The 100 metres at the Summer Olympics has been contested since the first edition of the multi-sport event. The men's 100 metres has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since 1896. The 100 metres is considered one of the blue ribbon events of the Olympics and is among the highest profile competitions at the games. It is the most prestigious 100 metres race at an elite level and is the shortest sprinting competition at the Olympics – a position it has held at every edition except for a brief period between 1900 and 1904, when a men's 60 metres was contested.^[1]

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Quick Facts 100 metres at the Olympic Games, Overview ...

100 metres at the Olympic Games
The 2008 Olympic men's 100 metre final
Overview
Sport	Athletics
Gender	Men and women
Years held	Men: 1896 – 2020 Women: 1928 – 2020
Reigning champion
Men	Marcell Jacobs (ITA)
Women	Elaine Thompson-Herah (JAM)

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The first Olympic champions were Thomas Burke in the men's category and, 32 years later, Betty Robinson in the women's category. The Olympic records for the event are 9.63 seconds, set by Usain Bolt in 2012, and 10.61 seconds, set by Elaine Thompson-Herah in 2021.^[2][3][4] The world records for the event have been equalled or broken during the Olympics on seven occasions in the men's category and on twelve occasions in the women's.^{[citation needed]}

Among the competing nations, the United States has had the most success in this event, having won sixteen golds in the men's race and nine in the women's race. Usain Bolt of Jamaica has won three consecutive titles (2008–16). Five other athletes have won back-to-back titles: Wyomia Tyus (1964–68), Carl Lewis (1984–88), Gail Devers (1992–96), Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (2008–12), and Elaine Thompson-Herah (2016-2020). Merlene Ottey is the only athlete to win three medals without winning gold, with one silver and two bronze medals. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is the most decorated athlete in the event, male or female, having won 4 medals.^[5][6]

Many athletes that compete in this event also compete individually in the Olympic 200 metres and with their national teams in the Olympic 4×100 metres relay, with Jamaicans Usain Bolt and Elaine Thompson-Herah being the only athletes to do so more than once. Nine men have achieved the 100 metres and 200 metres 'Double' at the same Olympic Games - Archie Hahn (1904), Ralph Craig (1912), Percy Williams (1928), Eddie Tolan (1932), Jesse Owens (1936), Bobby Morrow (1956), Valeriy Borzov (1972), Carl Lewis (1984), and Usain Bolt (2008, 2012, 2016). Four of these men were also members of the winning team in the 4 × 100 meters relay at the same games - Jesse Owens (1936), Bobby Morrow (1956), Carl Lewis (1984), and Usain Bolt (2012, 2016). Three of these men have won a fourth gold medal at the same games - Archie Hahn in the now defunct 60 metres, and both Jesse Owens and Carl Lewis in the long jump.

Seven women have achieved the 100 metres and 200 metres 'Double' at the same Olympic Games - Fanny Blankers-Koen (1948), Marjorie Jackson (1952), Betty Cuthbert (1956), Wilma Rudolph (1960), Renate Stecher (1972), Florence Griffith-Joyner (1988), and Elaine Thompson-Herah (2016) and (2021). Five of these women were also members of the winning team in the 4 × 100 meters relay at the same games - Fanny Blankers-Koen (1948), Betty Cuthbert (1956), Wilma Rudolph (1960), Florence Griffith-Joyner (1988) and Elaine Thompson-Herah (2021). Fanny Blankers-Koen is the only one of these women to win four gold medals at the same games by winning the 80 metres hurdles in 1948.

The Olympic 100 metres competitions are carried out under standard international rules, as set by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). The races are segregated by gender, with one for men and one for women.^[7] The 100 m is usually held at the beginning of the Olympic athletics programme as this allows athletes to compete in other events held later at the games – many 100 m athletes also compete in the 200 metres and the 4×100 metres relay events.^[8]

Traditionally there are four rounds of competition: heats, quarter-finals, semi-finals, and finals. Prior to 1964, finals featured six athletes.^[9] For all Olympic competitions from 1964 onwards—allowing for a sufficient number of athletes being present—each race features eight runners.^[10] Athletes are seeded by past performance to ensure an even balance of quality across the heats and allow the best runners to progress to the later stages. Usually in the first two rounds the top three runners progress to the next stage. A small number of other athletes also progress as the fastest non-qualifiers (or "fastest losers") through a repechage system. Prior to 2012, the semi-finals stage comprised two races of eight athletes and the top four finishers in each race (regardless of time) were entered into the final.^[11]

