5. Dirk Schweisfurth | FRG | 10.50s | | 6. Arnaldo Abrantes |  POR | 10.64s | | 7. Rick Hiram |  NAU | 11.37s | | -. Trevor Davis |  ANG | DNS |
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| Heat 7 wind +2.5m/s | time | | 1. Chidi Imoh | NGR | 10.22s | | 2. Andreas Berger | AUT | 10.22s | | 3. Desai Williams | CAN | 10.30s | | 4. Eric Akogyiram | GHA | 10.37s | | 5. Joilto Bonfim | BRA | 10.41s | | 6. Jerome Jeremiah |  VAN | 10.81s | | 7. Ibrahim Mohamed-Waheed |  MLD | 11.48s | | -. Takale Tuna |  PNG | DNS |
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