100m Sprint

The 100 meter sprint is the most widely-known sprint race among all sprint events. It is also the most prestigious racing event as this is the race that determines the fastest man or woman in the world. It takes place in the home straight of a regular 400 meter outdoor track, with the beginning usually requiring an extension so as to ensure a straight line.

While the 60 meter race is the race used to determine a runner's maximum speed, it has been noticed that those who rank highest in 60 meter dashes fail to excel in 100 meters. This is probably due in part to the added distance, as well as the ability to prolong one's maximum speed.

Since the 100 meter sprint is the most classic racing event, it is not surprising for prestigious competitions like the Olympics to have incidents of performance boosted by illegal narcotics. This was the case of Ben Johnson, who was summarily stripped of his medal when it was discovered that he used steroids to gain a competitive edge.

Since the world record is often within reach (records are beaten by the millisecond), the event is quite popular, especially with the advent of electronic timing, which can also process milliseconds. Since the dawn of electronic time measurement, the world record has been lowered several times, though not lower than 0.05 seconds.

A factor that affect a sprinter's performance is climactic conditions. A head wind, for example, is often disadvantageous to a racer due to increased air resistance, while a tail wind of equal speed will significantly improve a sprinter's performance. This is why tail wind restriction of a maximum of 2.0 m / second was implemented, in order for performances to fall within legal records.

Another climactic condition affecting this sprint is altitude. A higher altitude means thinner air, meaning less air resistance. There aren't restrictions on altitude restrictions, although altitudes higher than 1000 m are marked with “A,” which means, its of different caliber than other 100 m races.

So far, the record holder for world's fastest man is Asafa Powell of Jamaica, who ran 100 meters in 9.77 seconds in Athens. A very close second is Maurice Greene of the United States, who was only behind Asafa by .02 seconds, with a record of 9.79 seconds on his 100 meter dash in Athens. The world's fastest woman is Florence Griffith Joyner, who has a record of 10.49 seconds.