The women's 100 metres was an event at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

in Barcelona, Spain. There were a total of 55 participating athletes, with seven qualifying heats. The top four in each heat qualified for the quarterfinals along with the four fastest remaining. The world record holder and defending gold medalist

Florence Griffith-Joyner Florence Delorez Griffith Joyner (born Florence Delorez Griffith; December 21, 1959 – September 21, 1998), also known as Flo-Jo, was an American track and field athlete. She set world records in 1988 for the 100 m and 200 m. During the late 1 ...

had retired. The returning silver medalist, 35 year old

Evelyn Ashford Evelyn Ashford (born April 15, 1957) is an American retired track and field athlete, the 1984 Olympic champion in the 100-meter dash. She ran under the 11-second barrier over 30 times and was the first to run under 11 seconds in an Olympic Gam ...

ran fast in the quarterfinals but was eliminated in the semis. Other returning veterans included

Merlene Ottey Merlene Joyce Ottey (born 10 May 1960) is a Jamaican-Slovenian former track and field sprinter. She began her career representing Jamaica in 1978, and continued to do so for 24 years, before representing Slovenia from 2002 to 2012. She is ran ...

, who won her first Olympic medal in 1980,

Anelia Nuneva Aneliya Nuneva-Vechernikova ( bg, Анелия Нунева-Вечерниковa; born June 30, 1962) is a retired sprinter from Bulgaria who competed mainly in the 100 metres. In the final of the 100 m at the 1988 Summer Olympic Games she was ...

who made a heroic attempt to keep up with Griffith-Joyner four years earlier, only to have her hamstring explode in the attempt. Through the semi-final round, Juliet Cuthbert had the fastest qualifying time, while

Gwen Torrence Gwendolyn Lenna Torrence (born June 12, 1965) is a retired American sprinter and Olympic gold medalist. She was born in Decatur, Georgia. She attended Columbia High School and the University of Georgia. She was offered a scholarship because of ...

was the winner of the other semi-final. Both Cuthbert and Torrence were also returning finalists from 1988.

Irina Privalova Irina Anatolyevna Privalova (russian: Ирина Анатольевна Привалова; on 22 November 1968) is a Russian Olympic gold medallist athlete. Her Summer Olympics debut was in 1992 in the sprint events, where she won two medals� ...

Mary Onyali Nkemdilim “Mary” Onyali-Omagbemi (née Onyali, born 3 February 1968) is a Nigerian former sprinter, she was a 5x Olympian 1988 - 2004. She had won the bronze medal in the 4 × 100 m relay at the 1992 Olympic Games and in the 200 m at the ...

and

Liliana Allen Liliana Allen Doll (born March 24, 1970) is a track and field athlete, who started competing for Mexico in 1998. She previously represented Cuba. She won a bronze medal at the 1991 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 3rd IAAF World Indoor Cham ...

were younger sprinters. As the world championship silver medalist in the

100 metres hurdles The 100 metres hurdles, or 100-meter hurdles, is a track and field event run mainly by women (the male counterpart is the 110 metres hurdles). For the race, ten hurdles of a height of are placed along a straight course of . The first hurdle is ...

Gail Devers Yolanda Gail Devers ( ; born November 19, 1966) is an American retired track and field sprinter who competed in the 60 metres, 60 m hurdles, 100 m and 100 m hurdles. One of the greatest and most decorated female sprinters of all time, she was t ...

was known as a hurdler and didn't carry a strong reputation as a sprinter, though she had finished a distant second in Griffith-Joyner's world record race. From the gun in the final, Privalova leaped out to an early lead in lane 6. Less noticed in lane 2, Devers also got a slight edge on the two Jamaicans and Torrence in the middle of the track. But Privalova couldn't put them away, instead all three were slowly gaining on the early leaders, with Cuthbert gaining a slight edge amongst the three. By the finish, Devers, Cuthbert, Privalova and Torrence all were within a foot of one another, with Ottey only another foot back. Separated by inches, Devers beat Cuthbert to the line. Privalova barely arrived ahead of Torrence who passed her in the next step after the line. Four years later, it would be Devers again by inches ahead of Ottey and Torrence to become only the second woman to win the 100 twice in a row.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1992 Summer Olympics.

Results

Heats

First 4 from each heat (Q) and the next 4 fastest (q) qualified for the semifinals.

Quarterfinals

Quarterfinal 1

Quarterfinal 2

Quarterfinal 3

Quarterfinal 4

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Wind: -2.9

Semifinal 2

Wind: -0.8

Final

Wind: -1.0

References

External links

Official Report

{{DEFAULTSORT:Athletics at the 1992 Summer Olympics - Women's 100 metres 100 metres at the Olympics 1992 in women's athletics Women's events at the 1992 Summer Olympics