American Jim Hines, the first athlete to officially run the 100 meters under ten seconds (9 sec 95), died Saturday at the age of 76, announced the International Athletics Federation (World Athletics), in expressing his “deep sadness”. “In addition to having been Olympic champion in the 100 meters in 1968, Hines is known to have been the first man to officially pass under the 10-second threshold”, recalled the institution in a press release published on its website in the night from Sunday to Monday.
It was during this 100 meter final of the Mexico Games, on October 14, 1968, that the American had achieved this unprecedented performance, beating the Jamaican Lennox Miller and his compatriot Charles Greene. The Olympic Stadium sign first showed 9.9sec, then his time was announced as 9.89sec on the electric stopwatch before it was finally set at 9.95sec.
“If they corrected my time, it’s because no one could believe that a man could run so fast,” said Jim Hines, bravado, in an interview with the French daily L’Équipe in 2016.
This record stood for 15 years, until the time of 9 sec 93 achieved by his compatriot Calvin Smith in Colorado Springs in 1983. The current holder is Jamaican Usain Bolt, with a time of 9 sec 58 achieved during the 2009 World Championships in Berlin. In Mexico City, Jim Hines had also won gold with the American 4 x 100 meter relay, but his two Olympic titles would not last since he quickly put an end to his athletic career, at 22, to start without great success in American football.
Younger, Hines, born in Arkansas, had also almost become a baseball player before a coach, impressed by his burst of speed, convinced him to drop the bat for the athletic tracks.