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 100 metres hurdles, or 100-meter hurdles, is a track and field event run mainly by women. For the race, ten hurdles of a height of 33 inches (83.8 cm) are placed along a straight course of 100 metres (109.36 yd). The first hurdle is placed after a run-up of 13 metres from the starting line. The next 9 hurdles are set at a distance of 8.5 metres from each other, and the home stretch from the last hurdle to the finish line is 10.5 metres long. The hurdles are set up so that they will fall over if bumped into by the runner, but weighted so this is disadvantageous. Fallen hurdles do not count against runners provided that they do not run into them on purpose. Like the 100 metres sprint, the 100 m hurdles begins with athletes in starting blocks.
Derval O'Rourke is an Irish former sprint hurdles athlete. She competed internationally in the 60 and 100 metres hurdles, and is the Irish national record holder in the former. She participated in two Indoor World Championships, five Outdoor World Championships and the 2004, 2008, and 2012 Summer Olympics.
Sally Pearson, OAM is a retired Australian athlete who competed in the 100 metre hurdles. She is the 2011 and 2017 World champion and 2012 Olympic champion in the 100 metres hurdles. She also won a silver medal in the 100 m hurdles at the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2013 World Championships.
Jason Smyth is an Irish retired sprint runner. He competes in the T13 disability sport classification as he is legally blind, with his central vision being affected by Stargardt's disease; he also competes in elite non-Paralympic competition. As of July 2014, Smyth holds T13 World records in the 100m and 200m events.
Kay Morley-Brown is a British former athlete who competed in the 100 metres hurdles. Representing Wales, she won the 1990 Commonwealth Games 100 metres hurdles title, and went on to represent Great Britain at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Her sister, Sue Morley, is also a former international hurdler.
Tiffany Adaeze Porter is a track and field athlete with joint British and American nationality who specialises in the 100 metres hurdles. She represented the United States as a junior, but began representing Great Britain in 2010 on joining the senior ranks after moving to England and competed for Great Britain at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
Zharnel Hughes is an Anguilla-born British sprinter who specialises in the 100 metres and 200 metres. Born and raised in the British Overseas Territory of Anguilla, he has competed internationally for Great Britain in the Olympic Games, World Athletics and European Athletics events, and for England at the Commonwealth Games, since 2015. A double Commonwealth Games, double European Championships gold medalist as part of the 4 x 100 metres relay, Hughes has twice been European champion individually; over 100 metres in 2018, and 200 metres in 2022. In 2023, he broke both British sprint records, before winning his first global individual medal, a bronze in the 100 metres at the 2023 World championships.
Geraldina Rachel Asher-Smith, is a British sprinter internationally active since 2011. In 2019 she was the first British woman to win a World title in a sprint event.
Ewa Nikola Swoboda is a Polish track and field sprinter who specialises in the short sprints. She is a three-time European Indoor Championships medallist in the 60 metres, having won the gold medal in 2019 and silvers in 2017 and 2023.
Kendra "Keni" Harrison is an American hurdler. Harrison held the world record in the women's 100 metres hurdles with a time of 12.20 seconds, set on July 22, 2016 at the London Müller Anniversary Games, breaking the previous world record of 12.21 seconds achieved nearly 28 years earlier by Bulgarian athlete Yordanka Donkova.
Elaine Thompson-Herah 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 third fastest ever in the 200 m.
Devynne Ashtyn Charlton is a Bahamian athlete specialising in the 100 metres hurdles.
Oluwatobiloba Ayomide "Tobi" Amusan is a Nigerian track and field athlete who specialises in the 100 metres hurdles and also competes as a sprinter. Amusan is the current world record holder in the 100 metres hurdles with a time of 12.12 seconds which she set at the 2022 women's 100 metres hurdles semi-final in Eugene, Oregon. She is the current Commonwealth and African champion in the 100 m hurdles, as well as the meet record holder in those two competitions. Amusan became the first ever Nigerian world champion and world record holder in an athletics event when she won the 2022 World Championships 100 m hurdles gold medal, setting the current world record of 12.12 seconds (+0.9 m/s) in the semi-final, followed up by a 12.06 seconds (+2.5 m/s) in the final. She won back-to-back Commonwealth and African titles in 2018 and 2022 in the 100 m hurdles and is also a two-time African Games champion. She is also the current Diamond league champion in the 100 metres hurdles having won the final in 12.33 seconds (+1.8 m/s) achieving a winning streak in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
Natalia Kaczmarek is a Polish sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres. She is the 2024 European champion as well as the European silver medalist from 2022. She also won the bronze medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics. Kaczmarek earned several global medals as part of 4 x 400 m relays, including gold in the mixed event and silver in the women's event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Imani-Lara Lansiquot is an English sprinter who competes mainly in the 100 metres. She finished fourth in the 100 metres finals at both the 2016 IAAF World U20 Championships and the 2017 European U23 Championships. In the 4 × 100 metres relay, she won a gold medal at the 2018 European Championships, silver at the 2019 World Championships, and bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Her 100 metres best of 10.99 secs, ranks her third on the UK all-time list.
Sha'Carri Richardson is an American track and field sprinter who competes in the 100 meters and 200 meters races. Richardson rose to fame in 2019 as a freshman at Louisiana State University, running 10.75 seconds to break the 100 m collegiate record at the NCAA Division I Championships. This winning time made her one of the ten fastest women in history at 19 years old.
Cyréna Samba-Mayela is a French athlete who competes in the 60 metres hurdles and 100 metres hurdles. She won the gold medal in the 60 m hurdles at the 2022 World Indoor Championships, a silver medal at the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships where she lowered the current French national record to 7.73 seconds, and the gold medal at the 2024 European Athletics Championships, where she established a new personal best, national record and championship record at 12.31 seconds. At the 2024 Summer Olympics, Samba-Mayela won a silver medal in the 100 m hurdles event.
Julien Alfred is a Saint Lucian sprinter. She won the gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in the 100 metres event, setting a new national record of 10.72s in the final. Her medal was the first-ever Olympic medal for Saint Lucia. She then won a silver in the 200 metres. Alfred also won the gold medal in the 60 metres at the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships.
Molly Scott is an Irish track and field athlete. She is a multiple Irish 60m national champion as well as the national record holder over that distance. She has been called “Ireland's fastest woman”.
