As the sprinters took their marks at the starting line, the big Ajinomoto Stadium was almost completely silent.

It was probably the sign of the audience's high expectations for a pair of young, rising track stars in Ryota Yamagata and Yoshihide Kiryu. The spectators wanted to let them focus on the track as much as possible.

Unfortunately, the fans ended up not seeing the first Japanese to run the 100 meters in less than 10 seconds.