The women’s 100 meters remains one of the signature events in track and field, a straight-line sprint that has produced world records, Olympic champions and global stars. It is the shortest distance contested on the Olympic track and field program, and it continues to draw attention because of how little separates the best athletes in the world.
The event’s history is filled with landmark performances. The first women’s 100m world record was set by Marie Mejzlikova at 13.6 on Aug. 5, 1922, before Mary Lines lowered the mark just weeks later. Over time, the event developed into one of the sport’s marquee races and a centerpiece of major championships.
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World Athletics later accepted only times recorded automatically to one-hundredth of a second, adding greater precision to the event. That matters in a race where places are often decided by the smallest margins and where the fastest women in the world can be separated by only hundredths.
The current standard still belongs to Florence Griffith-Joyner, whose 10.49 from July 1988 remains the women’s 100 meters world record. With a current world champion and a 2024 Olympic gold medalist also in the event’s recent history, the women’s 100 meters continues to define elite sprinting.
Women’s 100 Meters World Record
Florence Griffith-Joyner holds the women’s 100 meters world record at 10.49, set July 16, 1988, in Indianapolis with a legal 0.0 wind reading according to World Athletics.
However, there is some disagreement on the world record. Track And Field News has long held that the wind aided Griffith-Joyner and the actual world record in the Women's 100 meters is held by Elaine Thompson-Herah (in 2021) and Melissa Jefferson-Wooden in 2025 who ran it in 10.54.
How The Women’s 100 Meters Works
The women’s 100 meters is run in lanes on the straight section of a standard 400-meter track. Athletes start from blocks, which include sensors to detect false starts, and the fastest time wins. It is the shortest distance on the Olympic track and field program, and the finish often is decided by hundredths of a second.
Who Is The Women’s 100 Meters World Champion?
Melissa Jefferson-Wooden is the women’s 100 meters world champion after winning the event at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 with a mark of 10.61.
Who Won Women’s 100 Meters Gold Medal At 2024 Paris Olympics?
Julien Alfred won the women’s 100 meters gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics with a winning mark of 10.72 in the final.
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