View source for Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics Womens 100 metres

The women's 100 meters at the 2004 Summer Olympics were held at the Athens Olympic Stadium on August 20-21. The competition featured a first round with eight heats, where the top three finishers in each heat and the next eight fastest runners advanced to the second round (32 total). In the quarterfinals, the top three from each of four heats and the next four fastest overall (16 total) moved on to the semifinals. The semifinals consisted of two heats, with the top four from each advancing to the final (8 total).

The final was highly competitive, as several top sprinters, including Marion Jones and Ekaterini Thanou, were absent. Yulia Nestsiarenka of Belarus won the gold medal with a national record time of 10.93 seconds. Lauryn Williams of the United States took silver with a time of 10.96 seconds, edging out Veronica Campbell of Jamaica by a hundredth of a second. Campbell finished third.

No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition. The qualification period for the event was from January 1, 2003, to August 9, 2004, with athletes required to meet specific time standards to compete. The races were conducted under varying wind conditions across different heats and rounds.