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Sprint running is one of the most time-restricted sports in the world as these athletes have just 10 or 11 seconds to prove their mettle. And yet, we have a host of legends who have accomplished the feat and etched their names in history books through the years.
Names like Carl Lewis, Usain Bolt, and Tyson Gay are popular names that even casual athletics fan would know of, but what about the fastest women to ever tread the race course? From Florence Griffith Joyner to Kerron Stewart, Sportskeeda outlines the 10 greatest female sprinters that we have witnessed over the years.
#11 Florence Griffith Joyner
Flo-Jo as she was nicknamed, is considered to be the fastest woman of all time. The world records that she set in the 100m and 200m dash in 1988 still stands unbroken. At the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, she claimed the triple gold in 100m, 200m, and 4x100 relay, along with a silver medal in the 4x400m relay event.
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Her 100m record stands strong at 10.49 seconds and in addition to that she also holds the record for the fastest wind-legal time of 10.61 seconds in 100m. A psychology graduate from UCLA, she was known for her flashy style on the track, often designing her own clothes, sporting long hair and donning accessories while running.
Unfortunately, the world lost the talented very early since she succumbed to an epileptic seizure at the age of just 38 in 1998.
#10 Allyson Felix
One of the greatest runners to ever grace the sport, Allyson Felix has accumulated a total of 36 medals throughout her career while representing the United States. This tally consists of 24 gold medals, 6 of which have been won at the Olympics.
A 3-time world champion, Felix set the record for the 150 meters distance in 2013 when she ran the course in 16.36 seconds. She has been leaving her mark on track and fields events since the 2004 Olympics where she finished as a silver medalist in the 200 meters race as an 18-year-old.
The most decorated sportsperson ever in IAAF World Championships history with 16 medals, Allyson Felix also undertakes regular tests for the use of performance-enhancing drugs under the Project Believe campaign of the USADA. That's some way of setting an example for others!
#9 Irena Szewinska
The former Polish athlete ruled the roost amongst female sprinters for almost two decades in multiple events. Participating in a record five Olympics from 1964 to 1980, she has a total tally of 7 medals, including three gold medals in the 4x100m relay event, 200m dash and 400m. She also became the only athlete to hold a world record in 100 metre, 200 metre and 400 metre events.
Irena also won 26 national titles in running events and the long jump. She also won 10 medals at the European Championships, and also set a record in the 200m with her timing of 22.21 seconds. From 1997 until 2009, she was the President of the Polish Athletic Federation and has also been inducted into the IAAF Hall of Fame.
#8 Wilma Rudolph
Rudolph was regarded as the fastest woman in the 1960’s with her most prolific achievement coming in at the 1960 Rome Olympics when she became the first American woman to claim the triple gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay events.
Rudolph earned several nicknames – “The Tornado”, “Skeeter”, “La Gazzella Nera”, meaning “The Black Gazelle” by the Italians, and “La Perle Noire” which stood for “The Black Pearl”, by the French.
She was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1983 prior to which she was named the Associated Press Athlete of the Year in 1960 and 61, United Press Athlete of the Year award in 1960 and was also the recipient of the James E. Sullivan Award in 1961.
#7 Merlene Ottey
Ottey is a Jamaican-born Slovenian athlete who began her career by representing Jamaica but switched to represent Slovenia in 2002. She holds the record for her Olympic participation at a record seven Games and has had the longest career as a top level international sprinter. She was also part of the 4x100m relay team of Slovenia at the 2012 European Championship when she was all of 52 years of age.
A winner of 14 World Championship medals and 9 Olympic medals, she has aptly been nicknamed "Queen of the Track". Given her knack of earning the bronze medal on numerous occasions, she also earned the title "Bronze Queen".
#6 Carmelita Jeter
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The 100m specialist, Carmelita Jeter is a three-time Olympic medalist. Her winning run at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix in 2009 with a timing of 10.64 seconds made her the second fastest woman ever behind Florence Griffith-Joyner.
She was crowned the IAAF World Champion in 2011 in the 100m dash with her winning effort coming in 10.90 seconds. Currently, she is the holder of three of the top ten fastest times over the 100m distance. Her 200m best came at Eugene, United States in 2012 when she clocked a time of 22.11 seconds.
#5 Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce
The fourth fastest woman of all time, Shelly-Ann became the first Jamaican female to win an Olympic gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Games and successfully defended her title at the 2012 London Olympics, becoming only the third woman to consecutively win 100m events.
She was given the nickname, “Pocket Rocket”, because of her short stature and explosive starts. In the 2013 World Championships at Moscow, she became the first woman sprinter to claim the 100m, 200, and 4x100m relay titles in a single championship. Her personal best in the 100m is 10.70 seconds which was set in 2012 at Kingston, Jamaica.
#4 Veronica Campbell-Brown
The 1982-born Jamaican female sprinter is an eight-time Olympic medalist and only the second woman in history to defend her 200m Olympic title, at the 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing Games. Dominating the sport since an early age, she is one of just nine athletes to win the world championships at the youth, junior and senior levels.
At the 2007 World Championships in Osaka she claimed the 100m title, while in the 2011 World Championships at Daegu, she was crowned the 200m champion. In the IAAF World Indoor Championships, Shelly-Ann is a two-time gold medalist over the 60m course. Her personal best is 10.76 seconds for the 100m and 21.74 seconds for the 200m.
#3 Kerron Stewart
Another Jamaican athlete, Kerron Stewart is a 100m and 200m specialist and she proved the same at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 when she emerged as the silver medalist over both the distances. Subsequently, at the London Games in 2012, she anchored the Jamaican team to a silver medal in the 4x100m relay event.
She is also a three-time gold medalist at the World Championships in 2009, 2013 and 2015 in the 4x100m relay. Her personal best has been recorded at 10.75 seconds for the 100m dash and 21.99 seconds for the 200m distance.
#2 Wyomia Tyus
The retired United States athlete became the first person in history to retain her 100m title at the Olympics. She first won the gold medal at the 1964 Tokyo Games and then retained it at the 1968 Mexico Olympics. At the 1964 Games, she also won the silver medal in the 4x100m relay event and won gold in the same event at the next Olympics.
Her 11.08 second run in the 100m final at the 1968 Games led to a new world record, while her personal best in the 200m stood at 23.08 seconds. In 1980, as a recognition of her achievements, she was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame and in 1985 she made it to the US Olympic Hall of Fame.
#1 Gail Devers
American sprinter, Gail Devers, became the second woman behind Tyus to retain her 100m Olympic title which she first won at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and then again at the 1996 Atlanta Games. Devers also took part in the hurdles’ event and clinched the gold medal in the 100m hurdles at the 1993, 1995 and 1997 World Championships.
She was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2011 and in the very next year, she also made it to the United States Hall of Fame. In 2013, she received the NCAA Silver Anniversary Award for her achievements.
