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1997 World Championships in Athletics Athens, Greece

1997 6th IAAF World Championships - Athens - Women's 100m

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Details: Parent Category: World Championships in Athletics; Category: 1997 World Championships in Athletics Athens, Greece; Last Updated: 25 July 2020; Hits: 133

Host City: Athens. Greece

Format: First round (First 3 & 8 fastest to second round) (Aug 2)

Dates: August 1–10. 1997

Format: Second round (First 3 & 4 fastest to semi-finals) (Aug 2)

Nations participating: 198

Format: Semi-finals (First 4 to final) (Aug 3)

Athletes participating: 1882

Main venue: Olympic Stadium

Overview by IAAF

Reigning champion Torrence declined an invitation to defend and Olympic Champion Devers qualified only for the relay. but the title remained in American hands thanks to Jones. Although hailed as a precocious sprinting sensation since she set world age-15 bests of 11.17 and 22.76 in 1991 this was her senior début in a major international championship. Her success was one of the brightest moments of the Athens World Championships. and she was regarded as the world woman athlete of the 1997. but the story had a sad ending as noted below in the report of the 2001 100m. Jones had to work hard for victory against a much shorter opponent. Pintusevich. She was away slightly the faster but they were locked together at 50m (6.03) and 60m (6.97); Pintusevich was 1/100th ahead at 70m but they were level again at 80m before Jones moved into a 2/100ths lead to win in a personal best of 10.83. Pintusevich. who set a Ukrainian record of 10.85. at first thought she had won and started a lap of honour. only to sink to her knees when she heard the official result. Two metres behind. Fynes edged Arron for the bronze medal. For Ottey – fourth in 1983. third in 1987 and 1991. second in 1993 and 1995 – the hoped for progression to first. at the age of 37. did not materialise. She failed to hear the recall gun for a false start and sprinted flat out for over 50m. She walked back very slowly while the others waited at the start but the damage was done and she gave up when in the race proper she realised she couldn’t catch the leaders.

These are the results of the women's 100 metres event at the 1997 World Championships in Athletics in Athens, Greece.

Records

World Record	Florence Griffith-Joyner (USA)	10.49	Indianapolis, United States	16 July 1988
Championship Record	Gail Devers (USA)	10.82	Stuttgart, Germany	16 August 1993
Championship Record	Merlene Ottey (JAM)	10.82	Stuttgart, Germany	16 August 1993

