1936: American Jesse Owens wins Olympic 100 metres gold at the politically-charged Berlin Games.

1960: Armin Harry of West Germany becomes the only European to set the event's world record at the Zurich Olympics in 1960.

1968: American Jim Hines becomes the first man to officially break the 10 secs barrier with a time of 9.95 secs at the Mexico City Games.

1988: Ben Johnson is stripped of gold medal he won at the Seoul Olympics after testing positive for stanozolol. Carl Lewis is awarded gold with Linford Christie taking silver.

1988: At Seoul Olympics, Lewis becomes the only man to defend his 100 metres title after winning gold in Los Angeles four years earlier.

1992: Linford Christie is crowned 100 metres Olympic champion at the Barcelona Games with a time of 9.96 secs. He was 32 and the oldest Olympic 100 metres champion by four years.

2005: Asafa Powell breaks the world record for the first time, marking a period of Jamaican dominance that has seen either himself or Usain Bolt hold the record since.

2008: Bolt storms to victory at the Beijing Games, setting a new world record of 9.69 secs.

2009: Bolt stuns the World Championship in Berlin when he shaves 0.11 secs off his own world record, reaching a top speed of 27.79 mph.