Athletics at the 1992 Summer Olympics – Women's 100 metres
The women's 100 metres was an event at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. There were a total of 55 participating athletes, with seven qualifying heats. The top four in each heat qualified for the quarterfinals along with the four fastest remaining.
The world record holder and defending gold medalist Florence Griffith-Joyner had retired. The returning silver medalist, 35 year old Evelyn Ashford ran fast in the quarterfinals but was eliminated in the semis. Other returning veterans included Merlene Ottey, who won her first Olympic medal in 1980, Gwen Torrence and Anelia Nuneva who made a heroic attempt to keep up with Griffith-Joyner four years earlier, only to have her hamstring explode in the attempt. Through the semi-final round, Juliet Cuthbert had the fastest qualifying time, while Gwen Torrence was the winner of the other semi-final. Both Cuthbert and Torrence were also returning finalists from 1988. Irina Privalova, Mary Onyali and Liliana Allen were younger sprinters. As the world championship silver medalist in the 100 metres hurdles, Gail Devers was known as a hurdler and didn't carry a strong reputation as a sprinter, though she had finished a distant second in Griffith-Joyner's world record race.
From the gun in the final, Privalova leaped out to an early lead in lane 6. Less noticed in lane 2, Devers also got a slight edge on the two Jamaicans and Torrence in the middle of the track. But Privalova couldn't put them away, instead all three were slowly gaining on the early leaders, with Cuthbert gaining a slight edge amongst the three. By the finish, Devers, Cuthbert, Privalova and Torrence all were within a foot of one another, with Ottey only another foot back. Separated by inches, Devers beat Cuthbert to the line. Privalova barely arrived ahead of Torrence who passed her in the next step after the line.
Four years later, it would be Devers again by inches ahead of Ottey and Torrence to become only the second woman to win the 100 twice in a row.
Records
These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1992 Summer Olympics.| World Record | 10.49 |  Florence Griffith-Joyner | Indianapolis | July 16, 1988 |
| Olympic Record | 10.62 | Florence Griffith-Joyner | Seoul | September 24, 1988 |
Results
Heats
First 4 from each heat and the next 4 fastest qualified for the semifinals.| Rank | Heat | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 3 | Juliet Cuthbert | 11.14 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Gail Devers | 11.23 | ||
| 3 | 6 | Evelyn Ashford | 11.23 | ||
| 4 | 1 | Merlene Ottey | 11.26 | ||
| 5 | 5 | Gwen Torrence | 11.28 | ||
| 6 | 7 | Beatrice Utondu | 11.30 | ||
| 7 | 3 | Anelia Nuneva | 11.34 | ||
| 8 | 6 | Mary Onyali | 11.37 | ||
| 9 | 5 | Christy Opara | 11.39 | ||
| 10 | 2 | Irina Privalova | 11.42 | ||
| 11 | 6 | Wang Huei-Chen | 11.43 | ||
| 12 | 1 | Sisko Hanhijoki | 11.44 | ||
| 13 | 3 | Elinda Vorster | 11.45 | ||
| 13 | 7 | Olga Bogoslovskaya | 11.45 | ||
| 15 | 7 | Nelli Fiere-Cooman | 11.47 | ||
| 16 | 4 | Pauline Davis-Thompson | 11.48 | ||
| 17 | 5 | Liliana Allen | 11.49 | ||
| 18 | 1 | Patricia Girard | 11.51 | ||
| 19 | 3 | Melinda Gainsford | 11.57 | ||
| 19 | 7 | Laurence Bily | 11.57 | ||
| 21 | 6 | Lucrécia Jardim | 11.58 | ||
| 22 | 2 | Kerry Johnson | 11.62 | ||
| 22 | 3 | Odiah Sidibé | 11.62 | ||
| 24 | 4 | Stephanie Douglas | 11.65 | ||
| 25 | 4 | Myra Mayberry-Wilkinson | 11.67 | ||
