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100 metres

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For other uses of 100 metres, see 1 E2 m.

100 m (one hundred metres) is the classic sprints race distance. The reigning 100 m Olympic champion is often named "the fastest man/woman in the world". A distance of 100 yards (91 m) was often run in the past, but this is now obsolete. Indoors, events are normally held over 60 m (sometimes 50 m or 55 m) as few facilities have a 100 m indoor straight.

On an outdoor 400 m running track, the 100 m is run on the home straight: the start being set on an extension to make it a straight line race. Many top level 60 m runners fail to excel at the 100 m. Competitive runners complete the event without breathing, and so it is an example of anaerobic exercise. Illegal drug use has been seen by some as a means to gain a competitive edge; in particular, the scandal at the 1988 Summer Olympics when the winner Ben Johnson was stripped of his medal.

Record performances

Major 100 m races, such as at the Olympic Games, attract much attention, particularly when the world record is thought to be within reach. The record has been lowered 10 times since the introduction of electronic timing in 1968, and never by more than 0.05 seconds. The current world record of 9.77 seconds is held jointly between the reigning Olympic champion Justin Gatlin of the United States and Asafa Powell of Jamaica. Gatlin was reported as having run a time of 9.76 seconds in Doha on May 12, 2006, but five days later he was denied the out-right record after Tissot admitted an error in not rounding 9.766 to 9.77.

In the women's competition the world record belongs to Florence Griffith Joyner who ran a time of 10.49 seconds in Indianapolis on 16 July, 1988.

Start

At the start, some athletes play psychological games such as trying to be last to the starting blocks, although direct intimidation would be considered unsporting. The starter will keep the sprinters in the set position for an unpredictable time of around 2 seconds and then fire the starting gun.

The time between the gun and first kick against the starting block is measured electronically, via sensors built in the gun and the blocks. Anything less than a 0.1 second reaction time is considered a false start. The 0.1 second interval accounts for the sum of the time it takes for the sound of the starter's pistol to propagate through the air and reach the runners' ears, and the time it takes for a human to process the auditory stimulus and react to it.

For many years a sprinter was only disqualified if they were responsible for two false starts. However, this rule was causing some major races being restarted so many times that the sprinters started to lose focus. The new rule is that after one false start, anyone responsible for a subsequent false start is disqualified immediately, though this rule has led to some sprinters deliberately false starting to gain a psychological advantage especially if they're one of the slower starters in the field.

Famous 100 metre runners

Top ten all-time athletes — men

Updated June 11, 2006

Rank Time Wind (m/s) Athlete Nation Date Location
1. 9.77 +1.6 Asafa Powell  Jamaica 14 June 2005 Gateshead
1. 9.77 +1.7 Justin Gatlin  United States 12 May 2006 Doha
3. 9.79 +0.1 Maurice Greene  United States 16 June 1999 Athens
4. 9.84 +0.7 Donovan Bailey  Canada 27 July 1996 Atlanta
4. 9.84 +0.2 Bruny Surin  Canada 22 August 1999 Seville
6. 9.85 +1.2 Leroy Burrell  United States 6 July 1994 Lausanne
6. 9.85 +1.7 Olusoji Fasuba  Nigeria 12 May 2006 Doha
8. 9.86 +1.2 Carl Lewis  United States 25 August 1991 Tokyo
8. 9.86 −0.4 Frank Fredericks  Namibia 3 July 1996 Lausanne
8. 9.86 +1.8 Ato Boldon  Trinidad and Tobago 19 April 1998 Walnut
8. 9.86 +0.6 Francis Obikwelu  Portugal 22 August 2004 Athens
  • Justin Gatlin briefly held the out-right world record of 9.76 from 12 May 2006 until 17 May 2006, when the IAAF corrected his time of 9.766, in order to round it up to 9.77, in accordance with IAAF rules. [1]

Top ten all-time athletes — women

Updated by July 27, 2005

Rank Time Athlete Nation Date Location
1. 10.49 Florence Griffith Joyner  United States 16 July 1988 Indianapolis
2. 10.65 Marion Jones  United States 12 September 1998 Johannesburg
3. 10.73 Christine Arron  France 19 August 1998 Budapest
4. 10.74 Merlene Ottey  Jamaica 7 September 1996 Milan
5. 10.76 Evelyn Ashford  United States 22 August 1984 Zürich
6. 10.77 Irina Privalova  Russia 6 July 1994 Lausanne
6. 10.77 Ivet Lalova  Bulgaria 19 June 2004 Plovdiv
8. 10.78 Dawn Sowell  United States 3 June 1989 Provo
9. 10.79 Li Xuemei  China 18 October 1997 Shanghai
9. 10.79 Inger Miller  United States 22 August 1999 Seville

See also

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