Several amendments were made to the competition format in 2012. Any participant not in possession of an Olympic qualifying standard time is entered into the preliminary round. Qualifiers in this round progress to the first round proper. The semi-finals stage is divided into three races: the top two progress to the final by right and the two fastest non-qualifiers complete the eight finalists. Changes to the international false start rules were also introduced – any validly recorded reaction time to the starter's pistol of below 0.1 seconds will result in instant disqualification.^[11] At the 2004 and 2008 Olympics one false start was allowed per race, with any subsequent false start resulting in disqualification for the offending athletes. At Olympics prior to 2004 each athlete was allowed one false start, with a second false start leading to removal from the field.^[12][13]

The top three finishers in the final are awarded a gold, silver, and bronze medal, respectively. If runners cannot be separated by their time (recorded to one hundredth of a second) further analysis is used to distinguish their times to the thousandth of a second. In the 2008 Women's 100 m final the minor medallists Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart could not be separated by this method and were both awarded the silver medal.^[14] Medal positions in a 100 m race have only been shared on one other occasion in Olympic history: Alajos Szokolyi and Francis Lane were joint third at the 1896 men's final.^[15]

Starting with 15 men from eight nations at the inaugural 1896 Olympic 100 m, participation in the event reached its peak at the 2000 Sydney Games, where 179 male and female athletes from 100 nations were present. The number of competitors and nations in the event has seen an increasing historical trend. This increase has been mostly linear, though participation was affected by the Olympic boycotts of 1976, 1980 and 1984. The linear trend stopped after the 2000 peak and has steadily decreased in subsequent Summer Olympics.^[5][6]

Men's participation reached its highest at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, which featured 104 men from 75 nations. Women's participation began in 1928, with 31 women from 13 nations competing, and reached an all-time high at the 2008 Beijing Games, which had 85 women representing 69 nations. The 2008 and 2012 editions reversed the historical gender bias towards male participation, as women outnumbered men at the Olympic 100 m for the first time.^[5][6]

As the governing body for the sport of athletics, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) applies qualifying standards to the competition. This aims to encourage high level performances at the Olympic Games and contain the number of potential entries (the IAAF aims to cap Olympic participation in athletics events at 2000 athletes). There are two types of qualifying standard: the "A" standard and the "B" standard. Each National Olympic Committee (NOC) may enter up to three athletes who have obtained the "A" standard, or one athlete with the "B" standard. If a NOC has no qualifying athletes in any Olympic athletic event, it may enter one non-qualified athlete – the 100 m is a frequent choice for this type of entry given the brevity of the event. Athletes must achieve the qualifying time without wind-assistance at an officially authorised event within a certain time period, which typically begins from the year prior to the Olympics and extends up to three weeks before the games. The IAAF prohibits entrants who do not reach the age of sixteen in that Olympic year, but there is no upper age limit. The IAAF qualifying standards for the 100 m have become progressively more stringent since 2000.^{[16][17][18][19]}

On top of IAAF standards, national governing bodies may apply their own participation restrictions. These principally come in four forms: stricter national qualifying times, reduced time periods for qualifying performances,^[20] performances in the event at a national Olympic trials, and decisions of national selection committees. Smaller nations do not typically apply these additional criteria due to the smaller numbers of sprinters eligible to compete. Larger nations, and nations with strong traditions in sprinting, often have long-running histories of Olympic 100 m trials (such as at the United States Olympic Trials). Participation for a country also demands that the athlete hold respective citizenship and is not subject to a competitive ban through anti-doping rules.^[21]

World Athletics in 2019 announced that, following the inauguration of their World Rankings platform, that in addition to those who achieved the Olympic standard, placing in the top 32 of the rankings will serve as a qualification method for athletes. (For example, if someone comes 3rd in the 100m finals of their national championships in 10.14, if he is 22nd in the World Rankings, he has qualified for the games).

More information Year, No. of men ...

