Athletics at the 2002 Commonwealth Games – Men's 100 metres

The men's 100 metres event at the 2002 Commonwealth Games took place on 26 and 27 July at the City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England. Kim Collins won the gold medal in a new national record time of 9.98 seconds giving Saint Kitts and Nevis its first ever medal at the Commonwealth Games. Nigerian Uchenna Emedolu finished in second, taking the silver medal in 10.11. Pierre Browne of Canada won the bronze in a personal best time of 10.12.^[1]

This was the ninth running of the 100 metres event at the Commonwealth Games after converting to metric at the 1970 Edinburgh Games. A 100 yard event was contested between 1930 and 1966. 55 competitors from 33 nations entered the event.^[2] The English pairing of Mark Lewis-Francis and Dwain Chambers, who had both ran sub-10 seconds the month prior, both suffered injuries in the final. Lewis-Francis had to be stretched off the track. Collins, the bronze medallist in the 200 metres at the 2001 World Championships only decided to contest this event on the morning of the heats.^[3][4][5][6]

The defending champion from Kuala Lumpur, Ato Boldon from Trinidad and Tobago withdrew from the Games due to lack of fitness as a result of an injury earlier in the season.^[7][8] The silver medallist from four years ago, Namibia's Frankie Fredericks pulled out of the event on the morning of the heats to focus on the 200 metre event which he went on to win.^[9][10] Barbadian Obadele Thompson, the Commonwealth and Olympic bronze medallist, pulled out the event after the heats due to a groin injury.^[11]

Kim Collins was the first athlete to be subject to a urine test during the Games after his victory. He tested positive for salbutamol, an anabolic steroid. He claimed he had been taking the drug to treat his asthma but he failed to report this. The Commonwealth Games Federation found him in breach of the rules and he was reprimanded but was ultimately allowed to keep his gold medal. Collins was cleared after undergoing a respiratory function test by an independent doctor who confirmed his condition and due to the level found in his system was permissible and not considered performance-enhancing.^[12]