What is the world record for the 100 meters?
The men's 100-meter world record is 9.58 seconds, set by Usain Bolt in Berlin in 2009. The women's record is 10.49 seconds, set by Florence Griffith-Joyner in 1988.
Bolt's 9.58 broke his own previous record of 9.69 from the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The next-fastest times in history belong to Tyson Gay and Yohan Blake, at 9.69. Since then, no sprinter has come within a tenth of a second of Bolt's mark.
Florence Griffith-Joyner set the women's record at the US Olympic Trials in Indianapolis in 1988. The closest anyone has come since is Elaine Thompson-Herah of Jamaica, who ran 10.54 in 2021.
How records are set
World Athletics only accepts records with legal wind assistance of no more than 2 meters per second and electronic timing to the hundredth of a second. The first official 100-meter record under 10 seconds was 9.95, by Jim Hines of the United States at the 1968 Olympics.
Did You Know?
At top speed, elite sprinters cover each meter in less than a tenth of a second, and races are timed with cameras that capture thousands of frames per second.