Melissa Jefferson-Wooden’s Tokyo triumph at the 2025 World Athletics Championships turned heads. She blasted a 10.61 to win gold, shattered the championship best, and has taken over the all-time list as the fourth fastest sprinter, beating a stacked field by 0.15s. Even though this performance ruled in every way, Jefferson-Wooden thinks that a slight tweak in the conditions would have given her a better edge that would have placed her even higher up in the list.

Following her big win, Shannon Sharpe and Chad Johnson interviewed Jefferson-Wooden on the newest episode of Nightcap. And that’s where the 100m champion weighed in on the possibility of her becoming the fastest woman in the world. That record is held by Florence Griffith Joyner, who ran 100m in just 10.49 seconds in 1959. But if there were a positive tailwind of 1.5 m/s, she might have done under 10.6 seconds. When Sharpe treaded that space, Jefferson-Wooden claimed, “Absolutely. I thought I was going to run 10.5, if I’m being honest. I knew it.”

Of course, she didn’t really believe that she could go sub 10.5, but with the right tailwind, she seemed confident about reaching the endpoint in 10.52 or 10.55 seconds. Sharpe kept pushing that with a bit more favorable conditions, Jefferson-Wooden could’ve gone below 10.6 seconds. And Melissa Jefferson-Wooden agreed. She admitted, “It was the fastest I’ve ever ran, but I look at the race and I still see areas where I could have improved on. Like I probably could have been a tad bit more explosive coming out the blocks…”

The 24-year-old continued, “I feel like the weakest part of my race the other night was probably the start. And that’s just because I like to be able to create the separation.” Well, the game plan certainly changes according to the events. That’s how she knew that her biggest advantage usually comes from the boost in the first 30m. And that’s her regret. “If I could do it all over again, I would probably be that much more aggressive at the start. And then you take my start, make it a little bit more aggressive with how the rest of the race went for me.” 

But it’s not the tailwind or the perfect track that solely got her a win. So, what is the one aspect that Melissa Jefferson-Wooden prioritizes during her preparation phase? Let’s find out! 

Melissa Jefferson-Wooden focuses on one thing to secure her wins

In case you are still speculating, the answer is consistent effort. Talking to the media following her win at the King Baudouin Stadium in 10.76 seconds, Jefferson-Wooden said, “You know, at this point, it’s just about consistency and practice making perfect. You know, I feel like I’ve done a very good job of being disciplined in who I am this year and who I want to be as an athlete. And I feel like that discipline is getting me the times that I want to see, the results that I want to get.”

On top of that, she has a pattern of making the right decisions at the right time. Like, skipping out on the Zurich Diamond League to focus on the 2025 Tokyo World Championships. This decision might be one of the core reasons for her big win in Tokyo. And going forward, we expect to see her boom in the first 30m of the races. 

But what do you think of Melissa Jefferson-Wooden’s success story? Do you think she has the potential to go sub-10.5 seconds in the near future? Drop down your thoughts as a comment.