Jeter was the fastest qualifier in the heats,[2] and finished 0.02 seconds outside her personal best to win her quarter-final. Stewart was the fastest in the quarterfinals with 10.92 seconds, and Campbell-Brown won her race as the third athlete to run under eleven seconds that day.[3] On the second day of competition, Shelly-Ann Fraser ran the fastest ever semi-final in 10.79 seconds, with Stewart just behind in 10.84 seconds. Jeter ran a personal best of 10.83 seconds to reach the final, in which half the competitors were Jamaican.[4]
In the final, a quick start saw Fraser lead from the outset of the race and Stewart's late challenge was not enough to beat her compatriot. Stewart's personal-best-equalling 10.75 seconds earned her the silver medal, and Jeter took the bronze with a 10.90 second run, somewhat short of the time she produced in the semi-finals. The 2007 gold and silver medallists ran season's bests but missed out on the medals, with Campbell-Brown in fourth (10.95) and Williams in fifth (11.01). Fraser's win in 10.73 seconds was a Jamaican record and made her the joint third fastest 100 m athlete ever with Christine Arron. Furthermore, she became only the second woman to win consecutive Olympic and World Championship titles, after Gail Devers.[5] As amazing as her start appeared, Fraser only had the fourth fastest reaction time in the field.