[1] In the first round, former world record holder Kendra Harrison ran 12.24, equalling her own #4 performance in history, leaving her with three of the top 5 races ever.

Charlton maintained that advantage as Camacho-Quinn and Harrison were trying to reel her in while Ali was hitting hurdles.

Almost unnoticed in lane 2, Williams was getting up a head of steam, pulling even with Charlton by the fifth hurdle and taking a clear lead by the seventh.

Camacho-Quinn closed quickly to make a photo finish with Williams, leaving Harrison with bronze.

Before the competition records were as follows:[2] The standard to qualify automatically for entry was 12.78 seconds.