BEIJING — Muna Lee has worked on her start more than anything in the past several months. Yet that's the element of the 100 meters that cost her dearly in a disputed Olympic final.

Lee finished fifth as the Jamaican team had a historic sweep of the medals Sunday night (Sunday morning in the United States).

Shelly-Ann Fraser won in a personal-best time of 10.78 seconds, followed by teammates Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart, who tied for the silver in a photo-finish at 10.98. It was the first time any nation swept the Olympic women's 100, although the still-divided West Germany and East Germany took the three medals in 1976.

Lee's time was 11.07, and she was affected by what she thought was a false start by teammate Torri Edwards in the lane next to her. Edwards, in lane 6, agreed that she had false-started and was expecting it to be called. The U.S. team filed a protest, asking that the race be reviewed to see if Edwards did false start

The protest was denied, but that process made the Jamaicans have to wait almost two-and-half hours after the race to hold their news conference.

Lee, in lane 5, had the slowest reaction time - .234 of a second - in the field. Stewart, who was in lane 7 on the other side of Edwards, had the second-slowest reaction time, .232.

In contrast, Lee's reaction time in her semifinal was .155 of a second.

"I didn't know if they were going to call it, and I should have just run," Lee said of the movement by Edwards on her right side. "That's my fault. Because I felt great. I know I could have run a PR (personal record)."

Stewart said of Edwards, "I felt the false start. (But) I mean the race is over. There's nothing we can do about it. ... I can't say it hurt me, because I got a medal. I don't want to be ungrateful. But who knows what the outcome would have been."

Lauryn Williams, who won silver for the U.S. in the 100 in the 2004 Olympics, finished fourth (11.03) and Edwards was eighth (11.20). Thus, it was the first time the United States has not won a medal in the women's 100 since 1976, not counting the boycotted Moscow Games in 1980, of course.

The historical record also will show 2000 as a medal shutout for the Americans because Marion Jones, who took the gold there, was later stripped of her medal after admitting last year she used performance-enhancing drugs.

"Quite bizarre," is how sixth-place finisher Jeanette Kwakye of Great Britain described the U.S. missing out on a medal. "Because with the American trials, I sat there and watched and thought, 'Wow, what's going on in the States? These girls are running 10.7, 10.8, 10.9 like it's nothing.'

(But) what happened before today ... nothing else matters. This is it. This is what you train for."

Lee ran a personal-best 10.85 in winning the 100 in late June at the U.S. Olympic trials. Asked if she was shocked none of the Americans medaled, Lee said, "I really am. (I thought) that at least one of us would be in the mix."

Edwards is a veteran sprinter but said she made a big error.

"I should have went with the start, since they gave it to me," Edwards said. "I hesitated, and that was really a rookie mistake. I should have just went and figured they wouldn't call it back.

"But I didn't, because I knew in my mind, 'OK, that was a false start.' I kind of got stuck out there and there was nothing I could do after that. I mean, 11.2 is so mediocre it's ridiculous."

Fraser's win gave Jamaica both the men's and women's Olympic 100 titles, coming a night after Usain Bolt raced to a world record.

"Last night was amazing; it was crazy," Fraser said of Bolt's victory. "I wanted to come out and do the same thing."

Jamaica had won three silvers and three bronzes previously in the women's Olympic 100, but this was the country's first gold in that race.

"I think this means a great deal to Jamaica," Stewart said, "because so many women before us were role models to us, and came so close. But never achieved what we have achieved.

"This is a great accomplishment for us, despite the fact that coming into the Olympics, people thought we were not as experienced as some of the other athletes are. I guess when you give us a chance to do something, we make the best of it."

The United States will try to rally from this in the 4x100 relay, which Lee, Williams and Edwards are expected to be a part of. The Jamaicans will add reigning 100 world champion Veronica Campbell-Brown to their relay squad.

"We going to come back and try to go after it and get our revenge," Edwards said of expecting to go head-to-head with rival Jamaica again. "They have a lot of speed, but in the relay, it's the handoff. If we have smooth handoffs, we can still take it."

Before that relay, though, Lee will have another chance to medal when she competes in the 200, which has its opening rounds Tuesday. Lee made the final of the 200 in the Athens Games four years ago.

"I'm just going to focus on my next race," Lee said, "and not worry about this. Because I still felt great."