	100m			*3 August*	0.4
Event report women 100 metres final A new name in women’s sprinting, Marion Jones of the USA, powered her way to the world title this evening, winning in 10.83, a mere two hundredths of a second ahead of Zhanna Pintussevich of the Ukraine. The race had a strange beginning after Sevatheda Fynes of Bahamas false started. Merlene Ottey, in lane 6, did not hear the second gun and sprinted 70m before realising her mistake. She walked very slowly back to the start but the damage to her concentration proved too much. At the second attempt Jones and Fynes got good starts, Ottey a terrible one. At 50m Jones and Fynes were together with Pintussevich closing, at 70m Fynes was marginally in front but from that point Jones powered ahead. Pintussevich, two lanes outside her, made up ground but Jones dipped for the line and held on. As Pintussevich dipped, she appeared to turn her head the wrong way, looking for Ottey. The Jamaican, realising she was not going to win, had given up the chase at about 85m. Pintussevich thought she had won and set off on a victory lap, trailed by a group of photographers, only to fall to the track in disappointment when the result was announced: Jones, 10.83; Pintussevich 10.85.
	Final
1	Marion Jones	USA	12 Oct 75	10.83
2	Zhanna Block	UKR	6 Jul 72	10.85
3	Savatheda Fynes	BAH	17 Oct 74	11.03
4	Christine Arron	FRA	13 Sep 73	11.05
5	Inger Miller	USA	12 Jun 72	11.18
6	Melanie Paschke	GER	29 Jun 70	11.19
7	Merlene Ottey	JAM	10 May 60	11.29
8	Chryste Gaines	USA	14 Sep 70	11.32
Event report women 100m semi finals The final of the women’s 100m looks set to be a battle between the old and the new, represented by Jamaica’s veteran sprinter Merlene Ottey and USA’s latest track star, Marion Jones, as these two ran the fastest times of all qualifiers in the semi-finals. Semi-final 1: Despite one false start against her, Eldece Clarke of the Bahamas was out of the blocks quickest but France’s Christine Arron also got away well and it was she and Zhanna Pintussevich of the Ukraine who had pulled away from the field at 60m. Melanie Paschke of Germany, Chryste Gaines of USA and Natalya Voronova of Russia were edging ahead of the rest, one metre down on the leaders. In a close finish Pintussevich dipped in front of Arron (10.10 to 10.13) and Paschke pipped Gaines at the line (10.34 to 10.35) for the other two qualifying places. Voronova, in 5th, also ran 10.35 and was unlucky to miss out on a place in the final. Semi-final 2: After one false start by the host nation’s Ekaterini Thanou, it was Inger Miller of the USA who was away quickest but Jones immediately powered past her. Ottey had a bad start and found herself two metres down on Jones and trailing Miller and Sevatheda Fynes of the Bahamas at 50m. It was not until 60m that Ottey got moving and came past Fynes for second place, in 11.08. Fynes was third in 11.11 and Miller hung on for fourth in 11.17. Out in front, however, Jones looked ominously easy, winning in 10.94. Thanou was 5th in 11.34, a time that would have given her third place in the first heat and a place in this evening’s final.
	Semifinals			*3 August*
	Heat 1				0.1
1	Zhanna Block	UKR	6 Jul 72	11.10
2	Christine Arron	FRA	13 Sep 73	11.13
3	Melanie Paschke	GER		11.34
4	Chryste Gaines	USA		11.35
5	Natalya Pomoshchnikova-Voronova	RUS		11.35
6	Eldece Clarke-Lewis	BAH		11.41
7	Chioma Ajunwa	NGR		11.41
8	Frederique Bangue	FRA		11.44
	Heat 2				-0.1
1	Marion Jones	USA	12 Oct 75	10.94
2	Merlene Ottey	JAM	10 May 60	11.08
3	Savatheda Fynes	BAH	17 Oct 74	11.11
4	Inger Miller	USA	12 Jun 72	11.17
5	Ekaterini Thanou	GRE		11.34
6	Melinda Gainsford-Taylor	AUS		11.35
7	Debbie Ferguson	BAH		11.39
8	Andrea Philipp	GER		11.40
Event report women 100m quarter finals Zhanna Pintusevich (Ukraine) was the fastest of the 2nd round with a National Record of 10.90. American Marion Jones again in good form by easing to 10.96 winning the 3rd heat. All favorites got through to the next round. Merlene Ottey (Jamaica) won her heat with impressive run to 11.00. Also Christine Arron of France was close to the 11 second-mark with 11.04, just 0.01 off personal best. Other fast times by Chioma Ajunwa of Nigeria (11.14), Sevatheda Fynes of Bahamas (11.16) and Natalya Voronova of Russia (11.17).
