Olympic champion Jim Hines, first official sub-10 100m man, dies aged 76
Hines, who also played American football in the NFL after his track and field career, set the 100m world record at Mexico City 1968 by running 9.95 seconds.
Athletics
There was once a time when the fastest man on earth ran the 100m in 10 seconds or slower.
That was until Jim Hines came along.
Hines, who died on Saturday (3 June) aged 76, was the first man to officially break the 10-second barrier, recording a hand-timed 9.9 seconds at the 1968 U.S. national track and field championships to qualify for the American team for the Olympic Games Mexico City 1968.
In the Mexican capital, Hines once again clocked a hand-timed 9.9, which was electronically registered as 9.95 seconds, which also made him the first man to go sub-10 on electronic timing.
He was also part of the U.S. 4x100m relay team that won gold in a world-record 38.24 in Mexico City.
Having already owned a share of the 100m world record at 10.0 seconds, Hines' 9.95 would stand for another 15 years, the longest anyone has held the 100m world record in the electronic timing era.
Hines, who was born in Arkansas and raised in Oakland, California, was a multi-sport talent.
A keen baseball player growing up, Hines also played American football, and after his retirement from track and field following the Mexico City Olympics moved into the National Football League.
He played in the NFL for two years, turning out for the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs.