The United States has developed some of the most talented sprinters in the world. That hasn't necessarily paid off in the women's 100m, however, where Team USA has failed to capture gold in each of the last eight Olympics.
Sha'Carri Richardson figured to be Team USA's best chance at breaking through on the podium during the 2024 Paris Games. But she fell just short, unable to outgun St. Lucia's Julien Alfred, who notched the gold with a scorching 10.72-second run.
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The United States' gold medal drought continues, with Richardson and Melissa Jefferson having to settle for silver and bronze, respectively. They join an impressive list of American standouts to win medals, just not of the golden variety.
That wasn't always the case. Back in the 2000 Olympics, Marion Jones raced to the top of the totem pole in the women's 100m. What ensued next was a controversy which rattled USA track and field to its core.
Here's a look the last time the United States captured gold in the women's 100m dash.
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Who was the last USA woman to win gold in the women's 100m?
Marion Jones was the last American woman to take home gold in the 100m, pacing beyond her adversaries with a fiery 10.75, nearly 0.4 seconds faster than the second-place finisher, Greek star Ekaterini Thanou.
It was one of three medals Jones would capture during the 2000 Games. She also garnered gold in the 200m and the 4x100m. Jones stated previously that she had hoped to take home five gold medals while in Sydney.
For a while, it seemed as if Jones was headed for superstardom — that is, until she was disqualified from Olympic competition after being implicated in the BALCO scandal.
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In 2004, BALCO founder Victor Conte revealed to ABC's Martin Bashir that he had personally given Jones four different performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) before, during and after the Sydney Games. Further evidence was presented to the Washington Post shortly thereafter, prompting an investigation in which Jones admitted to lying to federal agents under oath regarding her alleged steroid use.
The U.S. Olympic Committee demanded that Jones return her Olympic medals. And in 2009, the IOC retroactively disqualified Jones from the 2000 Olympics, declaring the official winner of the women's 100m to be Thanou.
In terms of official gold medals, the last American to take home the gold was Gail Devers, who ended the night on the top of the podium back in 1996.
