World Athletics Championships 1991/100 m for women

3rd World Athletics Championships
discipline	100 meter run
gender	Women
Attendees	46 athletes from 28 countries
venue	Tokyo
Competition location	Olympic Stadium
Competition phase	August 26th (preliminary / quarter finals) August 27th (semifinals / finals)
Medalists Katrin Krabbe ( GER )   Gwen Torrence ( USA )   Merlene Ottey ( JAM )

The Olympic Stadium in Tokyo in 2008

The women's 100-meter run at the 1991 World Athletics Championships was held on August 26 and 27, 1991 in the Olympic Stadium in the Japanese capital, Tokyo .

The reigning European champion over 100 and 200 meters - in 1990 for the GDR - Katrin Krabbe from Germany became world champion . She also won the 200-meter run here three days later and won bronze twice with the two German relays on the final day. Just like three days later, second place went to the American Gwen Torrence over 200 meters . Bronze went to the actual favorite Merlene Ottey from Jamaica . She also got bronze again over 200 meters here in Tokyo. She won gold on the final day with her country's 4 x 100 meter relay . In the years from 1980 onwards she had won three Olympic bronze medals over 100 and 200 meters, had become vice world champion over 200 meters and third with her relay in 1983 , and in 1987 she had again won the World Cup bronze over 100 and 200 meters.

Records

Existing records

World record	10.49 s	Florence Griffith-Joyner	Indianapolis , USA	July 16, 1988
World championship record	10.90 s	Silke Gladisch	World Cup 1987 in Rome , Italy	August 30, 1987

Record improvement

The wind conditions were not favorable in numerous races, and all too often the sprinters had to deal with headwinds. The final was hardest hit, with a wind of 3.0 meters per second blowing towards the runners.

Nevertheless, the later bronze medalist Merlene Ottey from Jamaica managed to improve the existing World Championship record by a hundredth of a second in a race with a moderate headwind:
10.89 s - fourth quarter-final on August 26th (wind: −0.1 m / s) .
In the second semi-final race on August 27, Ottey even achieved 10.78 seconds, but there was an exceptional tailwind here, which at 2.3 meters per second was 0.3 seconds above the permissible value, so that this time was not included in the record and leaderboards found.

doping

There was a doping case in this competition.

The Soviet runner Iryna Slyussar , who was eliminated in the semi-finals, had used strychnine and was banned for three months. Her result at these world championships was revoked.

The main victims were two athletes

• Paula Thomas , later Paula Dunn, Great Britain - she was eliminated in the quarterfinals, but could have started fourth in her race in the semifinals.
• Karen Clarke , Canada - Eliminated in the preliminary stages, but would have been eligible to start in the quarterfinals beyond her time.

Preliminary round

August 26, 1991, 10:45 a.m.

The preliminary round was carried out in eight runs. The first three athletes per run - highlighted in light blue - as well as the eight fastest runners - highlighted in light green - qualified for the quarter-finals.

Forward 1

Wind: +1.0 m / s

space	Surname	nation	Time (s)
1	Carlette Guidry	United States	11.21
2	Beverly Kinch	Great Britain	11.50
3	Claudete Alves Piña	Brazil	11.71
4th	Jatamsuren Otgonchineg	Mongolia	12.26
5	Jane Thondojee	Mauritius	12.36
6th	Tili Fata	Western Samoa	13.31
DOP	Iryna Slyussar	Soviet Union	admitted to the quarter-finals

Forward 2

Wind: +1.8 m / s

space	Surname	nation	Time (s)
1	Irina Privaleova	Soviet Union	11.14
2	Sisko Hanhijoki	Finland	11.24
3	Kerry Johnson	Australia	11.26
4th	Cristina Castro	Spain	11.55
5	Rosanna Browne	Anguilla	12.04
6th	Jabou Jawo	Gambia	12.42
7th	Faouzia Djaffar	Comoros	14.69

Forward 3

Wind: −0.8 m / s

space	Surname	nation	Time (s)
1	Evelyn Ashford	United States	11.16
2	Juliet Cuthbert	Jamaica	11.22
3	Tian Yumei	People's Republic of China	11.55
4th	Sabine Richter	Germany	11.64
5	Mariama Ouiminga	Burkina Faso	12.26
6th	Joy-Ann Eli	Barbados	12.42
7th	Sherlete Barrow	Belize	12.66
8th	Mpoka Mokosi	Zaire	12.99

