The women's 100 metres hurdles at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place on 17–19 August at the Beijing National Stadium.

The qualifying standards were 12.96 s (A standard) and 13.11 s (B standard).

Coming into the Olympics, Lolo Jones had the fastest time of the year, 12.45 in the semi-finals of the U.S. Olympic Trials. Jones had also won those trials convincingly in a wind aided 12.29 (coming within .08 of the 20-year-old world record).

The first round was distinguished by five runners finishing within .03 of each other. In the semi-final, Jones separated from the field by .19, setting a wind legal personal best 12.43 and a new fastest time of the year.

In the final, Sally McLellan was out fast, clearly the first over the first hurdle. By the fourth hurdle she had almost a full stride lead over the wall of competitors across the track behind her, with Jones starting to gain a slight advantage. But McLellan couldn't hold the lead. Over the next two hurdles, Jones stormed by, with the rest of the field gaining on McLellan. Dawn Harper was starting to separate ahead of the wall. Jones continued to pull away to a full stride on Harper as McLellan fell back to run even with the wall. At the ninth hurdle, Jones didn't get her lead leg high enough to clear the barrier. Her foot hit the slat square on. She rode the hurdle to the ground, landing awkwardly and losing her forward momentum. She had to jump long strides just to clear the final hurdle but was losing ground on every step. Harper took the hurdles cleanly and held her edge to cross the line for gold. Behind her, McLellan, Priscilla Lopes-Schliep, Damu Cherry, Delloreen Ennis-London and Brigitte Foster-Hylton (the wall) hit the line together. .02 separated second through sixth with McLellan getting the photo finish nod over Lopes-Schliep for the medals. Four years later Harper and McLellan (under her married name of Pearson) would also get gold and silver, but in the opposite order.

Records Prior to this competition, the existing world record, Olympic record, and world leading time were as follows:

No new world or Olympic records were set for this event.

Results

Round 1 Qualifying rule: first two of each heat (Q) plus the six fastest times (q) qualified.

Rank Heat Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 1 Josephine Onyia 12.68 DSQ 2 1 Susanna Kallur 12.68 Q 3 2 Vonette Dixon 12.69 Q, SB 3 5 Brigitte Foster-Hylton 12.69 Q 5 4 LoLo Jones 12.71 Q 6 5 Dawn Harper 12.73 Q 7 2 Priscilla Lopes-Schliep 12.75 Q 8 3 Delloreen Ennis-London 12.82 Q 9 3 Sally McLellan 12.83 Q 10 4 Anay Tejeda 12.84 Q 11 2 Damu Cherry 12.91 q 12 1 Nevin Yanit 12.94 q 13 2 Carolin Nytra 12.95 q 14 3 Sarah Claxton 12.97 q 15 4 Reïna-Flor Okori 12.98 q 15 1 Aurelia Trywiańska-Kollasch 12.98 q 17 5 Anastassiya Pilipenko 12.99 18 5 Aleesha Barber 13.01 NR 19 4 Christina Vukicevic 13.05 PB 20 4 Tatyana Dektyareva 13.05 21 5 Yevgeniya Snihur 13.06 22 3 Yuliya Kondakova 13.07 23 3 Angela Whyte 13.11 24 1 Micol Cattaneo 13.13 25 2 Aleksandra Antonova 13.18 25 1 Lucie Škrobáková 13.18 27 4 Natalya Ivoninskaya 13.20 28 2 Derval O'Rourke 13.22 29 5 Nadine Faustin-Parker 13.25 30 4 Toyin Augustus 13.34 31 1 Katsiaryna Paplauskaya 13.39 32 3 Yenima Arencibia 13.43 33 2 Maíla Machado 13.45 34 5 Dedeh Erawati 13.49 NR 35 3 Flóra Redoúmi 13.56 36 3 Edit Vári 13.59 37 1 Miriam Bobková 13.65 38 2 Fadwa Al Bouza 14.24 SB 39 4 Jeimy Bernardez 14.29 5 Fatmata Fofanah

Semifinals Qualification: First 4 in each heat and the next fastest advance to the Final. Rank Heat Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes11 LoLo Jones 0.17212.43 Q, PB22 Damu Cherry 0.18912.62Q32 Dawn Harper 0.19112.66Q41 Delloreen Ennis-London 0.14512.67Q51 Priscilla Lopes-Schliep 0.15912.68Q61 Sally McLellan 0.14012.70Q72 Brigitte Foster-Hylton 0.16212.76Q82 Sarah Claxton 0.14512.84Q92 Vonette Dixon 0.23712.86 91 Josephine Onyia 0.20312.86 DSQ111 Aurelia Trywiańska-Kollasch 0.11812.96121 Carolin Nytra 0.14412.99 132 Reïna-Flor Okori 0.15313.05141 Nevin Yanit 0.20113.282 Susanna Kallur 0.198DNF2 Anay Tejeda 0.156DNF

Final PositionLaneAthlete Nation Reaction TimeNotes Retrieved 2008-08-19.6 Dawn Harper 0.19312.54PB3 Sally McLellan 0.13812.64 8 Priscilla Lopes-Schliep 0.17412.6447 Damu Cherry 0.23912.6555 Delloreen Ennis-London 0.15112.65 69 Brigitte Foster-Hylton 0.16712.66 74 LoLo Jones 0.18512.72 82 Sarah Claxton 0.16312.94

References