	Quarterfinals			*2 August*
	Heat 1				0.7
1	Zhanna Block	UKR	6 Jul 72	10.90
2	Chioma Ajunwa	NGR	25 Dec 70	11.14
3	Ekateríni Thánou	GRE	1 Feb 75	11.19
4	Chryste Gaines	USA	14 Sep 70	11.19
5	Melinda Gainsford-Taylor	AUS	1 Oct 71	11.20
6	Sanna Hernesniemi-Kyllonen	FIN		11.38
7	Esther Moller	GER		11.42
8	Fang Pei	CHN		11.50
	Heat 2				0.4
1	Merlene Ottey	JAM	10 May 60	11.00
2	Inger Miller	USA	12 Jun 72	11.23
3	Andrea Philipp	GER	29 Jul 71	11.26
4	Debbie Ferguson	BAH		11.28
5	Petya Pendareva	BUL		11.39
6	Lucimar Aparecida De Moura	BRA		11.44
7	Hanitriniaina Rakotondrabe	MAD		11.49
8	Lauren Hewitt	AUS		11.55
	Heat 3				0.3
1	Marion Jones	USA	12 Oct 75	10.96
2	Melanie Paschke	GER	29 Jun 70	11.23
3	Eldece Clarke-Lewis	BAH	13 Feb 65	11.27
4	Frederique Bangue	FRA		11.31
5	Beverly McDonald	JAM		11.31
6	Xuemei Li	CHN		11.36
7	Endurance Ojokolo	NGR		11.53
8	Heather Samuel	ANT		11.56
	Heat 4				-0.3
1	Christine Arron	FRA	13 Sep 73	11.04
2	Savatheda Fynes	BAH	17 Oct 74	11.16
3	Natalya Voronova	RUS	9 Jul 65	11.17
4	Nora Ivanova	BUL		11.36
5	Xiaomei Liu	CHN		11.37
6	Lucrecia Jardim	POR		11.40
7	Anzhela Kravchenko	UKR		11.43
8	Maria Tsoni	GRE		11.62
Event report women 100m heats There were no big surprises in the first round of women's 100 m. Fastest time of the heats was in 4th heat 11.01 by Zhanna Pintusevich of Ukraine, 4th fastest in the world this year. Marion Jones of USA won 7th heat by running 11.09 easing up on the 75 m point. Other heat winners included Christine Arron of France 1st heat (11.13), Ekaterini Thanou of Greece 2nd heat (11.32) Merlene Ottey of Jamaica 3rd heat (11.27), Sevatheda Fynes of Bahamas 5th heat (11.18), Li Xuemei of China 6th heat (11.21) and Inger Miller of USA 8th heat (11.07). 11.54 was enough to qualify with time. There were two National Records broken, Lucrecia Jardim of Portugal with 11.30 and Antonia Cadore of Grenada 12.00.
	Heats			*2 August*
	Heat 1				0.4
1	Christine Arron	FRA	13 Sep 73	11.13
2	Natalya Pomoshchnikova-Voronova	RUS		11.31
3	Xiaomei Liu	CHN		11.35
4	Heather Samuel	ANT		11.46
5	Irina Pukha	UKR		11.75
6	Tamara Shanidze	GEO		11.97
7	Antonia Cadore	GRN		12.00
	Heat 2				-1.5
1	Ekaterini Thanou	GRE		11.32
2	Andrea Philipp	GER		11.33
3	Debbie Ferguson	BAH		11.47
4	Sanna Hernesniemi-Kyllonen	FIN		11.54
5	Sandra P. Borrero	COL		11.83
6	Cydonie Mothersill	CAY		11.87
7	N. Rabbaiya	INA		12.43
8	Peoria Koshiba	PLW		14.55
	Heat 3				0.1
1	Merlene Ottey	JAM	10 May 60	11.27
2	Melanie Paschke	GER		11.31
3	Eldece Clarke-Lewis	BAH		11.36
4	Manuela Levorato	ITA		11.57
5	Johanna Manninen	FIN		11.59
6	Elma Muros-Posadas	PHI		12.19
7	Laure Kuetey	BEN		12.38
	Heat 4				0.1
1	Zhanna Block	UKR	6 Jul 72	11.01
2	Lucrécia Jardim	POR	28 Jan 71	11.30
3	Chryste Gaines	USA		11.30
4	Lucimar Aparecida De Moura	BRA		11.37
5	Maria Tsoni	GRE		11.48
6	Marcia Richardson	GBR		11.65
7	Deirdre Caruana	MLT		12.73
8	Edouwe Appin	NAU		14.19
	Heat 5				0.0
1	Savatheda Fynes	BAH	17 Oct 74	11.18
2	Chioma Ajunwa	NGR		11.28
3	Hanitriniaina Rakotondrabe	MAD		11.33
4	Lauren Hewitt	AUS		11.54
5	Aida Diop	SEN		11.61
6	Giada Gallina	ITA		11.64
7	Shyrome Hughes	ANG		13.03
	Heat 6				0.0
1	Li Xuemei	CHN	5 Jan 77	11.21
2	Petya Pendareva	BUL		11.28
3	Frederique Bangue	FRA		11.34
4	Melinda Gainsford-Taylor	AUS		11.36
5	Natalya Ignatova	RUS		11.70
6	Tiresa Paselio	SAM		14.36
-	Hermin Joseph	DMN		DNS
	Heat 7				-0.7
1	Marion Jones	USA	12 Oct 75	11.09
2	Beverly McDonald	JAM		11.29
3	Nora Ivanova	BUL		11.42
4	Anzhela Kravchenko	UKR		11.46
5	Simmone Jacobs	GBR		11.58
6	Myriam Mani	CMR		11.62
-	Marwa Rostom	PAL		DNS
-	Mayra Mayberry	PUR		DNS
	Heat 8				0.1
1	Inger Miller	USA	12 Jun 72	11.07
2	Esther Moller	GER		11.44
3	Endurance Ojokolo	NGR		11.53
4	Fang Pei	CHN		11.54
5	Delphine Combe	FRA		11.55
6	Aksel Gurcan	TUR		11.82
7	Devi Maya Paneru	NEP		12.97

