The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the 100-meter (109.36 yd) dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1928 for women. The inaugural World Championships were in 1983.
The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightly shorter race, called the stadion and run on a straight track, was the first recorded event at the ancient Olympic Games. The 200 m places more emphasis on speed endurance than shorter sprint distances as athletes predominantly rely on anaerobic energy system during the 200 m sprint. Similarly to other sprint distances, the 200 m begins from the starting blocks. When the sprinters adopt the 'set' position in the blocks they are able to adopt a more efficient starting posture and isometrically preload their muscles. This enables them to stride forwards more powerfully when the race begins and start faster.
Gabrielle Lisa Thomas is an American track and field athlete in 100 and 200 meter sprint. She won the bronze medal in the 200 m and a silver as part of the women's 4 × 100 m relay at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. On August 25, 2023, she claimed the 200m silver medal in the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest with a time of 21.81 seconds. She would also go on to win gold as part of Team USA in the women's 4x100m relay final with a championship record of 41.03 seconds.
The 10-second barrier is the physical and psychological barrier of completing the 100 metres sprint in under ten seconds. The achievement is traditionally regarded as the hallmark of a world-class male sprinter. Its significance has become less important since the late 1990s, as an increasing number of runners have surpassed the ten seconds mark. The current men's world record holder is Usain Bolt, who ran a 9.58 at the 2009 IAAF World Championship competition.
Kathy Bergen is an American Masters athletics track and field athlete. She is the current world record holder in the W70 100 meters and the high jump. She also holds the Indoor World records for the W65 high jump, the W70 60 meters, 200 meters and high jump. And she holds the American record for the W70 200 meters and the W65 high jump. She is the oldest woman to break the 15 second barrier in the 100 meters and to break 32 seconds in the 200 meters. She is also the first 70-year-old woman to jump 1.30 meters in the high jump at USATF Masters Championships in Sacramento in 2010.
Dalilah Muhammad is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the 400 meters hurdles. She is the 2016 Rio Olympics champion and 2020 Tokyo Olympics silver medalist, becoming at the latter the then-second-fastest woman of all time in the event with her personal best of 51.58 seconds. Muhammad was second at both the 2013 and 2017 World Championships to take her first gold in 2019, setting the former world record of 52.16 s. She was the second female 400 m hurdler in history, after Sally Gunnell, to have won the Olympic, World titles and broken the world record. At both the 2019 World Championships and Tokyo Games, she also took gold as part of women's 4 × 400 metres relay team.
Frentorish "Tori" Bowie was an American track and field athlete, who primarily competed in the long jump, 100 meters, and 200 meters. She won the silver medal in the 100 m and bronze in the 200 m at the 2016 Rio Olympics, bronze and gold in the 100 m at the 2015 and 2017 World Championships, respectively, and also earned gold medals as part of U.S. women's 4 × 100 m relays at both the 2016 Olympic Games and 2017 World Championships.
Trayvon Jaquez Bromell is an American professional track and field athlete specializing in sprinting events. He won bronze medals in the 100 meters at the 2015 and 2022 World Championships. Bromell was the 2016 World indoor 60 meters champion, and competed for the United States at the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He was the first junior to break the 10-second barrier in the 100 meters with a time of 9.97 seconds, the former junior world record.
Kaylin Whitney is an American track and field athlete, specializing in sprinting events. Over a two-day period, at the USATF Junior Championships in Eugene, Oregon, July 5 and 6, 2014, she set the world youth bests for 100 meters and 200 meters. Her 100-meter time, set on July 5 was 11.10 with an aiding wind of +0.9 mps. Her 200-meter time was 22.49 was set on July 6 with an aiding wind of +1.3. Youth bests can be set by athletes who will not reach their 18th birthday within the calendar year of competition. Her "bests" will also count as bests on the continental and national level.
Candace Kathryn Hill is an American track and field athlete who competes in the 100 metres and 200 metres. She graduated from Rockdale County High School. She became the world's first high school woman to break the 11-second barrier clocking 10.98 in the 100 meters sprint at the 2015 Brooks PR Invitational on 21 June 2015 in Shoreline, Washington, United States. Her mark, quickly ratified, is the world youth best, the terminology for world record among athletes before the year of their 18th birthday. Since the mark was set outside of the sanctioned NFHS season, the mark is not eligible for the NFHS High School Record. Out of season marks like this are recognized by Track and Field News which has not yet published it as the National High School Record. Candace Hill is the first US high school female to run under 11.10 for 100 meters.
Elaine Sandra-Lee Thompson-Herah OD is a Jamaican sprinter who competes in the 60 metres, 100 metres and 200 metres. Regarded as one of the greatest sprinters of all time, she is a five-time Olympic champion, the fastest woman alive in the 100 m, and the second fastest alive in the 200 m.
Michael Arthur Norman Jr. is an American sprinter. He holds the world best time in the indoor 400 meters at 44.52 seconds. Outdoors, his 43.45, set at the 2019 Mt. SAC Relays is tied as the #4 on the all time list. In 2016, he became the world junior champion in both the 200 meters and 4×100 meter relay. In 2022, he became the world champion in both the 400 meters and 4x400 meter relay.
Christian Coleman is an American professional track and field sprinter who competes in the 100 meters and 200 meters. The 2019 world champion in the 100 meters, he also won gold as part of men's 4 × 100-meter relay. He holds personal bests of 9.76 seconds for the 100 m, which made him the 6th fastest all-time in the history of 100 metres event, and 19.85 for the 200 m. Coleman is the world indoor record holder for the 60 meters with 6.34 seconds. He was the Diamond League champion in 2018 & 2023 and the world number one ranked runner in the men's 100 m for the 2017, 2018 and 2019 seasons.
Noah Lyles is an American professional track and field sprinter competing in the 100 meters and 200 meters. He is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic 200 m bronze medalist and a six-time World champion, having won the 200 m and 4 x 100 m at the 2019 World Championships, the 200 m at the 2022 World Championships, and the 100 m, 200 m, and 4 x 100 m events at the 2023 World Championships, becoming the first man since Usain Bolt in 2015 to complete the sprint treble at a World Championships. At the 2022 Championships, Lyles also earned a silver medal in the 4 × 100 m relay. He holds personal bests of 9.83 seconds for the 100 m and 19.31 seconds for the 200 m, the latter being an American record making him the third fastest on the respective world all-time list.
Fredrick Lee Kerley is an American professional track and field sprinter who started his career competing in the 400 meters until 2020, when he transitioned to the 100 meters and 200 meters. He has earned several medals at the World Championships in the 400 m and 4 × 400 m relay including an individual bronze and a relay gold at the 2019 edition. Kerley claimed 100 m gold in the 2022 edition.
Aleia Hobbs is an American professional track and field athlete specializing in the sprints. She won three global medals as part of national women's 4 × 100 meters relays. Hobbs is the North American indoor record holder for the 60 m with a time of 6.94 seconds set in February 2023, becoming the second-fastest woman of all time at the event.
Chase Foster Ealey is an American track and field athlete specializing in throwing events. She won the gold medal at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in women’s shot put, which made her the first American woman to win a shot put world title at the World Athletics Championships. She won on the first attempt which, according to Olympic historian Bill Mallon, made her the first woman’s shot put world champion to win on the first attempt.
