The shortest common outdoor running distance, the 100-meter (109.36 yd) dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics.

On an outdoor 400-metre running track, the 100 m is held on the home straight, with the start usually being set on an extension to make it a straight-line race.

A race-official then fires the starter's pistol to signal the race beginning and the sprinters stride forwards from the blocks.

The 10-second barrier has historically been a barometer of fast men's performances, while the best female sprinters take eleven seconds or less to complete the race.

However, this rule allowed some major races to be restarted so many times that the sprinters started to lose focus.

To avoid such abuse and to improve spectator enjoyment, the IAAF implemented a further change in the 2010 season – a false starting athlete now receives immediate disqualification.

[12][13] Runners usually reach their top speed just past the halfway point of the race and progressively decelerate to the finish.

Maintaining that top speed for as long as possible is a primary focus of training for the 100 m.[14] Pacing and running tactics do not play a significant role in the 100 m, as success in the event depends more on pure athletic qualities and technique.

The winner, by IAAF Competition Rules, is determined by the first athlete with their torso (not including limbs, head, or neck) over the nearer edge of the finish line.

The extraordinary nature of this result and those of several other sprinters in this race raised the possibility of a technical malfunction with the wind gauge which read at 0.0 m/s – a reading which was at complete odds to the windy conditions on the day with high wind speeds being recorded in all other sprints before and after this race as well as the parallel long jump runway at the time of the Griffith-Joyner performance.

Jim Hines, Ronnie Ray Smith and Charles Greene were the first to break the 10-second barrier in the 100 m, all on 20 June 1968, the Night of Speed.

Only times that are superior to legal bests are shown: As of August 2024[update][65][66] Any performance with a following wind of more than 2.0 metres per second is not counted for record purposes.