Jefferson-Wooden Guns For $300,000 Double After Historic 100m Triumph

Melissa Jefferson-Wooden has set her sights on a historic $300,000 double after storming to victory in the women’s 100m at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship Budapest 26 on Saturday.

The American produced one of the fastest 100m performances in history, clocking 10.62 seconds into a slight -0.2m/s headwind to defeat Olympic champion Julien Alfred and 2023 world champion Sha’Carri Richardson in a thrilling final.

Jefferson-Wooden crossed the line in the fastest time in the world this year and equalled the joint seventh-fastest performance on the all-time list, just one hundredth of a second outside the 10.61 she ran at last year’s World Championships in Tokyo.

Alfred finished second in 10.74, while Richardson was third in 10.76 on her return to the Budapest stadium where she won the world title three years ago.

But for Jefferson-Wooden, the 100m victory is only the first part of a potentially lucrative weekend.

The 25-year-old will return to the track on Sunday for the 200m, with victory in both events set to earn her a $300,000 jackpot and make her the first woman to complete the inaugural Ultimate Championship sprint double.

‘I am down to do things that haven’t been done before,’ Jefferson-Wooden said after her 100m victory. ‘I am down for innovation and for challenging myself.’

Her confidence is understandable.

Jefferson-Wooden has now broken 10.70 four times and owns three of the five fastest performances in the world this year. She also arrives in Budapest as the reigning world champion in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m, making her the standout sprinter of the current era.

‘If I could win the double, it would just add to who I actually am,’ she said.