It was a big weekend for the women’s 100m, with Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Sha’Carri Richardson competing abroad and countless up-and-comers toeing the line in conference meets (see above) and the Atlanta City Games (see below). When all the results were settled, the results were, well, strange.

First up was Fraser-Pryce’s return to Doha, where the two-time Olympic 100m champ was victorious back in 2021. This time around, she faced down World Indoor 60m champ Mujinga Kambundji and three of her fellow Jamaicans… and finished decidedly mid-pack? SAFP didn’t look terrible out of the blocks but she certainly didn’t look as powerfully unbeatable as she does when at the top of her game. Instead it was Tia and Tina Clayton taking the top two spots in 10.92 and 11.02, respectively, with SAFP running 11.05 for fourth.

The last time Fraser-Pryce finished lower than third in a 100-meter dash came four years ago, in her first 100m of 2024. On a cold, rainy day in Gateshead, she finished fourth in a headwind-slowed 11.51—but ran 10.84 in Doha one week later. If Fraser-Pryce turns around and dominates a similarly strong field in her next competition, this will feel like a blip on the radar. Last year, she only opened up her season in 11.15—although she won that race—but after her wind-aided 10.94 to start 2025, expectations were a bit higher.

Two days later in the middle of the night (if you were watching from the U.S.), reigning 100m World champ Sha’Carri Richardson opened up her season at the Seiko Golden Grand Prix in Tokyo and finished fourth as well, clocking 11.47 in a race won in 11.38 by Australian Bree Rizzo (perhaps the 0.9 m/s headwind didn’t quite reflect the conditions).

There was even more to unpack from that race. Richardson showed up to the starting line with her right calf in a compression sleeve, but offering no official comments on her health one way or the other. The first start got called back and Richardson was shown a green card, despite getting what seemed like a fairly slow start out of the blocks. It took the field a little while to reset. When the gun went off the second time, Sha’Carri popped straight upright out of the blocks, demonstrating exactly what not to do in the first phase of a 100-meter race, and though she got back in the mix by 60 meters, she didn’t show off her typical blazing-fast top-end speed that helped deliver her Olympic silver last summer.

Ultimately, there’s a bit of a glass half-full/empty to be viewed here. If Richardson had even an average start in that race, she would’ve likely been able to finish first. But starting has never been a particularly strong or consistent part of her race, and if she has a dud performance at a competition that matters more than the Seiko Grand Prix, that could seriously alter the trajectory of her season.

If year-over-year history is to be considered, Sunday’s performance is also a bit of a Rorschach test for observers. Last year, Sha’Carri clocked two underwhelming 200ms in China before blitzing a 10.83 100m to win the Pre Classic. If you’re looking for trends, you could read that as a sign that Richardson is capable of busting the rust then sharpening up quickly. Or you could read into the fact that it’s her first season as a pro that her first 100m if the season hasn’t been a win.

As far as times go, it’s probably worth throwing out any suggestion that 11+ second performances mean all that much. The whole world has had a relatively slow start to the season in 2025, with only five women under 11 seconds so far (wind-legally) compared to 11 at this same point last year. Between weird wind readings, long travel to faraway competitions, and volatile springtime weather, the larger concern by far is finish place.

How’s the rest of the 2024 Olympic final doing, you might ask? No one has really asserted themselves boldly quite yet, at least in this one event. Olympic champ Julien Alfred has looked great in her few early-season competitions, but hasn’t run a 100m yet. Two-time Grand Slam champ Melissa Jefferson-Wooden has also looked phenomenal but hasn’t had the benefit of a fast, wind-legal time on her docket thus far (although she is the all-conditions world leader with a windy 10.75 in Miami). Daryll Neita and Twanisha Terry, the fourth- and fifth-placers in Paris, have struggled thus far in 2025. Mujinga Kambundji won World Indoors in the 60m but was never in contention in Doha. Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith hasn’t opened up yet, which based on past schedules is unusual for her.

Tia Clayton, who turned 20 two weeks after finishing seventh in the Olympic 100m, may be the one to watch moving forward. She ran PBs in the 60-meter dash and 200m before opening up her 100m campaign in Doha with a world-leading 10.92 victory. No word yet on when, or if, she’ll match up with Julien Alfred or Melissa Jefferson, both of whom she’s 0-2 against thus far in their careers. But Clayton and her twin sister Tina may be the young saviors of the ailing Jamaican sprint contingent that has been dominated by Fraser-Pryce, Elaine Thompson-Herah, and Shericka Jackson for much of the last decade.

Diehard fans of SAFP, Sha’Carri, or both will surely be in our mentions and email replies reminding us in no uncertain terms that this year’s World Championships aren’t til the end of September and that it’s still early in the season. And they’re right. But with the landscape in flux and a wave of talented newcomers reaching new heights, the women’s 100 meters will continue to be one of the most closely watched and hotly debated events of the whole track and field scene as the season continues, and the top spots are looking increasingly crowded.

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