2025 World Athletics Championships: women’s 100m final with Melissa Jefferson-Wooden defending her undefeated streak and Julien Alfred aiming to give Saint Lucia its first Worlds title. Bang! As the gun fired, Jefferson-Wooden exploded out of lane 4. “And they’re out and away. Melissa Jefferson-Wooden had a good start as she is out and away,” the commentator called. She sped ahead, leaving Alfred and Jamaica’s Tina Clayton behind. With no one to play catch up with, she claimed the 100m world title in 10.61s, her third sub-10.70 of the season, and the fastest ever seen in the women’s 100m at World Championships. Post the win, she had a shocking confession.

“I think I knew after I ran Philly’s Grand Slam that this was going to be like that. I feel like that’s when it started before then, but it was really like, okay, no, I feel like it was I put the stamp on it like, no, this is your year to become a world champion,” said Melissa Jefferson-Wooden when asked if she was thinking of running fast in the 100m finals on a Nightcap episode aired on September 17th. In the Philly slam, she clocked 10.73s, which was her career best at that moment, and then came the Olympics rematch.

The 100m World Champion also said, “It was after that meet, and then going into trials or going into Prefontaine, you know, was the rematch of the Olympic podium. Very much so, it almost looked pretty identical to the finals that we had last year in Paris. So, it was kind of like, all right, they beat you that time, don’t let them beat you again.” At the Paris 2024 Olympics, Julien Alfred won gold in the women’s 100m (10.72s), with Sha’Carri Richardson taking silver (10.87s) leaving Melissa Jefferson with bronze (10.92s). The three met again at the 2025 Prefontaine Classic, and Melissa did not let them take the lead or the win.

Jefferson-Wooden tasted victory there with a time of 10.75 seconds, narrowly edging out Alfred, who finished second in 10.77 seconds. Richardson was 9th in 11.19 seconds. This was also the Olympic gold medalist’s first and only loss of the season before the 100m finals at the Worlds. Melissa Jefferson-Wooden also talked about how, just before the final, she told herself that tonight was her moment, but that win wouldn’t be handed to her on a platter; she had to go out and earn it.

She added, “And then I looked around, and all the women that I was getting ready to race against, they had all beaten me before, and I said, ‘Well, they won’t get me twice.’ And that was the last thing. So before I got to the line, that was the last thing I said before I got to the line. And then after the gun went off, it was just like, well, here we go.” After that, she flew; with others only in pursuit, trailing at her heels.

Melissa Jefferson-Wooden clocked the fourth fastest time in the history of women’s 100m. Only Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (10.60), Elaine Thompson-Herah (10.60), and Florence Griffith Joyner (10.54) are ahead of her. But even the time that she clocked could not please the newly crowned 100m world champion.

Melissa Jefferson-Wooden wanted to go faster

In the very same episode, there was a conversation between Melissa and host Shannon Sharpe about her breaking Flo-Jo’s record. Florence Griffith Joyner set the women’s 100-meter world record at 10.49 seconds during the U.S. Olympic Trials in Indianapolis on July 16, 1988. There was a chance that Melissa would have dipped under 10.6 had the tailwind been 1.5 m/s. When Sharpe treaded that space, Jefferson-Wooden claimed, “Absolutely. I thought I was going to run 10.5, if I’m being honest. I knew it.”

She wasn’t fully convinced she could break 10.5 seconds, but with the right tailwind, she felt confident about hitting 10.52 or 10.55 seconds. Sharpe suggested that with slightly better conditions, she might have gone under 10.6, and Jefferson-Wooden agreed, admitting, “It was the fastest I’ve ever ran, but I look at the race and I still see areas where I could have improved on. Like I probably could have been a tad bit more explosive coming out the blocks…”

The newly crowned world champion also confessed, “I feel like the weakest part of my race the other night was probably the start. And that’s just because I like to be able to create the separation.” Her reaction time was 0.173, which was the second fastest after Julien Alfred’s 0.169. Next for Melissa is the 200m. She started off good with a win in 22.24s in the heats. Now that Alfred is out of the World Championships, can Jefferson-Wooden ace it?