Year	No. of men	Nations (men)	No. of women	Nations (women)	Total athletes	Total nations	Men's champion	Women's champion
1896[15]	15	8	—	—	15	8	Thomas Burke (USA)	—
1900[22]	20	9	—	—	20	9	Frank Jarvis (USA)	—
1904[23]	11	3	—	—	11	3	Archie Hahn (USA)	—
1908[24]	60	16	—	—	60	16	Reggie Walker (RSA)	—
1912[25]	70	22	—	—	70	22	Ralph Craig (USA)	—
1920[26]	61	23	—	—	61	23	Charlie Paddock (USA)	—
1924[27]	86	34	—	—	86	34	Harold Abrahams (GBR)	—
1928[28][29]	81	33	31	13	107	35	Percy Williams (CAN)	Betty Robinson (USA)
1932[30][31]	33	17	20	10	51	19	Eddie Tolan (USA)	Stanisława Walasiewicz (POL)
1936[32][33]	61	30	30	15	91	33	Jesse Owens (USA)	Helen Stephens (USA)
1948[34][35]	61	33	38	21	99	39	Harrison Dillard (USA)	Fanny Blankers-Koen (NED)
1952[36][37]	70	33	56	27	126	41	Lindy Remigino (USA)	Marjorie Jackson (AUS)
1956[38][39]	63	31	34	16	97	34	Bobby Morrow (USA)	Betty Cuthbert (AUS)
1960[9][40]	59	45	31	18	90	50	Armin Hary (EUA)	Wilma Rudolph (USA)
1964[10][41]	71	49	44	27	115	56	Bob Hayes (USA)	Wyomia Tyus (USA)
1968[42][43]	63	42	42	22	105	48	Jim Hines (USA)	Wyomia Tyus (USA)
1972[44][45]	83	55	47	33	130	68	Valeriy Borzov (URS)	Renate Stecher (GDR)
1976[46][47]	61	40	39	22	100	45	Hasely Crawford (TRI)	Annegret Richter (FRG)
1980[48][49]	63	41	40	25	103	46	Allan Wells (GBR)	Lyudmila Kondratyeva (URS)
1984[50][51]	80	59	46	33	126	68	Carl Lewis (USA)	Evelyn Ashford (USA)
1988[52][53]	100	69	64	42	164	85	Carl Lewis (USA)	Florence Griffith-Joyner (USA)
1992[54][55]	79	66	54	41	133	86	Linford Christie (GBR)	Gail Devers (USA)
1996[56][57]	104	75	56	38	160	89	Donovan Bailey (CAN)	Gail Devers (USA)
2000[58][59]	95	71	84	63	179	100	Maurice Greene (USA)	Vacated[60]
2004[61][62]	80	62	63	51	143	89	Justin Gatlin (USA)	Yulia Nestsiarenka (BLR)
2008[63][64]	78	64	85	69	163	96	Usain Bolt (JAM)	Shelly-Ann Fraser (JAM)
2012[65][66]	72	61	79	65	151	92	Usain Bolt (JAM)	Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (JAM)
2016	84	57	80	56	164	82	Usain Bolt (JAM)	Elaine Thompson (JAM)
2020							Marcell Jacobs (ITA)	Elaine Thompson-Herah (JAM)

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Data notes

• Numbers do not include non-starting athletes. There have been two Olympic 100 m non-starters: Estonia's Reinhold Saulmann in 1920, and Kim Collins in 2012 – the latter was banned from competing by the St. Kitts and Nevis Olympic Committee for defying their orders and leaving the Olympic camp to stay with his wife.^[67]
• Nations are above defined as the competing Olympic team as opposed to athletes' legal nationalities – the various Unified teams and Independent Olympian teams are thus each treated as one nation at that Olympic Games.

All athletes who participate in the Olympic 100 m competition are subject to the World Anti-Doping Code –the IAAF and International Olympic Committee (IOC) are both signatories. Mandatory in-competition drug testing was introduced at the 1968 Summer Olympics.^[89]

One of the most prominent cases of doping at the Olympics, and in sport as a whole, occurred during the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Ben Johnson entered the race as the reigning 100 metres world record holder and won the Olympic final, raising his arm in victory, in a new world record of 9.79 seconds to much fanfare. Soon after being awarded the gold medal the results of his post-race drug test revealed his urine contained traces of stanozolol (a banned steroid).^[90] Johnson later admitted to doping, but he and his coach Charlie Francis still claimed he had his drink spiked at the Olympics, as Johnson was taking a different type of steroid at the time.^[91] The positive test had long-lasting effects on public perception of the sport and advanced the case for more stringent drug testing. The Canadian government launched an investigation into drugs in sport, known as the Dubin Inquiry, the following year.^[92] The 1988 Olympic men's 100 metres final has been referred to as "the dirtiest race in history", as only two of the eight finalists remained free of doping issues during their careers.^[93]

