What is the 100m world record?

Bolt ran 9.58 in the World Championships final in Berlin, a year after setting 9.69 at the Beijing Olympics. He took 0.11 seconds off his own record in one go, the biggest single cut since electronic timing began. For his splits and top speed, see Usain Bolt's speed.

Women's 100m world record

Griffith Joyner ran 10.49 in a quarterfinal at the 1988 U.S. Olympic Trials. The trackside gauge read 0.0 m/s, and that reading has been questioned ever since: World Athletics' own list shows her heat earlier the same day at 10.60 with a +3.2 tailwind. The record was ratified and still stands. Without it, the best legal time would be Thompson-Herah's 10.54.

Since 1 January 1977, records at 100m have had to be fully automatic, timed to the hundredth of a second. The tables start with the first electronically timed records. Jim Hines' 9.95 at the 1968 Olympics was the first sub-10 on an electronic clock, and it lasted almost 15 years.

Two of the fastest times of the 1980s are missing. Ben Johnson ran 9.83 in Rome in 1987 and 9.79 at the 1988 Seoul Olympics; the 9.79 was never ratified after his positive test, and the IAAF rescinded the 9.83 in 1989. Carl Lewis' 9.92 from that Seoul final became the record instead. Tim Montgomery's 9.78 from 2002 was also struck off.

These are the ten fastest athletes in history, each listed once with a best run in legal wind. Bolt also holds the second-fastest time ever, 9.63 at the 2012 London Olympics, and three of the top five performances.

Even with a strong tailwind, nobody has beaten either record. The fastest wind-aided men's 100m is Marcell Jacobs' 9.67 (+4.1) in Eisenstadt, Austria, on 1 July 2026, just ahead of Tyson Gay's 9.68 (+4.1) in Eugene in 2008. For women it is Griffith Joyner's 10.54 (+3.0) in the 1988 Olympic final in Seoul. None of these count for records or all-time lists, because the tailwind was over 2.0 m/s.

A simple way to picture the gap: when the record holder crosses the line, how far back would you be? At your average speed, the answer is 100 × (1 − record ÷ your time). A 12.00 is about 20.2 m behind Bolt.

Enter your own time below to see how it ranks for your age and level. The full tables are on the average 100m time page, and how fast can a human run covers the top speeds behind these records.

Comparing a hand-timed 100m

Stopwatches read fast. In a study of 40-yard sprints, hand timing came out 0.22–0.26 s quicker than electronic timing. Every time on this page is fully automatic.

Counting a wind-aided time

A tailwind over 2.0 m/s makes a time ineligible for any record. If your meet result shows a reading above +2.0, compare it with the wind-aided list.

Using a flying or standing start

Records start from blocks on the gun, and the time includes reaction. A time from a rolling start or one triggered by your first movement will look faster than it is.