It was one of the greatest rivalries in women's athletics.
Gail Devers, 29,
representing the United States,
the reigning Olympic 100m champion.
And Merlene Ottey of Jamaica,
now 36, double world champion,
and competing in her fifth Olympic Games.
Six other outstanding athletes joined them for the final
of the Women's 100m at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.
It would take a top sprinter to beat Gwen Torrence,
world champion the previous year.
But the two form athletes in Atlanta were Devers and Ottey.
Devers was the star all-round athlete,
ranked number one in the hurdles
and coming back to her explosive best
in the 100m.
Ottey was the consistently-brilliant sprinter
in both the 100m and 200m.
Form suggested this might be her night.
This was arguably the greatest prize in athletics
and they wanted it. They wanted it badly.
Devers and Ottey had faced off several times in major finals.
The record read four wins
for Ottey, three for Devers.
They had run against each other
four years previously, in Barcelona.
A blanket finish saw Devers take the race,
the plaudits, the small matter of an Olympic gold medal...
Oh, and the flowers. Don't forget the flowers!
Ottey was just 0.06 of a second behind
and still finished fifth.
And Ottey would be left wondering how to make up
that tiny fraction of a second.
Four years later, she had her chance.
She qualified comfortably in her heat.
She was the fastest sprinter going into the final,
with a time of 10.91 seconds.
Devers also made it safely through.
Fractionally slower, but was she holding something back?
And so it came down to this race.
A hot night in Georgia, for the final of the Women's 100m.
Devers in lane three.
Ottey right next to her, in lane four.
Torrence in lane six.
A great start from Gail Devers in lane three.
She's pulling away from Gwen Torrence next to her.
And here comes Merlene Ottey, on the outside.
Torrence and Ottey chasing Devers.
And it's a dead heat! I don't know who took that one!
Did Ottey do enough?
She was coming strong at the finish.
No-one was claiming victory.
They paced around anxiously, looking for a sign -
an indication of who had won.
Ottey asked a line judge, "Is it me?"
But doesn't get a conclusive answer.
Ottey and Devers embraced - respectful, rather than warm.
Neither knows who's won the gold medal.
It was Devers, in lane three,
who took control of the race early on.
Devers was in front, with Torrence, nearest the camera,
just holding on in lane six.
By the halfway mark, Ottey was still nowhere,
but look, as she begins her move.
An exceptional burst of speed from the Jamaican.
Closing, closing, closing on Devers.
Had she done enough?
Devers... Ottey...
Torrence is probably third, behind those two.
Nobody knows on the track, though, what the result is.
It must have felt like an eternity for the athletes.
What was taking them so long?
Both Devers and Ottey were given the same time -
10.94 seconds.
It took them nearly two minutes to verify the winner.
It was that close.
And then the result was shown in the stadium.
Gail Devers - Olympic gold medallist.
Just that dip on the line was enough to give her victory,
ahead of her Jamaican rival.
Ottey, at 36, had surely lost her last chance of gold.
This was the photo-finish studied by the race officials -
a difference which would later be calculated in microseconds.
The blink of an eye,
the flap of a wing,
the flash of a camera.
That's all it takes to win Olympic gold.