Ekaterini Thanou, the 2000 women's silver medallist, was barred from the 2004 Athens Olympics after failing to attend a pre-competition drugs test (her third consecutive missed test). The Greek sprinter and her teammate Kostas Kenteris were convicted of staging a motorcycle crash to avoid the test, but this was overturned on appeal. Her doping ban remained as they admitted to having missed the tests.^[94] Tameka Williams was banned from competing in the 100 m at the 2012 Olympics when, at the Olympic village, she admitted to the Saint Kitts and Nevis management team that she had been ingesting a banned substance.^[95] Bulgaria's Tezdzhan Naimova had her 2008 Olympic performance annulled and received a two-year ban after it was proved that she had tampered with her drug test a month prior to the competition.^[96]

Another high-profile doping case involved the 2000 Olympic women's 100 m champion Marion Jones, though no doping infractions occurred during the Olympics. Having been one of the stars of the games—she won three gold and two bronze medals in track and field events—Jones was later implicated in doping through the BALCO scandal. She lied to federal agents and a grand jury during questioning around the scandal, but later admitted in 2007 to using Tetrahydrogestrinone (THG) during the period of her Olympic success.^[97] The IOC annulled all her Olympic results, including her 100 m title. Given that the 2000 women's runner-up Ekaterini Thanou had herself been banned for drug usage, the IOC chose not to upgrade her to the gold medal position, but rather leave the position vacant.^[98] Working around the dilemma, the IOC decided to raise bronze medallist Tayna Lawrence to joint silver and fourth-placed Merlene Ottey to the bronze medal position.^[99]

In spite of the relatively few occasions in which 100 m sprinters have failed doping tests at the Olympics, numerous Olympic sprinters have been banned outside the competition or implicated otherwise, including many medallists. Two-time Olympic champion Carl Lewis had a positive drug test for stimulants at the US Olympic trials. The United States Olympic Committee accepted his claim of inadvertent use, since a dietary supplement he ingested was found to contain "Ma huang", the Chinese name for Ephedra (ephedrine is known to help weight loss).^[100] The 1992 Olympic champion Linford Christie was banned for nandrolone later in his career.^[101] Angel Guillermo Heredia accused the 2000 Olympic champion Maurice Greene of doping; Greene denied this but admitted to paying for "stuff" for his training mates.^[102] Justin Gatlin, the men's gold medallist in 2004, served a doping suspension both before and after his Olympic win, and returned to the podium at the 2012 Olympics.^[103] The men's runner-up in 2012, Yohan Blake, was banned for consuming a stimulant in 2009.^[104]

On the women's side, the Olympic 100 m was affected by state-sponsored doping in East Germany. Stasi documents released after the fall of the Berlin Wall revealed extensive drug usage by Olympic sprinters, including the 1976 and 1980 silver medallists Renate Stecher and Marlies Göhr, as well as the 1988 bronze medallist Heike Drechsler.^[105][106] Shelly-Ann Fraser, twice Olympic champion, received a six-month ban in 2010 for taking a prohibited narcotic for pain relief.^[107] A similar system was in place in the Soviet Union with major revelations concerning the Soviet state-sponsored doping program in preparation for the 1984 Olympics coming to light in 2016.^[108] The 2008 runner-up Sherone Simpson was banned in 2013 after a positive test for a stimulant and two-time bronze medallist Veronica Campbell-Brown failed a test for a diuretic that same year.^[109] A fourth Jamaican medallist, Merlene Ottey, received a ban for the steroid nandrolone in 1999 but this was rescinded on appeal due to laboratory errors.^[110][111]

The best time for the 100 m set during Olympic competition is known as the Olympic record. To count as an official record, the race and the equipment used must adhere to IAAF international rules. Hand-timed results were the standard until 1975, when fully automatic timing (FAT) became the preferred method for officially measuring athletes' times. Further to this wind conditions must be measured and any time achieved with a wind speed of over 2.0 metres per second in a direction behind the athlete is treated as wind-assisted and cannot be taken for an Olympic record mark.^[113]

Since the first men's Olympic record of 12.2 seconds by Frank Lane in 1896, the record has been broken 13 times and matched 24 times. Twenty-eight men have been holder (or co-holder) of the record. Usain Bolt is the current record holder with 9.63, set in 2012. Further to this standing men's world record for the 100 m has been equalled five times in Olympic competition and improved twice (by Carl Lewis in 1988 with 9.92 and by Bolt in 2008 with 9.69). Ben Johnson's time of 9.79 was annulled before it was ratified as either an Olympic or world record.^[113]

Since the initial women's Olympic record of 13.0 seconds was set by Anni Holdmann in 1928, it has been broken 18 times and equalled 17 further times. The standing women's 100 m world record has been improved five times during Olympic competition and equalled seven times.^[113]

The tables below refer to hand-timing for races held prior to the 1972 Summer Olympics and to fully automatic times after that point, when they became the standard for the Olympics.^[113] Hand-timed results that matched the Olympic record are treated as equalling the mark, with the exception of any athletes that matched that time but finished behind another athlete in their race.

