What Is a Good 100m Time? Benchmarks by Age, Sex and Level
By Tobias · 2026-11-14
A good 100m time depends on age, sex and training. These benchmark ranges show where typical, good and very good times sit from age 12 to adult.
"Good" depends on who is running. A time that is excellent for a 13 year old can be ordinary for a senior club sprinter. The ranges below give a rough picture.
How to read these tables: they are rough guides based on typical school and club results with electronic timing, not official statistics. Individual development varies a lot in the teenage years, so a slower time at 13 says little about what you can run at 18.
Boys and men
| Age / level | Typical (little training) | Good | Very good |
| 12–13 | 14.0–15.5 | about 13.0 | under 12.5 |
| 14–15 | 13.0–14.5 | 12.0–12.5 | under 11.5 |
| 16–17 | 12.5–13.5 | 11.3–11.8 | under 11.0 |
| Adult | 13.0–16.0 | 11.0–11.8 (club) | under 10.6 (national level) |
Girls and women
| Age / level | Typical (little training) | Good | Very good |
| 12–13 | 15.0–16.5 | about 14.0 | under 13.3 |
| 14–15 | 14.5–15.5 | 13.0–13.5 | under 12.5 |
| 16–17 | 14.0–15.0 | 12.5–13.0 | under 12.0 |
| Adult | 15.0–19.0 | 12.3–13.2 (club) | under 11.7 (national level) |
Elite reference points
- World class: under about 10.0 (men) and 10.9 (women)
- World records: 9.58 (Usain Bolt) and 10.49 (Florence Griffith-Joyner)
Things that change your time
- Timing: hand timing is usually about 0.24 s faster than fully automatic timing.
- Wind: a legal tailwind of up to 2.0 m/s helps; a headwind costs time.
- Surface and spikes: a synthetic track and spikes are clearly faster than grass or a school field in trainers.
- Start: blocks and a gun start are faster than a standing start on your own.
Not sure what you would run?
If you have a 60m, 200m or 400m time but no 100m, the 100m time predictor estimates it. To get faster, start with how to run a faster 100m.
FAQ
What is a good 100m time for a 15 year old?
As a rough guide, a 15 year old boy running about 12.0–12.5 s is good for his age, and under about 11.5 s is very strong. For girls, about 13.0–13.5 s is good and under about 12.5 s is very strong. Untrained teenagers are usually slower than 13.5 (boys) or 15 seconds (girls).
What is an average 100m time for an adult?
Untrained adults usually run somewhere between 13 and 16 seconds (men) or 15 and 19 seconds (women). Running under 12 seconds as a man or under 13.5 as a woman takes real sprint training.
Is 11 seconds fast for 100m?
Yes. A fully automatic 11.0 s puts a man at a good club level and would be a fast time at most high school meets. For a woman, 11.0 s is close to international level.
What is the 100m world record?
The men's world record is 9.58 s by Usain Bolt (2009) and the women's is 10.49 s by Florence Griffith-Joyner (1988).