Forward 4

Wind: −0.8 m / s

space	Surname	nation	Time (s)
1	Beverly McDonald	Jamaica	11.45
2	Laurence Bily	France	11.51
3	Andrea Philipp	Germany	11.72
4th	Wang Huei-Chen	Chinese Taipei	11.77
5	My Linh Truong Hoang	Vietnam	12.02
6th	Gisèle Ongolo	Gabon	12.32
7th	Denise Ouabangui	Central African Republic	12.69
8th	Erin Tierney	Cook Islands	13.45

Forward 5

Wind: −0.1 m / s

space	Surname	nation	Time (s)
1	Katrin Krabbe	Germany	11.23
2	Beatrice Utondu	Nigeria	11.51
3	Stephanie Douglas	Great Britain	11.66
4th	Govindasamy Shanti	Malaysia	11.80
5	Gailey Dube	Zimbabwe	12.25
6th	Deirdre Caruana	Malta	12.71
7th	Lusia Puleanga	Tonga	13.21

Forward 6

Wind: +1.0 m / s

space	Surname	nation	Time (s)
1	Mary Onyali	Nigeria	11.27
2	Pauline Davis	Bahamas	11.32
3	Paula Thomas	Great Britain	11.54
4th	Lalao Ravaonirina	Madagascar	11.74
5	Aminata Konate	Guinea	12.19
6th	Feroza Khatton	Bangladesh	12.67
7th	Laure Kuetey	Benin	13.01
8th	Trudy Duburiya	Nauru	14.34

Forward 7

Wind: +1.2 m / s

space	Surname	nation	Time (s)
1	Merlene Ottey	Jamaica	11.06
2	Paraskevi Patoulidou	Greece	11.42
3	Natalia Kovtun	Soviet Union	11.44
4th	Rossella Tarolo	Italy	11.64
5	Michelle Seymour	New Zealand	11.77
6th	Fornie Conteh	Sierra Leone	13.72
DNS	Miss Sabra	Afghanistan

Forward 8

Wind: −1.3 m / s

space	Surname	nation	Time (s)
1	Gwen Torrence	United States	11.51
2	Liliana Allen	Cuba	11.59
3	Rufina Ubah	Nigeria	11.72
4th	Karen Clarke	Canada	11.98 actually qualified for the quarterfinals
5	Rita Alcazar	Panama	12.49
6th	Fathimath Fezleen	Maldives	13.08
7th	Tehani Kirby	Northern Mariana Islands	14.12

Quarter finals

August 26, 1991, 4:20 pm

From the four quarter-finals, the first four athletes - highlighted in light blue - qualified for the semi-finals.

Quarter-finals 1

Wind: −0.4 m / s

space	Surname	nation	Time (s)
1	Katrin Krabbe	Germany	10.91
2	Carlette Guidry	United States	11.21
3	Paraskevi Patoulidou	Greece	11.47
4th	Paula Thomas	Great Britain	11.51 actually qualified for the semi-finals
5	Tian Yumei	People's Republic of China	11.52
6th	Claudete Alves Piña	Brazil	11.81
7th	Lalao Ravaonirina	Madagascar	11.81
DOP	Iryna Slyussar	Soviet Union	admitted to the semifinals

Quarter-finals 2

Wind: −0.5 m / s

space	Surname	nation	Time (s)
1	Evelyn Ashford	United States	11.09
2	Juliet Cuthbert	Jamaica	11.12
3	Mary Onyali	Nigeria	11.20
4th	Natalia Kovtun	Soviet Union	11.43
5	Laurence Bily	France	11.45
6th	Stephanie Douglas	Great Britain	11.58
7th	Sabine Richter	Germany	11.66
8th	Wang Huei-Chen	Chinese Taipei	11.79

Quarter-finals 3

Wind: −2.2 m / s

space	Surname	nation	Time (s)
1	Irina Privaleova	Soviet Union	11.22
2	Pauline Davis	Bahamas	11.30
3	Beatrice Utondu	Nigeria	11.40
4th	Beverly McDonald	Jamaica	11.44
5	Sisko Hanhijoki	Finland	11.52
6th	Rossella Tarolo	Italy	11.75
7th	Andrea Philipp	Germany	11.80
8th	Govindasamy Shanti	Malaysia	11.89

Quarter-finals 4

Michelle Seymour was eliminated in eighth of her quarter-finals

Wind: −0.1 m / s

space	Surname	nation	Time (s)
1	Merlene Ottey	Jamaica	10.89 CR
2	Gwen Torrence	United States	10.99
3	Kerry Johnson	Australia	11.27
4th	Liliana Allen	Cuba	11.40
5	Beverly Kinch	Great Britain	11.45
6th	Rufina Ubah	Nigeria	11.54
7th	Cristina Castro	Spain	11.71
8th	Michelle Seymour	New Zealand	11.87

Semifinals

August 27, 1991, 4:05 pm

From the two semi-finals, the first four athletes - highlighted in light blue - qualified for the final.

