[2] The event was won by Percy Williams of Canada, taking the nation's first men's 100 metres gold medal.

For the first time in modern Olympic history, the United States won no medals in the event.

None of the 1924 finalists competed (bronze medalist Arthur Porritt entered, but did not start).

Notable entrants included Frank Wykoff, winner of the U.S. Olympic trials and one of the favourites in a field that was considered to be wide-open; Great Britain's Jack London, and Germany's Georg Lammers.

The United States was the only nation to have appeared at each of the first eight Olympic men's 100 metres events.