100 metres – Event Description & History

How it works

Runners race for 100m down the home straight of a 400m track. They start from blocks and run in lanes.

A reaction time – measured by sensors in the starting pistol and on the blocks – of less than 0.1 is deemed a false start and runners will be recalled, and the responsible athlete disqualified.

History

The ‘stade’ (192m race) was part of the Ancient Olympics. In more modern times, the 100 yards (91.44m) was adopted as the foremost sprint – it was part of the Commonwealth Games until 1966 – but the classic 100m distance, the Blue Riband event, has been part of the Olympics since 1896.

Did you know

Sprinters will typically reach their peak speed between 50m and 60m.

Gold standard

Of the 28 Olympic finals to date, US men have won more than half of them with 17. But Jamaica has taken the four most recent Olympic golds with Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce achieving back-to-back wins in 2008 and 2012.