Jesse Squire | On 14, Jul 2015

Recently we published our sub-10.00 statistical abstract on the men’s 100 meters. In the interest of fairness, it’s time to look at a comparable number for the women’s 100 meters: sub-11.00 seconds.

And it very much a comparable time. By my count*, sub-11.00 has been run 736 times by 87 women. As of last week, sub-10.00 had been run 742 times by 106 men.

*using data at alltime-athletics.com and including all automatic times under 11.00 and hand times under 10.8

Most sub-11 races

68 – Merlene Ottey
44 – Veronica Campbell-Brown
42 – Marion Jones*
38 – Carmelita Jeter
36 – Gwen Torrence
33 – Marlies Göhr
32 – Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce
26 – Gail Devers
25 – Kerron Stewart
25 – Zhanna Block
*marks made before 8/25/00 by the nefarious Ms. Jones have not officially been invalidated

Active leaders

44 – Campbell-Brown
38 – Jeter
32 – Fraser-Pryce
25 – Stewart
19 – Kelly-Ann Baptiste
14 – Blessing Okagbare
11 – Sherone Simpson
9 – English Gardner
9 – Tianna Bartoletta
8 – Murielle Ahouré

Most in a season

18 – Marion Jones, 1998
13 – Merlene Ottey, 1991
12 – Gail Devers, 1996
11 – Carmelita Jeter, 2009
11 – Jones, 1997
11 – Gwen Torrence, 1996

By nation

292 – USA
196 – Jamaica
39 – East Germany (East, West, and unified Germany total: 63)
26 – Bahamas
25 – Ukraine

By city

42 – Eugene
41 – London (at least two venues, maybe more)
37 – Kingston
35 – Berlin
31 – Brussels

Wind conditions

176 – headwind
50 – still air
506 – tailwind (31 had maximum 2.0 m/s)
4 – no wind information

Most sub-11.00 athletes in a year

15 – 2015 (so far)
13 – 1988
13 – 2000
13 – 2013
12 – 2008

Most sub-11.00 races in a year

45 – 2012
44 – 1998
44 – 2013
41 – 1996
36 – 1988

Errata

First: Marlies Göhr, Dresden, July 1 1977

Youngest: Candace Hill (USA), 16 years, 4 months, 9 days (6/20/15)
Oldest: Merlene Ottey (JAM), 40 years, 3 months, 20 days (8/30/00)

Longest between first and last: Merlene Ottey, 4/28/85 to 8/30/00

Most in one day: 12 (8/4/12, London Olympic semis & finals)
Most in one race: 6 (6/26/15, Eugene USATF final; 8/4/12, London Olympic final; 8/22/99, Seville Worlds final)