The women's 100 metres at the 2023 World Athletics Championships was held at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest on 19 and 20 August 2023.[1]
The field had five of the fastest eight of all time: #3 defending champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, #5 Shericka Jackson, the world leader for 2023, #7 Sha'Carri Richardson; and #8 Marie-Josée Ta Lou. In the semi-finals, Jackson, Richardson and Ta Lou were all in semi #2, with only two automatic qualifiers. Jackson and Ta Lou ended up in a virtual tie at 10.79 leaving Richardson to have to wait in the holding room. Her 10.84 easily held up but because she finished third in the semis, she was given an outside lane in the final.
In the final, the slowest qualifier Ewa Swoboda got the marginally best start, but the field got out to a fairly even start, save Richardson who was slightly behind. "Mommy Rocket” Fraser-Pryce did not get out to her typical dominating start. Over the next 30 metres, Fraser-Pryce, Jackson and Swoboda gained a slight edge on the rest of the field. Out in lane 9, Richardson recaptured the lost ground from the start to pull even with Ta Lou and Swoboda. With 40 meters to go, Jackson had gained a slight edge on Fraser-Pryce, but Swoboda had not gone away. Behind them, Julien Alfred, Ta Lou and Richardson had emerged from the others. Coming into the finish, the two Jamaican athletes were focusing on each other in the center of the track as Richardson picked off Asher-Smith, Swoboda, Ta Lou, Fraser-Pryce, and finally Jackson with 15 meters to go. Richardson crossed the line with her arms outstretched and emerged victorious by .07 seconds, Jackson in 2nd and the defending champion Fraser-Pryce in 3rd. Not only did Richardson win the World Championship, she beat Fraser-Pryce's Championship Record and tied Marion Jones and Jackson's time earlier in the season as #5 of all time.
Before the competition records were as follows:[2]
The following records were set at the competition:
The standard to qualify automatically for entry was 11.08 seconds.[3]
The event schedule, in local time (UTC+2), is as follows:[1]
Round 1 took place on 19 August, with the 56 athletes involved being split into 7 heats of 8 athletes each. The first 3 athletes in each heat ( Q ) and the next 3 fastest ( q ) qualified for the semi-final. The overall results were as follows:[4]
Wind:
The semi-final took place on 21 August, with the 24 athletes involved being split into 3 heats of 8 athletes each (using lanes 2 to 9). The first 2 athletes in each heat ( Q ) and the next 2 fastest ( q ) qualified for the final. The overall results were as follows:[5]
Wind:
Heat 1: −0.4 m/s, Heat 2: −0.4 m/s, Heat 3: −0.1 m/s
The final started at 21:50 on 21 August. The results were as follows:[6]
Wind: +0.8 m/s