Everything about 100 Metres totally explained
100 m (one hundred
metres) is the shortest outdoor
sprint race distance in
athletics. The reigning 100 m Olympic champion is often named "the fastest man/woman in the world".
In the past, athletes often competed over
100 yards (91 m) instead of the 100 m, especially in the United States. This shorter distance is now obsolete. Indoors events are normally held over 60 m (sometimes 50 m or 55 m) as few facilities have a 100 m indoor straight.
On an outdoor 400 m running track, the 100 m is run on the home straight, the start being set on an extension to make it a straight-line race. Illegal drug use has been seen by some people as a means to gain a competitive edge; in particular, the scandal at the
1988 Summer Olympics when the winner
Ben Johnson was stripped of his medal.
Record performances
Major 100 m races, such as at the
Olympic Games, attract much attention, particularly when the world record is thought to be within reach.
The men's world record has been improved upon ten times since the introduction of electronic timing in 1968, never being surpassed by more than 0.05 s at a time. The current men's world record of 9.74 s is held by
Asafa Powell of
Jamaica, set in
Rieti,
Italy on
9 September 2007. The current women's world record of 10.49 s was set by
Florence Griffith-Joyner, in
Indianapolis, Indiana on
16 July 1988.
Due to the progression of record times compared to longer distances, the downward march of the 100 m record has been criticized as more a measure of technological advances than athletic greatness.
Start
At the start, some athletes play psychological games such as trying to be last to the starting blocks, although direct intimidation would be considered unsportsmanlike. The starter will keep the sprinters in the set position for an unpredictable time of around two seconds and then fire the starting gun.
The time between the gun and first kick against the starting block is measured electronically, via sensors built in the gun and the blocks. A reaction time less than 0.1 s is considered a false start. The 0.1-second interval accounts for the sum of the time it takes for the sound of the starter's pistol to reach the runners' ears, and the time it takes for a human to react to it.
For many years a sprinter was disqualified if responsible for two false starts individually. However, this rule was allowing some major races to be restarted so many times that the sprinters started to lose focus. The new rule is that, after one false start, anyone responsible for a subsequent false start is disqualified immediately. This rule has led to some sprinters deliberately false-starting to gain a psychological advantage: an individual with a slower reaction time might false-start, forcing the faster starters to wait and be sure of hearing the gun for the subsequent start, thereby losing some of their advantage.
Climatic conditions
Climatic conditions are a crucial factor for good performances in the 100 m. Air resistance is the primary climatic factor in sprint performances. A strong head wind is very detrimental to performance, while a tail wind can improve performances significantly. For this reason, a maximum tail wind of 2.0 m/s is allowed for a 100 m performance to be considered eligible for records, or "wind legal". Furthermore, sprint athletes perform better at high altitudes because of the thinner air, which provides less air resistance. While there are no limitations on altitude, performances made at altitudes greater than 1000 m above sea level are marked with an "A".
For example, on
13 April 1996,
Obadele Thompson of
Barbados ran the fastest 100 m race ever
in
El Paso, Texas. He was clocked at 9.69 s. However, it was achieved with a tail wind in excess of 5 m/s, well over the IAAF legal limit of 2.0 m/s, and the mark wasn't officially recognized.
Fastest 100 metres runners
Top thirteen all-time athletes — men
Updated
19 April 2008
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