Olympics: Women's 100m Preview

Women’s 100m

Preliminary Round 10:55 AM Friday, August 12^th

Heats 9:40 PM Friday, August 12^th

Semi-Finals 8:00 PM Saturday, August 13^th

Finals 9:35 PM Saturday, August 13^th

World Record: Florence Griffith-Joyner (USA) 10.49, 1988

Best Mark Past 10 Years: Carmelita Jeter (USA) 10.64, 2009

Olympic Record: Florence Griffith-Joyner (USA) 10.62, 1988

A Standard: 11.32

2012 Olympic Medalists

Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce (Jamaica) 10.75, Carmelita Jeter (USA) 10.78, Veronica Cambell Brown (Jamaica) 10.81

2015 World Championship Medalists

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (Jamaica) 10.76, Dafne Schippers (Netherlands) 10.81, Tori Bowi (USA) 10.86

2016 World Leaders

Elain Thompson (Jamaica) 10.70, English Gardner (USA) 10.74, T-Murielle Ahoure (Ivory Coast), Tianna Bartoletta (USA), Tori Bowie (USA) 10.78

Team USA

English Gardner, 24 (10.74/10.74), Tianna Bartoletta, 30 (10.78/10.78), Tori Bowie, 25 (10.78/10.78)

There’s been plenty of talk about Usain Bolt and his pursuit of a third straight Olympic Gold, but don’t overlook Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce. SAFP is also looking for a third straight gold and she would, technically, grab it before gold if she wins Saturday night’s final. But she will have a lot of ground to make up on the competition. She has only run 10.93 this season and she couldn’t pull out the win in most recent Diamond League appearance either. That win belonged to Marie Josse Ta Lou of the Ivory Coast who ran under 11 seconds for the first time in London. She’s part of an intriguing duo for the Ivory Coast that includes Murielle Ahoure, who has a season best of 10.78 this year and has run under 11 seconds each of the past 5 seasons.

You also have Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands in the hunt for a medal. She has run 10.83 this season and is the defending world silver medalist in this event. She’s actually better at the 200 (she ran a blistering 21.63 last year) but ran 10.81 for 100 last season will only get stronger during the rounds. The experienced Veronica Campbell-Brown is on the performance list as well. She holds a best of 10.76 but that time came in 2011. She’s now 34 years old, but she still managed to run a 10.83 (tied for 6^th in the world this season) in Florida against Ahoure.

But those fast ladies will all be chasing four of the fastest women of all time. Elaine Thompson clocked an amazing 10.70 this season in Kingston on July 1^st. That’s tied for 5^th all time (and one of the women ahead of her is Marion Jones). She ran 10.84 last season as well, but competed in only the 200 for Jamaica at the World Championships (where she ran 21.66 for 2^nd, that’s a faster PR than Allyson Felix). She clearly has that extra strength to run her best marks at the rounds.

Then there are the US women: English Gardner, Tianna Bartoletta and Tori Bowie. At the trials, they each ran under 10.80 in the 100m, joining an elite group of USA women all time. Gardner is the 4^th fastest US woman 100m runner in history and Bartoletta and Bowie were both right behind her. Tianna is the defending world champion in the long jump (she will contest that event in Rio as well) and Bowie is the defending bronze medalist from worlds. So neither of them are slouches in the talent department either.

Gardner was surprisingly bounced in the semis last year, but she was fourth in Moscow at the 2013 championships. She won the Prefontaine DL meet in 10.81 and the Oregon grad looks incredibly sharp and motivated to leave with a medal for the first time. Bowie has also been a beast on the international circuit in 2016. She’s US champ at 200, so she’s got the strength, but she also ran a 10.80 in May at Doha to win the DL there (over Dafne Schippers). Bartoletta tends to focus more on the Long Jump, but she was the 4^th place finisher in London in 2012. I doubt she’s forgot that just yet.

This one is a tough one to call. It really seems like Fraser-Pryce may not have the fitness to compete this year. But it’s hard to count out such an accomplished 100m runner going for history. The thing is, if she is even slightly off her game, there’s too much talent in this event to get a medal without your best stuff. So for that reason, I’ve left her out of my top 3. USA could potentially sweep the medals (these girls are that good), but I’m not completely sold just yet (Eugene produced some fast/long straightaway marks at the Trials). I actually like Bowie the most of the three as a medal threat although she was 3^rd at the trials.

1.      Thompson, 2. Schippers, 3. Bowie