Jamaica (38.93/38.67) and the USA (38.89/38.44) were the fastest in
the first two rounds, with Lewis supplying the quickest leg; a relaxed
looking 9.12 in the semi-finals. In the final Ben Johnson started well,
and gained a metre on Graddy’s 10.29. Ron Brown pulled back the lead
of Canada, and a good exchange sent Calvin Smith half a metre clear
of Desai Williams. Smith ran a superb curve and passed to Lewis near-
ly 5m ahead of the field. The gold – Lewis’s fourth of the Games – was
already decided, but the question was whether the USA could beat their
world record from the 1983 World Championships. Lewis ran a flow-
ing powerful leg of 8.94 to beat the record by 0.03 seconds, with
Jamaica passing Canada with 25m to go.
