100 metres at the Olympics 40 in 2000 and reached the Olympic semi-finals four years later. (Ottey is also the most frequent participant having competed in the Olympic 100 m an unrivalled six times from 1984 to 2004). The first women's champion, Betty Robinson in 1928, remains the youngest gold medallist for the event at 16 years old, while a 32-year-old Linford Christie became the oldest 100 m Olympic champion in 1992. Since introduction of testing by the IAAF in the early-20th century, female sprinters may be subject to gender verification. This rule was first formally applied to the 100 m at the 1968 Mexico
100 metres at the Olympics to compete in other events held later at the games – many 100 m athletes also compete in the 200 metres and the 4×100 metres relay events. Traditionally there are four rounds of competition: heats, quarter-finals, semi-finals, and finals. Prior to 1964, finals featured six athletes. For all Olympic competitions from 1964 onwards—allowing for a sufficient number of athletes being present—each race features eight runners. Athletes are seeded by past performance to ensure an even balance of quality across the heats and allow the best runners to progress to the later stages. Usually in the first two rounds the top