Women’s sprinting in 2025 was simply electric, a continuation of what we’ve witnessed over the past decade. If anything, the women have carried global sprinting on their shoulders for much of the past decade, consistently delivering the sport’s biggest moments.
Part 1 of the World’s Top 10 countdown opens with the athletes we’ve ranked 10–6 for the year!
10. Shericka Jackson
Shericka Jackson ruled the globe in 2022 and 2023, winning GOLD and Silver medals in the 200m and 100m in both seasons. But in what should have been the peak year of her career — the Olympic year in 2024 — disaster struck. An untimely injury ruled her out of competition, and even though she made the trip to Paris hoping for a miraculous turnaround, her spot ultimately went to others.
Her 2025 season opened on an encouraging note. She claimed wins at the Rabat Diamond League and the Racers Grand Prix, with a strong 2nd-place finish in Xiamen during her early-season buildup. Doubts lingered as to whether she could return to her days of glory, but she silenced them at the Jamaican National Championships, finishing 2nd with 10.88s, her fastest since the injury.
A short European tour followed. She placed 3rd over 100m in Hungary and delivered a brilliant 22.17s in the 200m at the Silesia Diamond League, her best time since becoming the second-fastest woman in history over the distance in Budapest two years prior.
All signs pointed in one direction: Shericka Jackson was back. At the World Championships in Tokyo, she placed 4th in the 100m, matching her Season’s Best (SB) of 10.88s. In the 200m, she completed her comeback with a Bronze medal, running 21.99s in the process.
9. Amy Hunt
For years, Amy Hunt carried the weight of early promise after running a World U18 Record of 22.42s at just 17. However, the transition to senior level proved difficult, disrupted by COVID-19, a ruptured quadriceps, and her time at Cambridge University. She only fully returned to training at the end of 2023, and 2025 finally became the year everything clicked.
Indoors, it was clear the world was seeing a different Hunt. She represented Great Britain at the European Indoor Championships, ran a new PB of 7.09s, placed 6th in the final, and then made her first global senior final at the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, finishing 5th. Outdoor racing reinforced her progress with strong runs in Italy and the Paris Diamond League, including a 100m Personal Best (PB) of 11.03s.
At the UK Championships in Birmingham, Hunt delivered the breakthrough she’d been chasing. She ran new PBs in both the 100m and 200m, winning the national 100m title in 11.02s and placing 2nd in the 200m in 22.14s, dipping below her own World U18 Record for the second time.
Her season peaked at the World Championships, where she reached the 100m semifinal and delivered the performance of her life in the 200m, storming to a new PB of 22.08s to win a stunning Silver medal.
8. Tina Clayton
Tina Clayton, one half of Jamaica’s famed “Turbo Twins,” grew up in a nation built on sprinting greatness. While her twin sister Tia became the youngest athlete in the Olympic 100m final in Paris, Tina — once the more dominant junior — spent that time watching, supporting, and quietly waiting for her own return to the global stage.
As an U20 athlete, Tina was extraordinary, winning back-to-back World U20 100m GOLDs in Nairobi and Cali respectively and collecting four global titles before injury halted her rise. Her 2025 season began with encouraging 60m performances indoors, and her outdoor opener at the Doha Diamond League brought a promising 11.02s for 2nd behind Tia, her fastest time in three years.
Confidence returned quickly. She won the Racers Grand Prix and then delivered a defining performance at the Jamaican National Championships, beating a loaded field to win the national title in a massive PB of 10.81s. It was a bittersweet race, with Tia going down injured, but the moment marked Tina’s long-awaited breakthrough.
At the World Championships in Tokyo, she finally made her global senior debut and exceeded every expectation, storming to a new PB of 10.76s to win Silver and therefore becoming the youngest medallist ever in the women’s 100m at the World Championships. She closed her season by helping Jamaica to Silver in the women’s 4x100m, receiving the baton from none other than the legendary Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce in her final professional race.
7. Julien Alfred
Julien Alfred followed up her historic 2024 season — where she delivered St. Lucia’s first-ever Olympic 100m GOLD, 200m Silver, World Indoor 60m GOLD, and a Diamond League title — with another strong campaign in 2025. She opened her year by breaking National Records (NR) in the 300m and 400m, building the strength she needed for a more complete 200m season.
Her first 200m of the year came at the Tom Jones Memorial, where she ran a superb National Record of 21.88s. Alfred then collected a string of Diamond League victories, with her only loss coming against Melissa Jefferson-Wooden at the Prefontaine Classic, where she ran 10.77s for 2nd, a result that seemed to ignite her even further.
She rebounded in style, lowering her 200m NR to 21.71s at the London Diamond League before briefly stepping away from competition. Rumours of injury circulated, but she returned sharp, winning her second Diamond League trophy in Zurich.
At the World Championships in Tokyo, Alfred cruised through the rounds with back-to-back 10.93s in the heat and semifinal, though the latter looked less comfortable. In the final, she fought through a strain she picked up in warmup to win Bronze, then withdrew from the 200m where she was the World Leader to avoid worsening the injury, bringing her season to an early close.
6. Ditaji Kambundji
In the women’s 100m Hurdles, nothing is guaranteed. With so many athletes running in the 12.2 range, a single clean race can flip the entire script. That unpredictability carried Ditaji Kambundji through 2025, a year where she quietly, steadily built one of the finest campaigns the event has seen in recent times. Having grown up alongside Mujinga, a two-time World Indoor 60m champion, success was never foreign to her, and by 2023, she had already placed herself among the world’s best as a World Championships finalist.
Her 2025 indoor season was the real turning point. She won her fourth Swiss Indoor title in the 60m Hurdles and then shocked Europe at the European Indoor Championships, breaking both the National and European Records with an astonishing 7.67s — making her the second-fastest woman in history and surpassing Susanna Kallur’s long-standing 7.68s mark that had survived 16 years. She followed that with a Silver medal at the World Indoor Championships, finishing only behind World Record holder Devynne Charlton.
Outdoors, she built momentum gradually, collecting five wins and finishing 2nd at the Diamond League final. Yet even with her form, she was far from the favourite heading into the World Championships. The field was stacked with Masai Russell, Tobi Amusan, Danielle Williams, Grace Stark, and Nadine Visser — multiple global champions and record-holders. Kambundji simply wasn’t the fastest on paper, and the spotlight was elsewhere when the athletes settled into their blocks.
But when the gun fired, it was a different story. Exploding out of Lane 3, she controlled the race from the first hurdle and quickly found herself locked in stride for GOLD. She became World Champion in the 100m Hurdles, ran an NR of 12.24s, and climbed to 7th on the all-time list!