Startlist

Heat 1 02 AUG 1997 09:30

Order / Lane	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	PB	SB 1997
1	Natalya Pomoshchnikova-Voronova	RUS	10.98	11.27
2	Heather Samuel	ANT	11.20
3	Tamara Shanidze	GEO
4	Antonia Cadore	GRN
5	Christine Arron	FRA	11.03	11.03
6	Xiaomei Liu	CHN	11.02
7	Iryna Pukha	UKR	11.36	11.80

Heat 2 02 AUG 1997 09:36

Order / Lane	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	PB	SB 1997
1	Cydonie Mothersille	CAY	11.35
2	Andrea Philipp	GER	11.05	11.05
3	Ekateríni Thánou	GRE	11.09	11.13
4	Peoria Koshiba	PLW
5	Sanna Hernesniemi-Kyllönen	FIN	11.31	11.68
6	Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie	BAH	11.19	11.20
7	Sandra P. Borrero	COL	11.62
8	N. Rabbaiya	INA

Heat 3 02 AUG 1997 09:42

Order / Lane	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	PB	SB 1997
1	Elma Muros-Posadas	PHI
2	Merlene Ottey	JAM	10.74	11.19
3	Johanna Manninen	FIN	11.39	11.39
4	Laure Kuetey	BEN	12.20
5	Eldece Clarke-Lewis	BAH	11.33	11.38
6	Melanie Paschke	GER	11.04	11.45
7	Manuela Levorato	ITA	11.54

Heat 4 02 AUG 1997 09:48

Order / Lane	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	PB	SB 1997
1	Lucrécia Jardim	POR	11.31
2	Maria Tsoni	GRE
3	Zhanna Block	UKR	10.99	11.07
4	Edouwe Appin	NRU
5	Lucimar Aparecida de Moura	BRA	11.30	11.30
6	Marcia Richardson	GBR	11.42
7	Chryste Gaines	USA	11.19	11.22
8	Deirdre Caruana	MLT	12.26

Heat 5 02 AUG 1997 09:54

Order / Lane	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	PB	SB 1997
1	Aïda Diop	SEN
2	Hanitriniaina Rakotondrabe	MAD	11.32
3	Chioma Ajunwa	NGR	10.84	11.20
4	Shyrome Hughes	AIA
5	Savatheda Fynes	BAH	11.12	11.19
6	Lauren Hewitt	AUS	11.55	11.63
7	Giada Gallina	ITA	11.23	11.23

Heat 6 02 AUG 1997 10:00

Order / Lane	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	PB	SB 1997
1	Petya Pendareva	BUL	11.26
2	Hermin Joseph	DMA	11.29	11.76
3	Natalya Ignatova	RUS	11.59	11.59
4	Tiresa Paselio	SAM
5	Xuemei Li	CHN
6	Frédérique Bangué	FRA	11.26	11.26
7	Melinda Gainsford-Taylor	AUS	11.12	11.52

Heat 7 02 AUG 1997 10:06

Order / Lane	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	PB	SB 1997
1	Beverly McDonald	JAM	11.13	11.13
2	Myriam Léonie Mani	CMR	11.76
3	Marwa Rostom	PLE
4	Marion Jones	USA	10.90	10.90
5	Mayra Mayberry	PUR	11.33
6	Simmone Jacobs	GBR	11.39
7	Anzhela Kravchenko	UKR
8	Nora Edletzbeger	BUL	11.30

Heat 8 02 AUG 1997 10:12

Order / Lane	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	PB	SB 1997
1	Aksel Gürcan	TUR	11.77
2	Delphine Combe	FRA	11.39
3	Endurance Ojokolo	NGR	11.31	11.31
4	Esther Möller	GER	11.34	11.34
5	Inger Miller	USA	10.96	11.04
6	Fang Pei	CHN
7	Devi Maya Paneru	NEP