thumb|400px|IAAF-ratified world record progression for the men's 100 m. In 1977 the IAAF began requiring fully automatic timing, accounting for both the increase in measured times and the decrease in measurement uncertainty.
The first world record in the 100 metres for men (athletics) was recognised by the International Amateur Athletics Federation, now known as World Athletics, in 1912.
, the IAAF has ratified 67 records in the event, not including rescinded records.
|-
|
|
| Jackson Scholz
| 16 September 1920
|
|-
| rowspan="10" style="vertical-align:center;"| 10.2
| −0.9
|
| Harold Davis
|
| Compton, USA
| 6 June 1941
| Similarly, the Amateur Athletic Union's introduction of FAT at its 1975 championships meant that Steve Williams' manual 9.8 seconds in the 100 metres semifinal was discounted in favour of the FAT of 10.19 seconds.
!!data-sort-type="number"|Duration of record
|- style="background: #fec"
| 10.06
| +1.3
|
| Bob Hayes
| rowspan="3" |
| Tokyo, Japan
| 15 October 1964
|
|data-sort-value="" |
|- style="background: #fec"
| 10.03
| +0.8
|
| Jim Hines
| Sacramento, USA
| 20 June 1968
|
|data-sort-value="" |
|- style="background: #fec"
| rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:center;"| 9.93
| +1.0
|
| rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:center;"| Carl Lewis
| rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:center;"|
| Rome, Italy
| 30 August 1987
|
|data-sort-value="" |
|- style="background: #fec"
| +1.1
|
| Zürich, Switzerland
| 17 August 1988
|
|data-sort-value="" |
|-
| 9.79
| +0.1
|
| Maurice Greene
| rowspan="2" |
| Athens, Greece
| 16 June 1999
|
|data-sort-value="" |
|-
| rowspan="4" style="vertical-align:center;"| 9.77
| +1.6
| 9.768
| Asafa Powell
|
| Athens, Greece
| 14 June 2005
|
|data-sort-value="" |
|-
| +1.5
| 9.763
| rowspan="3" style="vertical-align:Center;" | Asafa Powell
| rowspan="6" style="vertical-align:center;" |
| Gateshead, United Kingdom
| 11 June 2006
|
|data-sort-value="" |
|-
| 9.72
| +1.7
| 9.715
| rowspan="3"| Usain Bolt
| New York, USA
| 31 May 2008
|
|data-sort-value="" |
|}
<!-- IMPORTANT NOTE: Please do not add Usain Bolt's time from the 2012 Olympics. It was not a World Record, and therefore does not belong in this article. -->
Low-altitude record progression 1968–1987
The IAAF considers marks set at high altitude as acceptable for record consideration. However, high altitude can significantly assist sprint performances. One estimate suggests times in the 200 m sprint can be assisted by between 0.09s and 0.14s with the maximum allowable tailing wind of 2.0 m/s, and gain 0.3s at altitudes over 2000m. For this reason, unofficial low-altitude record lists have been compiled.
After the IAAF started to recognise only electronic times in 1977, the then-current record and subsequent record were both set at altitude. It was not until 1987 that the world record was equalled or surpassed by a low-altitude performance. The following progression of low-altitude records therefore starts with Hines's low-altitude "record" when the IAAF started to recognise only electronic timing in 1977, and continues to Lewis's low-altitude performance that equalled the high-altitude world record in 1987. (Ben Johnson's 9.95 run in 1986 and 9.83 run in 1987 are omitted.)
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Time
! Athlete
! Nationality
! Location of race
! Date
|-
| 10.03
| Jim Hines