Men

See also: Men's 100 metres world record progression

More information Time, Athlete ...

Time	Athlete	Nation	Games	Round	Date
12.2	Francis Lane	United States (USA)	1896	Heat 1	1896-04-06
12.2	Thomas Curtis	United States (USA)	1896	Heat 2	1896-04-06
11.8	Tom Burke	United States (USA)	1896	Heat 3	1896-04-06
11.4	Arthur Duffey	United States (USA)	1900	Heat 1	1900-06-14
11.4	Walter Tewksbury	United States (USA)	1900	Heat 2	1900-06-14
10.8 =WR	Frank Jarvis	United States (USA)	1900	Heat 3	1900-06-14
10.8 =WR	Walter Tewksbury	United States (USA)	1900	Semi-final 2	1900-06-14
10.8	James Rector	United States (USA)	1908	Heat 15	1908-07-20
10.8	Reggie Walker	South Africa (RSA)	1908	Semi-final 1	1908-07-20
10.8	James Rector	United States (USA)	1908	Semi-final 3	1908-07-20
10.8	Reggie Walker	South Africa (RSA)	1908	Final	1908-07-20
10.8	David Jacobs	Great Britain (GBR)	1912	Heat 10	1912-07-06
10.6	Donald Lippincott	United States (USA)	1912	Heat 16	1912-07-06
10.6	Harold Abrahams	Great Britain (GBR)	1924	Quarter-final 4	1924-07-06
10.6	Harold Abrahams	Great Britain (GBR)	1924	Semi-final 2	1924-07-07
10.6	Harold Abrahams	Great Britain (GBR)	1924	Final	1924-07-07
10.6	Percy Williams	Canada (CAN)	1928	Quarter-final 4	1928-07-29
10.6	Robert McAllister	United States (USA)	1928	Semi-final 1	1928-07-30
10.6	Jack London	United States (USA)	1928	Semi-final 2	1928-07-30
10.6	Arthur Jonath	Germany (GER)	1932	Heat 3	1932-07-31
10.4	Eddie Tolan	United States (USA)	1932	Quarter-final 1	1932-07-31
10.3 =WR	Eddie Tolan	United States (USA)	1932	Final	1932-08-01
10.3	Jesse Owens	United States (USA)	1936	Heat 1	1936-08-02
10.3	Harrison Dillard	United States (USA)	1948	Final	1948-07-31
10.3	Bobby Joe Morrow	United States (USA)	1956	Quarter-final 1	1956-11-23
10.3	Ira Murchison	United States (USA)	1956	Quarter-final 2	1956-11-23
10.3	Bobby Joe Morrow	United States (USA)	1956	Semi-final 2	1956-11-24
10.2	Armin Hary	West Germany (FRG)	1960	Quarter-final 2	1960-08-31
10.2	Armin Hary	West Germany (FRG)	1960	Final	1960-08-31
10.0 =WR	Bob Hayes	United States (USA)	1964	Final	1964-10-15
10.0 A	Hermes Ramírez	Cuba (CUB)	1968	Quarter-final 2	1968-10-13
10.0 A	Charlie Greene	United States (USA)	1968	Quarter-final 4	1968-10-13
10.0 A	Jim Hines	United States (USA)	1968	Semi-final 1	1968-10-14
9.9 A =WR	Jim Hines	United States (USA)	1968	Final	1968-10-14
9.92 WR[nb3]	Carl Lewis	United States (USA)	1988	Final	1988-09-24
9.84 WR	Donovan Bailey	Canada (CAN)	1996	Final	1996-07-27
9.69 WR	Usain Bolt	Jamaica (JAM)	2008	Final	2008-08-16
9.63	Usain Bolt	Jamaica (JAM)	2012	Final	2012-08-05

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• ^nb3 Carl Lewis's time of 9.92 seconds in the 1988 Olympic final was initially second to Ben Johnson's 9.79, but Johnson was disqualified soon after due to a failed drug test.^[113]

Women

See also: Women's 100 metres world record progression

More information Time, Athlete ...

Time	Athlete	Nation	Games	Round	Date
13.0	Anni Holdmann	Germany (GER)	1928	Heat 1	1928-07-30
12.8	Erna Steinberg	Germany (GER)	1928	Heat 2	1928-07-30
12.8	Kinue Hitomi	Japan (JPN)	1928	Heat 3	1928-07-30
12.8	Leni Junker	Germany (GER)	1928	Heat 4	1928-07-30
12.8	Leni Schmidt	Germany (GER)	1928	Heat 6	1928-07-30
12.6	Fanny Rosenfeld	Canada (CAN)	1928	Heat 7	1928-07-30
12.6	Ethel Smith	Canada (CAN)	1928	Heat 9	1928-07-30
12.4	Fanny Rosenfeld	Canada (CAN)	1928	Semi-final 1	1928-07-30
12.4	Betty Robinson	United States (USA)	1928	Semi-final 2	1928-07-30
12.2 WR	Betty Robinson	United States (USA)	1928	Final	1928-07-31
12.2	Marie Dollinger	Germany (GER)	1932	Heat 1	1932-08-01
11.9 WR	Stanisława Walasiewicz	Poland (POL)	1932	Heat 2	1932-08-01
11.9 =WR	Stanisława Walasiewicz	Poland (POL)	1932	Semi-final 2	1932-08-01
11.9 =WR	Stanisława Walasiewicz	Poland (POL)	1932	Final	1932-08-02
11.9	Fanny Blankers-Koen	Netherlands (NED)	1948	Final	1948-08-02
11.9	Catherine Hardy	United States (USA)	1952	Heat 7	1952-07-21
11.6	Marjorie Jackson	Australia (AUS)	1952	Heat 8	1952-07-21
11.6	Marjorie Jackson	Australia (AUS)	1952	Quarter-final 1	1952-07-21
11.5 =WR	Marjorie Jackson	Australia (AUS)	1952	Semi-final 1	1952-07-22
11.5 =WR	Marjorie Jackson	Australia (AUS)	1952	Final	1952-07-22
11.5	Marlene Mathews	Australia (AUS)	1956	Heat 2	1956-11-24
11.4	Betty Cuthbert	Australia (AUS)	1956	Heat 3	1956-11-24
11.3 =WR	Wilma Rudolph	United States (USA)	1960	Semi-final 1	1960-09-02
11.2 =WR	Wyomia Tyus	United States (USA)	1964	Quarter-final 1	1964-10-15
11.2 A	Wyomia Tyus	United States (USA)	1968	Heat 1	1968-10-14
11.2 A	Margaret Bailes	United States (USA)	1968	Heat 2	1968-10-14
11.2 A	Barbara Ferrell	United States (USA)	1968	Heat 6	1968-10-14
11.1 A =WR	Barbara Ferrell	United States (USA)	1968	Quarter-final 1	1968-10-14
11.1 A =WR	Irena Szewińska-Kirszenstein	Poland (POL)	1968	Quarter-final 4	1968-10-14
11.0 A WR	Wyomia Tyus	United States (USA)	1968	Final	1968-10-15
11.07 WR	Renate Stecher	East Germany (GDR)	1972	Quarter-final 1	1972-09-01
11.05	Annegret Richter	West Germany (FRG)	1976	Quarter-final 1	1976-07-24
11.01 WR	Annegret Richter	West Germany (FRG)	1976	Semi-final 1	1976-07-25
10.97	Evelyn Ashford	United States (USA)	1984	Final	1984-08-05
10.88	Florence Griffith Joyner	United States (USA)	1988	Heat 7	1988-09-24
10.88	Evelyn Ashford	United States (USA)	1988	Quarter-final 2	1988-09-24
10.62	Florence Griffith Joyner	United States (USA)	1988	Quarter-final 3	1988-09-24
10.61	Elaine Thompson-Herah	Jamaica (JAM)	2021	Final	2021-07-31

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The Olympic 100 m is the most prestigious competition for the distance and it attracts elite level, international competitors. The winner of the race is occasionally referred to as "the world's fastest" man or woman, reflecting the high level of the competition and the quality of performances.^[114][115] As of February 2014^[update], the current Olympic records of 9.63 for men and 10.62 seconds for women rank as the second and third fastest times in history, for men and women respectively.^[116][117] The standard of performances at the Olympics has progressed in line with the discipline as a whole and the times in the final often rank highly in the end-of-season lists.^{[118][119][120]} National records and personal bests are frequently improved at the event by sprinters from large and small nations alike, as most elite athletes aim to reach peak race fitness for the Olympics.^[121][122]