Semi-final run 1

Wind: −0.1 m / s

space	Surname	nation	Time (s)
1	Katrin Krabbe	Germany	10.94
2	Evelyn Ashford	United States	11.08
3	Juliet Cuthbert	Jamaica	11.13
4th	Carlette Guidry	United States	11.16
5	Kerry Johnson	Australia	11.38
6th	Liliana Allen	Cuba	11.53
7th	Beatrice Utondu	Nigeria	11.58
DOP	Iryna Slyussar	Soviet Union

Paraskevi Patoulidou (here in 2006) had no chance as eighth of her semi-final race - the following year she became Olympic champion in the 110 meter hurdles

Semi-final run 2

Wind: +2.3 m / s

space	Surname	nation	Time (s)
1	Merlene Ottey	Jamaica	10.78
2	Gwen Torrence	United States	10.85
3	Irina Privaleova	Soviet Union	10.99
4th	Mary Onyali	Nigeria	11.10
5	Pauline Davis	Bahamas	11.19
6th	Natalia Kovtun	Soviet Union	11.37
7th	Beverly McDonald	Jamaica	11.46
8th	Paraskevi Patoulidou	Greece	11.51

final

Surprise world champion Katrin Krabbe, reigning double European champion , won the first of two gold medals, she also received two bronze medals - the coming season already brought the end of her sports career due to doping

August 27, 1991, 6:20 pm

Wind: -3.0 m / s

space	Surname	nation	Time (s)
1	Katrin Krabbe	Germany	10.99
2	Gwen Torrence	United States	11.03
3	Merlene Ottey	Jamaica	11.06
4th	Irina Privaleova	Soviet Union	11.16
5	Evelyn Ashford	United States	11.30
6th	Juliet Cuthbert	Jamaica	11.33
7th	Mary Onyali	Nigeria	11.39
8th	Carlette Guidry	United States	11.52

• 

  Merlene Ottey, multiple medal winner at the Olympic Games / World Championships and top favorite since 1980, had to be content with bronze over the 200 meters before she won gold on the final day in her country's 4 x 100 meter relay

• 

  Juliet Cuthbert finished sixth

• 

  Mary Onyali (here many years later with her lawyer Ned Nwoko at the Ned Nwoko Golf Classic Tournament) reached seventh place

Video

• Women's 100m Final World Champs in Tokyo 1991 , video posted on youtube.com on September 27, 2015, accessed on April 28, 2020

Web links

• World Championships in Athletics, 3rd IAAF World Championships in Athletics , accessed April 28, 2020
• Women 100m Athletics III World Championship 1991 Tokyo (JPN) on todor66.com, accessed April 28, 2020
• Results in the IAAF Statistics Handbook for the 2019 World Cup in Doha, Women 100 m, Tokyo 1991, p. 247f (PDF 10.3 MB), English, accessed on April 28, 2020
• Katrin Krabbe sprints to gold at the 1991 World Championships in Athletics in Tokyo , Focus Online May 8, 2015 at focus.de, accessed on April 28, 2020
• Athletics: The World Cup highlights since 1983 , Katrin Krabbe on t-online.de, accessed on April 28, 2020
• Katrin Krabbe turns 50: "Wonderful" and "Really Bad Moments" , November 22, 2019 on t-online.de, accessed on April 28, 2020

References and comments

1. ↑ IAAF world records. 100 m women on rekorde-im-sport.de, accessed on April 28, 2020
2. ↑ Results in the IAAF Statistics Handbook for the 2019 World Cup in Doha, Women 100 m, p. 248 (PDF 10.3 MB), English, accessed on April 27, 2020
3. ↑ Andreas Bellinger, Katrin Krabbe: Deep Fall of a Sprint Queen , December 3, 2019 on ndr.de, accessed on April 28, 2020