Women's 100 metres world record progression explained

The first world record in the 100 metres sprint for women was recognised by the Fédération Sportive Féminine Internationale (FSFI) in 1922. The FSFI was absorbed by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) in 1936. The current record is 10.49 seconds set by Florence Griffith-Joyner in 1988.

To June 21, 2009, the IAAF (and the FSFI before it) have ratified 43 world records in the event.

Records 1922–1976

ratified
bgcolor=	not ratified

The "Wind" column in the table below indicates the wind assistance in metres per second. 2.0 m/s is the current maximum allowable, and a negative value indicates that the mark was set against a headwind. the "Auto" column indicates a fully automatic time that was also recorded in the event when hand-timed marks were used for official records, or which was the basis for the official mark, rounded to the 10th or 100th of a second, depending on the rules then in place. A "y" indicates a distance measured in yards and ratified as a world record in this event.

Time	Wind	Auto	Athlete	Nationality	Location	Date
13.6			Marie Mejzlíková		Prague, Czechoslovakia	August 5, 1922[1]
12.8			Mary Lines		Paris, France	August 20, 1922
12.7 (110y)			Emmi Haux		Frankfurt, Germany	May 21, 1923
12.8			Marie Mejzlíková		Prague, Czechoslovakia	May 13, 1923
12.4			Leni Schmidt		Leipzig, Germany	August 30, 1925
12.2 (110y)			Leni Junker		Wiesbaden, Germany	September 13, 1925
12.4			Gundel Wittmann		Braunschweig, Germany	August 22, 1926
12.2			Leni Junker		Hanover, Germany	August 29, 1926
12.1 (110y)			Gertrud Gladitsch		Stuttgart, Germany	July 3, 1927
12.2			Kinue Hitomi		Osaka, Japan	May 20, 1928
12.0			Betty Robinson		Chicago, Illinois, United States	June 2, 1928
12.0			Myrtle Cook		Halifax, Canada	July 2, 1928
12.0			Leni Junker		Magdeburg, Germany	August 1, 1931
12.0			Tollien Schuurman		Amsterdam, Netherlands	August 31, 1930
11.9					Haarlem, Netherlands	June 5, 1932
11.9			Stanisława Walasiewicz[2]		Los Angeles, United States	August 1, 1932
11.9			Hilda Strike		Los Angeles, United States	August 2, 1932
11.8			Stanisława Walasiewicz		Poznań, Poland	September 17, 1933
11.9			Käthe Krauß	Germany	London, England	August 11, 1934
11.7			Stanisława Walasiewicz		Warsaw, Poland	August 26, 1934
11.9			Helen Stephens		Fulton, United States	April 10, 1935
11.8					Saint Louis, United States	June 1, 1935
11.6			Helen Stephens		Kansas City, United States	June 8, 1935
11.5			Helen Stephens		Dresden, Germany	August 10, 1936
11.6			Stanisława Walasiewicz		Berlin, Germany	August 1, 1937
11.5			Lulu Mae Hymes			May 6, 1939
11.5			Rowena Harrison
11.5			Fanny Blankers-Koen		Amsterdam, Netherlands	September 5, 1943
11.5			Fanny Blankers-Koen		Amsterdam, Netherlands	June 13, 1948
11.5	1.7	11.65	Marjorie Jackson		Helsinki, Finland	July 22, 1952
11.4	1.7				Gifu, Japan	October 4, 1952
11.3	1.4		Shirley Strickland		Warsaw, Poland	August 4, 1955
11.3	1.4		Vera Krepkina		Kyiv, Soviet Union	September 13, 1958
11.3	0.8	11.41	Wilma Rudolph		Rome, Italy	September 2, 1960
11.2	0.7				Stuttgart, West Germany	July 19, 1961
11.2	0.2	11.23	Wyomia Tyus		Tokyo, Japan	October 15, 1964
11.1	2.0		Ewa Kłobukowska		Prague, Czechoslovakia	July 9, 1965[3] [4]
11.1	2.0		Irena Kirszenstein		Prague, Czechoslovakia	July 9, 1965
11.1	0.2		Wyomia Tyus		Kyiv, Soviet Union	July 31, 1965
11.1	0.3		Barbara Ferrell		Santa Barbara, United States	July 2, 1967
11.1			Wyomia Tyus		Mexico City, Mexico	April 21, 1968
11.1	0.0		Lyudmila Samotyosova		Leninakan, Soviet Union	August 15, 1968
11.1			Margaret Bailes		Aurora, Philippines	August 18, 1968
11.1			Barbara Ferrell		Mexico City, Mexico	October 14, 1968
11.1	1.8	11.20	Irena Szewińska		Mexico City, Mexico	October 14, 1968
11.0	1.2	11.08 (adjusted)	Wyomia Tyus			October 15, 1968
11.0	1.9	11.22	Chi Cheng		Vienna, Austria	July 18, 1970
11.0	1.9		Renate Meißner		Berlin, East Germany	August 2, 1970
11.0	1.7		Renate Stecher (née Meißner)			July 31, 1971
11.0	−1.5				Potsdam, East Germany	June 3, 1972
11.0	1.9		Ellen Strophal			June 15, 1972
11.0	1.4		Eva Glesková		Budapest, Hungary	July 1, 1972
10.9	1.9		Renate Stecher (née Meißner)		Ostrava, Czechoslovakia	June 7, 1973
10.9			Renate Stecher (née Meißner)		Leipzig, East Germany	June 30, 1973
10.8	1.8	11.07	Renate Stecher (née Meißner)		Dresden, East Germany	July 20, 1973

