The Women's 100m at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea had an entry list of 64 competitors, with eight qualifying heats (64), four second-round races (32) and two semifinals (16), before the final (8) took off on Sunday September 25, 1988.

[1] These were the standing World and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1988 Summer Olympics.

The following Olympic records were set during this competition.

Wind +1.1 Wind +0.4 Wind +0.0 Wind +1.1 Wind +0.1 Wind +0.2 Wind +1.0 Wind +0.1 Wind +0.5 Wind +1.6 Wind +1.0 Wind +0.0 Wind +0.5 Wind +2.6 Wind +3.0 [2]