100 metres

From Encyclopedia Jr, free information reference for Kids

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. 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 shared by Asafa Powell of Jamaica and Justin Gatlin of the United States. However, Gatlin's record is likely to be revoked after a positive doping test and its resulting 8-year competitive ban.

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.

Fastest 100 metre runners

Top ten all-time athletes — men

Updated August 22, 2006

Rank	Time	Wind (m/s)	Athlete	Nation	Date	Location
1	9.77	+1.6	Asafa Powell	Jamaica	14 June 2005	Athens
		+1.5			11 June 2006	Gateshead
		+1.0			18 August 2006	Zürich
		+1.7	Justin Gatlin[1]	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[2]	Canada	27 July 1996	Atlanta
		+0.2	Bruny Surin	Canada	22 August 1999	Seville
		+1.0	Tyson Gay	United States	18 August 2006	Zürich
7	9.85	+1.2	Leroy Burrell	United States	6 July 1994	Lausanne
		+1.7	Olusoji Fasuba	Nigeria	12 May 2006	Doha
9	9.86	+1.2	Carl Lewis	United States	25 August 1991	Tokyo
		−0.4	Frank Fredericks	Namibia	3 July 1996	Lausanne
		+1.8	Ato Boldon	Trinidad and Tobago	19 April 1998	Walnut
		+0.6	Francis Obikwelu	Portugal	22 August 2004	Athens

Notes

Top ten all-time athletes — women

Updated by July 27, 2005

Rank	Time	Wind (m/s)	Athlete	Nation	Date	Location
1	10.49	0.0	Florence Griffith Joyner	United States	16 July 1988	Indianapolis
2	10.65A	+1.1	Marion Jones	United States	12 September 1998	Johannesburg
3	10.73	+2.0	Christine Arron	France	19 August 1998	Budapest
4	10.74	+1.3	Merlene Ottey	Jamaica	7 September 1996	Milan
5	10.76	+1.7	Evelyn Ashford	United States	22 August 1984	Zürich
6	10.77	+0.9	Irina Privalova	Russia	6 July 1994	Lausanne
		+0.7	Ivet Lalova	Bulgaria	19 June 2004	Plovdiv
8	10.78A	+1.0	Dawn Sowell	United States	3 June 1989	Provo
9	10.79	0.0	Li Xuemei	China	18 October 1997	Shanghai
		−0.1	Inger Miller	United States	22 August 1999	Seville

See also

• World Record progression 100 m men
• World Record progression 100 m women