Records from 1975

From 1975, the IAAF accepted separate automatically electronically timed records for events up to 400 metres. Starting January 1, 1977, the IAAF required fully automatic timing to the hundredth of a second for these events.^[1]

Wyomia Tyus's 1968 Olympic gold medal performance and Renate Stecher's 1972 Olympic championship win, both in 11.07, were the fastest recorded fully electronic 100-metre races to that time and were ratified as world records. However, Tyus's 11.07 was later adjusted to 11.08.^[1]

Time	Wind	Athlete	Nationality	Location	Date
11.07	1.2	Wyomia Tyus		Mexico City, Mexico	October 15, 1968
11.07	0.2	Renate Stecher (née Meißner)		Munich, West Germany	September 2, 1972
11.04	0.6	Inge Helten		Fürth, West Germany	June 13, 1976
11.01	0.6	Annegret Richter		Montreal, Canada	July 25, 1976
10.88	2.0	Marlies Oelsner		Dresden, East Germany	July 1, 1977
10.88	1.9	Marlies Göhr		Karl-Marx-Stadt, East Germany	July 9, 1982
10.81	1.7			Berlin, East Germany	June 8, 1983
10.79	0.6	Evelyn Ashford		US Air Force Academy, United States	July 3, 1983
10.76	1.7			Zürich, Switzerland	August 22, 1984
10.49	0.0*	Florence Griffith-Joyner		Indianapolis, United States	July 16, 1988

• There is controversy over Griffith-Joyner's world record as questions have been raised as to whether the wind actually was zero, as indicated by the trackside anemometer. The triple-jump anemometer, some 10 metres away, read 4.3 m/s, more than double the acceptable limit.^[5] Despite the controversy, the record was ratified by the IAAF.

Had this mark been ignored, the progression would have continued as follows:

Time	Wind	Athlete	Nationality	Location	Date
10.70	1.6	Florence Griffith-Joyner		Indianapolis, United States	July 17, 1988
10.61	1.2
10.61	−0.6	Elaine Thompson-Herah		Tokyo, Japan	July 31, 2021[6]
10.54	0.9			Eugene, United States	August 21, 2021[7]

See also

• Men's 100 metres world record progression
• Sprints

Notes and References

1. Web site: 12th IAAF World Championships In Athletics: IAAF Statistics Handbook. Berlin 2009. . IAAF Media & Public Relations Department . Monte Carlo . Pages 546, 640 . 2009 . July 29, 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110629134819/http://www.iaaf.org/mm/document/competitions/competition/05/15/63/20090706014834_httppostedfile_p345-688_11303.pdf . June 29, 2011 .
2. Later identified as suffering from an inter-sex condition, and possible mosaicism.
3. Ewa Kłobukowska ran 11.1 to set a new world record along with teammate Irena Kirszenstein. But she was disqualified from competition in 1967 owing to a chromosome defect, and her world record was rescinded in 1970.
4. Web site: IAAF World Records Progression . 2015 . Hymans, Richard . Matrahazi, Imre . . July 18, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304074300/http://iaaf-ebooks.s3.amazonaws.com/2015/Progression-of-IAAF-World-Records-2015/projet/IAAF-WRPB-2015.pdf . March 4, 2016 . live . mdy-all .
5. Web site: ESPN Classics . June 29, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110606013739/http://espn.go.com/classic/biography/s/Griffith_Joyner_Florence.html . June 6, 2011 . live . mdy-all.
6. Web site: Athletics - Final results - Women's 100m. olympics.com. Tokyo 2020 Olympics. 2021-08-22. 2021-07-31. https://web.archive.org/web/20210731131926/https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/en/results/athletics/result-women-s-100m-fnl-000100-.htm. dead.
7. Web site: Results - 100m Women. sportresult.com. Wanda Diamond League, Eugene 2021. 2021-08-22. 2021-08-22. https://web.archive.org/web/20210822020647/https://livecache.sportresult.com/node/binaryData/ATH_PROD/EUGENE2021/PDF_RE1010040.PDF?h=QESwHM1DOSF8Cz0vlu2XIMRzuM8=. dead.