The women's short sprinters.

The women’s 100 metres will be a more exciting race than the men’s in Rio, simply because there are so many athletes who could potentially win it.

The  main contenders are Tori Bowie, Dafne Schippers, English Gardner, Elaine Thompson and Shelly Ann Fraser Pryce, with Tiana Bartoletta and Murielle Ahoure as outside bets.

Bowie was the bronze medalist at last year’s World Championships in Beijing and opened up this year in great form. In the first Diamond League meeting, Bowie clocked 10.80 to beat Dafne Schippers and did so again, this time over 200 metres, in Eugene. Throughout the rounds at the US Olympic Trials, Bowie was very impressive, and despite running a personal best performance in the final, she finished third, which raises the question whether she will be able to deliver her best performance in the final. Bowie will be competing in both the 100 and 200 metres as well as the 4x100 metres relay, and her coach, Lance Brauman’s thorough programme will provide her with the strength to complete up to eight races.

Tori Bowie

Schippers has continued her 2015 form into 2016 and has looked very solid on the track this season, and has proven herself to be a championship performer last year at the World Championships in Beijing where she won a silver medal in each of the sprints. She has produced some amazing performances on the Diamond League circuit this year, notably her 200 metres run in Oslo. It is likely that whatever Schippers is physically capable of, will be what she produces on Saturday night, in the 100 metres final. If she is able to produce a start that leaves her in contention, then her textbook form and minimal rearside mechanics will make her very dangerous over the latter part of the race.

Dafne Schippers

English Gardner is based in Los Angeles under the legendary John Smith. A former Oregon Duck, she comes from a school currently known for their female sprinters. Gardner has delivered impressive performances in Diamond League races, but her strongest race was in the US Olympic Trials final where she sped to 10.74 to put her second in the 2016 rankings. In what was always going to be a close race, Gardner held it together mentally to run a PB and defeat both Bowie and Tiana Bartoletta by four hundredths of a second. This is a vital trait for doing well in the Olympic Final, where she, like all the competitors, will be under immense pressure.

English Gardner

Elaine Thompson made substantial improvements last year under coach Stephen Francis. She ran Schippers extremely close in the World Championship final over 200 metres in Beijing, running 21.65. This year though, her most impressive performance has been over the 100 metres, winning the Jamaican Olympic Trials in 10.70 seconds, making her the fastest woman in the world in 2016. A surprisingly poor run in Oslo over 200 metres perhaps raised a couple of questions, where she was well beaten by Schippers, but Thompson has only qualified for the 100 metres in Rio, having not run the 200 metres final at her Olympic Trials.

Elaine Thompson

Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce has perhaps had her achievements overshadowed by Usain Bolt. She has won the last two Olympic 100 metres titles and three of the last four World Championship 100 metres titles. Last year in the World Championships 100 metres final, Fraser-Pryce did enough in the first part of the race to prevent Schippers from catching her with her strong finish, and questionable early season form suggests that her starts will need to be on point if she is to win her third Olympic 100 metres title. Another of Stephen Francis’ athletes, Fraser-Pryce cannot be ruled out however, even though there are seven women faster than her over 100 metres this year.

Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce

Tiana Bartoletta, last year’s long jump World Champion, finished second at the US Olympic Trials in 10.78 to secure her spot on the team, but was well beaten a couple of weeks later in Monaco by Schippers. Murielle Ahoure ran 10.78 in early June at a small meeting in Florida. Both women haven’t produced a performance to back up these runs as yet, and it is often difficult to reproduce an anomaly in an Olympic Final. However, stranger things have happened, and as they always say, once an athlete makes the final, anything can happen!