Stars and legends collide in World Athletics Championships 100m showdown
The USA’s Melissa Jefferson-Wooden is the fastest woman in the world this year, having built upon the bronze medal she won in last year’s Olympic final. The Call of Duty-loving, Twitch-streaming athletics star has taken the track world by storm this year, setting a scintillating new personal best of 10.65 seconds.
However, while Jefferson-Wooden leads the field, the other women gunning for the title of world champion include some of the greatest the sport of athletics has ever seen.
Reigning world champion Sha’Carri Richardson may not have enjoyed her smoothest season, but much is still expected of the 2023 gold medallist. While injury threatened to derail her year, the 25-year-old is still a real threat in the 100m — should she regain the type of speed she showed in previous seasons.
But while Richardson is the defending world champion, how about adding a new plotline into the mix, with Olympic champion Julien Alfred aiming for a maiden world title in Japan’s capital?
Alfred’s gold medal at Paris 2024 may have been her nation’s first, but the form she is in this season means it will be no surprise if she makes more history in Tokyo. A season’s best time of 10.75 leaves her just behind Jefferson-Wooden in the 2025 list of fastest women, but a recent victory in the Diamond League Final in Zurich shows she’s just as prolific as ever when it comes to winning.
Of course, no preview of the women’s 100m would be complete without mentioning Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. The Jamaican legend, who is competing in her final season on the track, is the only-ever sprinter to win five world 100m titles, and you can be sure she’s not in Tokyo just to make up the numbers.
Fraser-Pryce is a competitor — even when it comes to her son Zyon’s sports days — so expect the 38-year-old to fight tooth and nail to be in with a shout of a final medal at the Worlds.
While the likes of Richardson, Alfred and Fraser-Pryce may be the most decorated names on the start lists, there is a wealth of other talent hoping to spring surprises.
Watch out for Jamaican youngster Tina Clayton, a two-time world U20 champion, British hopes Dina Asher-Smith and Daryll Neita, Côte d’Ivoire’s Marie Josée Ta Lou-Smith, and many others in the race to be crowned 2025 world 100m champion.