Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, the self-described village kid from a South Carolina seaport, who had two (partial) college scholarship offers, who saved her dad’s life at age 17, is now the world 100m champion.
Jefferson-Wooden ran away to win in 10.61 seconds in Tokyo, becoming the fourth-fastest woman in history. One year ago, she was the Olympic 100m bronze medalist.
“When this year started, I had the goal to improve on my bronze medal and to make it a gold medal,” Jefferson-Wooden told Lewis Johnson on NBC Sports.
Jamaican Tina Clayton took silver in 10.76, followed by Olympic gold medalist Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia in 10.84. Alfred said she “felt my hamstring a little bit” in the warm-up area before the final.
TRACK AND FIELD WORLDS: Results | Broadcast Schedule
American Sha’Carri Richardson, the defending world champion from 2023, took fifth in 10.94, her best time of a season that was set back from the start due to an injury in February.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, the record five-time world 100m champion in her final career individual race, was sixth.
Jefferson-Wooden’s winning reaction was relief. The Coastal Carolina product reset after winning 100m bronze and 4x100m gold in her Olympic debut last summer.
That meant working with a chef and giving up Culver’s deluxe ButterBurgers with no onions and tomatoes.
She went undefeated in the 100m this season, lowering her personal best four times, and went into Tokyo with the world’s three best times of 2025.
The only women to ever run faster were American Florence Griffith Joyner (world record 10.49) and Jamaicans Elaine Thompson-Herah (10.54) and Fraser-Pryce (10.60).
“My mindset has always kind of been there, but it was taking those extra steps as far as my discipline goes to make sure that I’m really doing the things that I need to in order to achieve the things that I say I want to achieve,” said Jefferson-Wooden, whose breakout was winning the 2022 U.S. 100m title.
Her goal isn’t complete. Jefferson-Wooden wants to become the second woman in the last 30 years to sweep the 100m and 200m at a World Championships after Fraser-Pryce in 2013.
She is the world’s second-fastest woman in 2025 in the 200m behind Alfred. The 200m final at worlds is Friday.
“I feel like I made a statement, per se, for my career and who I am and what I want to stand for,” Jefferson-Wooden said.
Oblique Seville wins men’s 100m; Noah Lyles bronze
Jamaica’s Seville, Thompson 1-2 in 100m; Lyles 3rd
Oblique Seville (9.77 seconds) and Kishane Thompson (9.82) gave Jamaica a 1-2 finish in the 100m final at the World Track and Field Championships, with U.S. sprinter Noah Lyles (9.89) rounding out the podium in Tokyo.
With Usain Bolt watching in the stadium, Oblique Seville became the first Jamaican to win a global 100m title since Bolt retired in 2017.
Seville clocked 9.77 seconds, leading a Jamaican one-two with Kishane Thompson. American Noah Lyles, the 2023 World champion and 2024 Olympic gold medalist, earned bronze.
Seville, who had never previously won a 100m Olympic or world medal, is coached by Bolt’s career-long coach Glen Mills. More on the men’s 100m here.
Tara Davis-Woodhall, Valarie Allman add world titles to Olympic golds
In field events, Americans Tara Davis-Woodhall (long jump) and Valarie Allman (discus) won their first world titles after previously winning Olympic gold.
Davis-Woodhall, undefeated since taking silver at the 2023 Worlds, had the two best jumps of Sunday’s final, including a 7.13-meter fourth of six jumps that was the world’s best since June 2024.
Allman, undefeated since taking silver at the 2023 Worlds, won by the largest margin in her event in 18 years.
More on Davis-Woodhall and Allman’s victories here.
Frenchman Jimmy Gressier was the surprise 10,000m winner, edging Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha by six hundredths in 28:55.77, the slowest winning time in World Championships history and the first not to break 28 minutes since the first worlds in 1983.
Americans Nico Young and Grant Fisher were fifth and eighth.
World Championships highlights, including the women’s and men’s 100m, air Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock. Worlds continue later Sunday with the men’s marathon (6:30 p.m., CNBC and Peacock).
The next finals session in the stadium is Monday at 5:15 a.m. ET (Peacock) and 6:30 a.m. ET (USA Network), featuring the women’s 100m hurdles and men’s pole vault.
World Track and Field Championships Results — Women’s 100m
Gold: Melissa Jefferson-Wooden (USA) — 10.61
Silver: Tina Clayton (JAM) — 10.76
Bronze: Julien Alfred (LCA) — 10.84
4. Shericka Jackson (JAM) — 10.88
5. Sha’Carri Richardson (USA) — 10.94
6. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (JAM) — 11.03
7. Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith (CIV) — 11.04
8. Dina Asher-Smith (GBR) — 11.06
Melissa Jefferson-Wooden saved her dad’s life when she was 17 years old.