The 2012 men's final was the fastest 100 m race in history, collectively: the top five men ran under 9.90 seconds for the first time ever and seven of the eight finalists ran under 10 seconds (the last runner suffered an injury).^[123][124] Tyson Gay became the fastest non-medallist in history at that race with his time of 9.80 seconds.^[116] Similarly, the 2012 women's final was, collectively, the fastest women's 100 m race ever: seven of the eight finalists ran 11 seconds or faster for the first time, with Veronica Campbell-Brown becoming the fastest ever bronze medallist with her time of 10.81 seconds and Tianna Madison becoming the fastest non-medallist with her time of 10.85 seconds.^[117]

Top ten fastest Olympic times

More information Rank, Time (sec) ...

Fastest men's times at the Olympics[125] Rank Time (sec) Athlete Nation Games Date 1 9.63 Usain Bolt  Jamaica 2012 2012-08-05 2 9.69 Usain Bolt  Jamaica 2008 2008-08-16 3 9.75 Yohan Blake  Jamaica 2012 2012-08-05 4 9.79 Justin Gatlin  United States 2012 2012-08-05 5 9.80 Lamont Marcell Jacobs  Italy 2020 2021-08-01 6 9.81 Usain Bolt  Jamaica 2016 2016-08-14 7 9.82 Justin Gatlin  United States 2012SF 2012-08-05 8 9.83 Su Bingtian  China 2020SF 2021-08-01 Ronnie Baker  United States 2020SF 2021-08-01 10 9.84 Donovan Bailey  Canada 1996 1996-07-27 Fred Kerley  United States 2020 2021-08-01 Lamont Marcell Jacobs  Italy 2020SF 2021-08-01

Fastest women's times at the Olympics[126] Rank Time (sec) Athlete Nation Games Date 1 10.61 Elaine Thompson-Herah  Jamaica 2020 2021-07-31 2 10.62 Florence Griffith Joyner  United States 1988QF 1988-07-16 3 10.71 Elaine Thompson  Jamaica 2016 2016-08-13 4 10.73 Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce  Jamaica 2020SF 2021-07-31 5 10.74 Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce  Jamaica 2020 2021-07-31 6 10.75 Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce  Jamaica 2012 2012-08-04 7 10.76 Shericka Jackson  Jamaica 2020 2021-07-31 Elaine Thompson-Herah  Jamaica 2020SF 2021-07-31 9 10.78 Shelly-Ann Fraser  Jamaica 2008 2008-08-17 Carmelita Jeter  United States 2012 2012-08-04 Marie-Josee Ta Lou  Ivory Coast 2020H 2021-07-30

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• ^H – time recorded in the heats
• ^QF – time recorded in the quarter-finals
• ^SF – time recorded in the semi-finals

Note: Florence Griffith-Joyner ran 10.54 (+3.0) and 10.70 (+2.6) in the finals and semifinals of the 100m at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, however, both were over the legal wind speed limit of +2.0 m/s.

Best time for place

More information Place, Time ...

Fastest Men's times for place in an Olympic final[125] Place Time Athlete Nation Games Date 1 9.63 Usain Bolt  Jamaica 2012 2012-08-05 2 9.75 Yohan Blake  Jamaica 2012 2012-08-05 3 9.79 Justin Gatlin  United States 2012 2012-08-05 4 9.80 Tyson Gay  United States 2012 2012-08-05 5 9.88 Ryan Bailey  United States 2012 2012-08-05 6 9.94 Churandy Martina  Netherlands 2012 2012-08-05 7 9.98 Richard Thompson  Trinidad and Tobago 2012 2012-08-05 8 10.03 Darvis Patton  United States 2008 2008-08-16

Fastest women's times for place in an Olympic final[126] Place Time Athlete Nation Games Date 1 10.61 Elaine Thompson-Herah  Jamaica 2020 2021-07-31 2 10.74 Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce  Jamaica 2020 2021-07-31 3 10.76 Shericka Jackson  Jamaica 2020 2021-07-31 4 10.85 Tianna Madison  United States 2012 2012-08-04 5 10.88 Merlene Ottey  Jamaica 1992 1992-08-01 6 10.92 Michelle-Lee Ahye  Trinidad and Tobago 2016 2016-08-13 7 10.94 English Gardner  United States 2016 2016-08-13 8 11.01 Blessing Okagbare  Nigeria 2012 2012-08-04

