Jim Hines, The First Man Who broke 10 second barrier in 100m

[grunner]

Mexico city 1968 olympic 100m fi nal Jim Hines from the United St ates was the firts man to break 10 seconds in 100m. He stopped the colck at 9,95 seconds.
http://www.watchathletics.com/video/oth ... r-in-100m/

[jmd]

Thank you for the video Grunner !
A decisive step in 100m history and a great moment indeed,
what a finish !
Time was first announced at 9.89 as we can see on the video...

And what had happened if Bob Hayes was in the final, just four years after Tokyo,
at 25 years and a few months old ?

[PZhelev]

Yes, Jim Hines was the first to break 10.00 barrier and he was a great athlete, sure, but let us not be obsessed by round numbers. For example, there were many athletes greater than Roger Bannister, but he will be always remembered and hailed as the first man to run the mile in under 4 minutes. I believe more objective criterion is who improved the world record by greater margin. Or, to give an example: Usain Bolt never broke some round number margin, but he reduced the world record from 9.72 to 9.58. Is he as great as Jim Hines or not?

[JRM]

Yes, Jim Hines was the first to break 10.00 barrier and he was a great athlete, sure, but let us not be obsessed by round numbers.
...

Or, to give an example: Usain Bolt never broke some round number margin, but he reduced the world record from 9.72 to 9.58. Is he as great as Jim Hines or not?

Of course we should be obsessed by round numbers. That's what makes it exciting. Hines will go down in history as a great athlete who broke a major barrier. This isn't a competition with Bolt. Leave it to someone here to make it such, though. But perhaps it's just the older folks who can appreciate performances from a time before Usain Bolt sprinted on the face of the Earth.

Bolt will go down in history as a great sprinter who re-defined what was possible in the events. If he breaks 19s in the 200m (or, say, 9.50 in the 100m), then he'll get the "barrier" prize, too.

[gh]

Hines also wasn't remotely as fast as Hayes. The abomination that was Mexico City raises its ugly head again.

[kuha]

Of course. The change from cinder + sea level to Tartan + 7300' makes any comparison on time alone pretty useless.

[user4]

Hines also wasn't remotely as fast as Hayes. The abomination that was Mexico City raises its ugly head again.

Bingo ! Nevertheless Hines was an incredibly graceful runner and he earned his gold medal fair and square. While the less than graceful Hayes of 1964 would have beat Hines, one must ask; Even without football was Hayes likely to retain his top sprint form 4 years later ? ... I doubt it.