The 10 fastest women in 100m history

With the Olympics right around the corner, one of the most highly anticipated events is the women's 100m sprint. Here are the ten fastest women in history!

The fastest recorded woman in history is USA's Florence Griffith-Joyner, who ran a 10.49s 100m at the US Olympic trials in 1988. She secured double Olympic gold at the Seoul Games, winning the 100 and 200m.

Three weeks after winning 100m Olympic gold in Tokyo, Jamaica's Elaine Thompson-Herah became the second-fastest woman in history, recording a time of 10.54s at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Eugene, Oregon. She beat Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce to win the race.

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At the 2021 Diamond League meet in Switzerland, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce clocked a time of 10.60s to beat Olympic champion Thompson-Herah by 0.04 seconds. The Jamaican won gold in the 100m at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games, the Olympic website reports.

Former 100m world champion Carmelita Jeter ran a time of 10.64s at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix in 2009, becoming the second fastest woman ever at the time. She is an Olympic silver medallist in the 100m and gold medallist in the 4x100m relay.

Disgraced runner Marion Jones was banned from athletics and stripped of her gold medals at the 2000 Olympic Games. Before she took PEDs, Jones ran the fifth fastest time in the women's 100m, posting a time of 10.65s at the 1998 World Championships in South Africa.

Sha'Carri Richardson clocked her best time of 10.65s in the 100m World Championship final in Budapest in 2023, securing world champion status. The American beat defending champion Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson after trailing them in the early meters.

At the Jamaican Championships in 2023, Shericka Jackson recorded her best-ever time of 10.65s. The five-time Olympic medallist is part of an elite crew that sits 0.16s behind the world record of Griffith-Joyner.

At the 2022 Monaco Diamond League meeting, Ivorian Marie-Josee Ta Lou became the fastest African woman in history, recording a time of 10.72s. She has the sixth fastest time in women's 100m history.

France's Christine Arron set her record-best time of 10.73s at the 100m European Championship final in Budapest in 1998, securing the European gold medal. Her time is still a European record, according to the World Athletics website.

One of Jamaica's original sprinting legends is Merlene Ottey, who ran her best 100m time of 10.74s at the 1996 IAAF Grand Prix in Milan, beating Olympic champion Gail Devers by 0.09s. She won nine Olympic medals, but none of them were gold.

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