| 26 | 1 | Gao Han | 11.68 | ||
| 26 | 6 | Tian Yumei | 11.68 | ||
| 28 | 2 | Xiao Yehua | 11.69 | ||
| 28 | 7 | Sabine Tröger | 11.69 | ||
| 30 | 1 | Cristina Castro Salvador | 11.72 | ||
| 31 | 2 | Dahlia Duhaney | 11.73 | ||
| 31 | 5 | Andrea Philipp | 11.73 | ||
| 33 | 5 | Lalao Robine Ravaoniriana | 11.74 | ||
| 34 | 4 | Heather Samuel | 11.76 | ||
| 35 | 5 | Patricia Foufoué Ziga | 11.77 | ||
| 36 | 2 | Karen Clarke | 11.79 | ||
| 37 | 2 | N'Deye Binta Dia | 11.83 | ||
| 38 | 2 | Damayanthi Darsha | 11.88 | ||
| 39 | 3 | Ratjai Sripet | 11.99 | ||
| 40 | 7 | Marcel Winkler | 12.01 | ||
| 41 | 6 | Dawnette Douglas | 12.05 | ||
| 42 | 4 | Gaily Dube | 12.08 | ||
| 43 | 1 | Trương Hoàng Mỹ Linh | 12.11 | ||
| 44 | 3 | Monique Kengné | 12.12 | ||
| 44 | 6 | Zoila Stewart | 12.12 | ||
| 46 | 5 | Ngozi Mwanamwambwa | 12.13 | ||
| 47 | 7 | Aminata Konaté | 12.33 | ||
| 48 | 1 | Gail Prescod | 12.41 | ||
| 49 | 3 | Vaciseva Tavaga | 12.47 | ||
| 50 | 6 | Deirdre Caruana | 12.59 | ||
| 51 | 5 | Muyegbe Mubala | 12.76 | ||
| 52 | 4 | Laure Kuetey | 13.11 | ||
| 53 | 2 | Aminath Rishtha | 13.66 | ||
| 7 | Magdalena Ansue | ||||
| 4 | Antónia de Jesus |
Quarterfinals
Quarterfinal 1
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Evelyn Ashford | 11.13 | ||
| 2 | Beatrice Utondu | 11.31 | ||
| 3 | Sisko Hanhijoki | 11.50 | ||
| 4 | Patricia Girard | 11.54 | ||
| 5 | Kerry Johnson | 11.59 | ||
| 6 | Dahlia Duhaney | 11.61 | ||
| 7 | Lucrécia Jardim | 11.66 | ||
| 8 | Tian Yumei | 11.78 |
Quarterfinal 2
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Juliet Cuthbert | 11.12 | ||
| 2 | Anelia Nuneva | 11.17 | ||
| 3 | Mary Onyali | 11.28 | ||
| 4 | Elinda Vorster | 11.44 | ||
| 5 | Nelli Fiere-Cooman | 11.55 | ||
| 6 | Laurence Bily | 11.64 | ||
| 7 | Myra Mayberry | 11.69 | ||
| 8 | Cristina Castro | 11.79 |
Quarterfinal 3
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Merlene Ottey | 11.15 | ||
| 2 | Gwen Torrence | 11.17 | ||
| 3 | Pauline Davis | 11.31 | ||
| 4 | Olga Bogoslovskaya | 11.43 | ||
| 5 | Odiah Sidibé | 11.63 | ||
| 6 | Andrea Philipp | 11.67 | ||
| 7 | Xiao Yehua | 11.73 | ||
| 8 | Stephanie Douglas | 11.77 |
Quarterfinal 4
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Irina Privalova | 10.98 | ||
| 2 | Gail Devers | 11.17 | ||
| 3 | Liliana Allen | 11.33 | ||
| 4 | Christy Opara-Thompson | 11.42 | ||
| 5 | Wang Huei-Chen | 11.57 | ||
| 6 | Melinda Gainsford | 11.67 | ||
| 7 | Gao Han | 11.76 | ||
| 8 | Sabine Tröger | 11.76 |
Semifinals
Semifinal 1
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Gwen Torrence | 11.02 | ||
| 2 | Merlene Ottey | 11.07 | ||
| 3 | Irina Privalova | 11.08 | ||
| 4 | Mary Onyali | 11.30 | ||
| 5 | Pauline Davis | 11.34 | ||
| 6 | Christy Opara-Thompson | 11.47 | ||
| 7 | Sisko Hanhijoki | 11.65 | ||
| 8 | Patricia Girard | 11.70 |
Semifinal 2
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Juliet Cuthbert | 10.98 | ||
| 2 | Gail Devers | 11.12 | ||
| 3 | Anelia Nuneva | 11.17 | ||
| 4 | Liliana Allen | 11.28 | ||
| 5 | Evelyn Ashford | 11.29 | ||
| 6 | Elinda Vorster | 11.44 | ||
| 7 | Olga Bogoslovskaya | 11.45 | ||
| 8 | Beatrice Utondu | 11.53 |
Final
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time |
| Gail Devers | 10.82 | ||
| Juliet Cuthbert | 10.83 | ||
| Irina Privalova | 10.84 | ||
| 4 | Gwen Torrence | 10.86 | |
| 5 | Merlene Ottey | 10.88 | |
| 6 | Anelia Nuneva | 11.10 | |
| 7 | Mary Onyali | 11.15 | |
| 8 | Liliana Allen | 11.19 |