Melissa Jefferson-Wooden had already won gold in the 200m and 4x100m relay before blitzing the 100m, and was invited onto MrBeast’s channel to take part in a unique challenge
Melissa Jefferson-Wooden is the fastest woman on the planet and recently beat 100 men in a sprint race. The 24-year-old competed against her opponents on YouTube, with platform royalty MrBeast hosting the event.
Last month, the American sprinter produced one of the most impressive performances in the history of athletics. The South Carolina product took gold home in the 100 metre race with a jaw-dropping time of 10.61 seconds, which makes her the fourth-fastest woman in history. Florence Griffith‑Joyner, Elaine Thompson and Shelly-Ann Fraser‑Pryce are the only other athletes to have gone faster.
Fresh off the back of her stunning record in Tokyo, Jefferson-Wooden has taken part in a recent video for Jimmy Donaldson, aka MrBeast, who is one of the most famous people on the planet, with a relatively unmatched internet presence.
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The concept of the challenge would offer 100 men, all North Carolina University students, the chance to win $100,000 (£74,000) if they beat the legendary female sprinter. Donaldson is renowned for offering colossal cash prizes for outlandish challenges like this.
The challenge was part of a longer video concept which also included 100 children against the world’s strongest man – Brian Shaw.
While Jefferson-Wooden impressively beat all of her opponents, there was a commendable effort by runner number 35, who very nearly pipped her at the last second, with the athlete getting her toe over the line before 35 could edge over.
“35, you were actually not too far behind!,” exclaimed Donaldson following the race. “Good job!,” added Jefferson-Wooden. “I saw you, great job!”
“Wait, do you do track?” asked Donaldson, before 35 responded: “No!”
In fairness to the professional athlete, she was wearing football boots in the sprint, rather than her usual footwear. Many of the students wore normal trainers. The video is below, with the race at the very start of the 27-minute show.
The video has already amassed a stunning 81m views in just five days, with that count to continue soaring high. Donaldson himself has a ridiculous subscriber count of 446m.
“This year has been nothing short of a dream,” said Jefferson-Wooden after her win in Tokyo.
“I have been working so hard for this very moment to come out here. I just focused on my execution so to put together the perfect race at the right time just means so much to me.”
Speaking about the world record of 10.49, she said: “As far as world records go, Flo Jo is the greatest to do it. She has put a number out there that’s definitely worth chasing.”
Appearing on MrBeast’s YouTube channel will massively grow the sprinter’s online presence, too. Donaldson has some mind-blowing figures on the platform.
A Shorts video entitled ‘Would You Fly To Paris For A Baguette?’ picked up 1.6 billion views, with a further three eclipsing one billion views – those videos therefore equivalent to half of the world’s population watching his content.
His real life Squid Game video picked up 881m views in three years, with a further three shows eclipsing half a billion views. He is known for producing highly professional content and pouring huge amounts of money into production and prizes.