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• Florence Griffith-Joyner ran 10.54 to win the final of the 1988 Olympic Games, but the wind was over the legal limit (+3.0)

The 1906 Intercalated Games were held in Athens and at the time were officially recognised as part of the Olympic Games series, with the intention being to hold a games in Greece in two-year intervals between the internationally held Olympics. However, this plan never came to fruition and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) later decided not to recognise these games as part of the official Olympic series. Some sports historians continue to treat the results of these games as part of the Olympic canon.^[127]

At this event a men's 100 m was held and 1904 Olympic champion Archie Hahn of the United States won the race. Another American, Fay Moulton, was the runner-up and Australian Nigel Barker was the bronze medallist.^[128]

More information Games, Gold ...

Games	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1906 Athens details	Archie Hahn (USA)	Fay Moulton (USA)	Nigel Barker (AUS)

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In addition to the main 1900 Olympic men's 100 metres, two further 100 m events were held that year. A handicap race attracted 32 athletes from 10 countries and was won by Edmund Minahan, an American semi-finalist in the main 100 m competition, which had taken place five days earlier.^[129] A 100 m event for professionals only was held several weeks later. Four entrants are known and the winner was Edgar Bredin, a British former world record holder.^[130][131]

A 100 m professionals handicap race is also believed to have been held in 1900. In 1904 a 100-yard dash handicap race was contested and an American, C. Hastedt, was the victor.^[132]

These events are no longer considered part of the official Olympic history of the 100 m or the athletics programme in general. Consequently, medals from these races have not been assigned to nations on the all-time medal tables.^[132]

The 100 metres is typically considered one of the blue ribbon Olympic track and field events, and of the Olympic Games as a whole.^[133] The Olympic 100 m finals, particularly the men's, are among the most popular events from any sport at the Olympics – the 2012 Olympic men's 100 metres final was the most watched event at the London Games by British audiences (with 20 million television viewers)^[134] while in the United States that event was the third-most viewed Olympic clip.^[135]

The high-profile nature of 100 m Olympic finals in some countries has served to encourage participation in sport among the wider public, particularly in short sprinting. Successive generations of athletes cite previous 100 m Olympic champions as the reason for their entering the sport.^[136] The history of the event has had particular impact for African-American athletes: Jesse Owens' Olympic 100 m gold was an early example of a black American achieving success on an international stage while Wilma Rudolph's 1960 win inspired many black American women.^[137][138] Owens' 100 m victory at the 1936 Berlin Olympics (one of four gold medals he won over seven days at the games) helped challenge notions of white supremacy that were popular during that era.^[139][140]

1996 Olympic 100 metre champion Donovan Bailey from Canada had his billing as "World's Fastest Man" questioned by the American media, who instead promoted 1996 Olympic 200 metre and 400 metre champion Michael Johnson from the United States. After much sparring between the two athletes and media of their respective countries, an unsanctioned 150-metre race was held at the SkyDome in Toronto to settle the matter, with Bailey winning while Johnson pulled up injured, and they earned $1.5 million and $500,000, respectively.

The Olympic 100 metres has been covered by several film documentaries. Chariots of Fire, a 1981 historical drama focusing on Harold Abrahams' victory at the 1924 Paris Olympics, is among the most prominent. The film won four Academy Awards,^[141] is often listed among polls for the best sports and Olympics films.,^[142][143] and was ranked 19th in the British Film Institute's 100 Best British Films^[144] Wilma Rudolph was a central figure in The Grand Olympics (Italian: La grande olimpiade), an academy-Award nominated documentary about the 1960 Rome Olympics, where Rudolph's 100 m feats earned her the nickname La Gazzella Negra (The Black Gazelle).^[145][146] The 1988 Olympic final, featuring Ben Johnson and Carl Lewis has been the topic of documentaries, including ESPN's "9.79*" from the 30 for 30 series,^[147] as well as non-fiction books, such as Richard Moore's The Dirtiest Race in History.^[100]

Across the sport of track and field, Olympic 100 m champions have often featured on Athlete of the Year lists. Carl Lewis (1984), Evelyn Ashford (1984), Florence Griffith-Joyner (1988), Usain Bolt (2008) and Elaine Thompson-Herah (2021) were chosen as Track & Field News Athlete of the Year in the year of their Olympic victories.^[148] Lewis, Griffith-Joyner, Bolt and Thompson-Herah were also awarded the title of IAAF World Athlete of the Year for their Olympic feats.^[149]

• 100 metres at the World Championships in Athletics