We've Never Seen Anything Like This...

[Music] the men's 100 meters is the ultimate test of speed and track and field for over 100 years this one event has arguably been the most popular race in all of athletics with many sprinters reaching worldwide popularity with their unbelievable top end speeds needless to say breaking a world record in this event is one of the highest possible achievements any athlete can attain as you'll need an incredible start a lightning quick drive phase but more importantly than anything else you'll need to reach a top-end speed faster than anyone else in the world let's take a look at the world record progression of the men's 100 meters and see exactly how these athletes made history [Music] [Music] [Music] the men's 100 meter world record actually goes all the way back to 1891 when the american athlete luther carey achieved a time of 10.80 seconds this exact time of 10.8 is the first ever documented record in the men's 100 meters but sadly no footage and also very few pictures even exist of this athlete for the next 21 years overall times did decrease down to 10.6 but the problem with these world records was that there was no governing body to verify these times and furthermore these performances only went down to the tenth of a second making it borderline impossible to differentiate between very close performances this timing shortcoming made tracking these records all the more difficult and in contrast to today's electronic timing which goes down to the one thousandth of a second races were largely done by hand back in the late 1800s following this brief but exciting time in world record sprinting the international amateur athletics federation took over in 1912 for the stockholm olympics and with their assistance and official world record keeping the men's 100 meter dash became an official track and field event now eligible for official world record performances soon after this transition the first official world record was set by don lippencott on july 6th of 1912. in the semifinal heats of the 1912 olympics he achieved a time of 10.6 which technically tied the previous unofficial world record but it also set a new standard for the iaaf this time of 10.6 would go untouched for another 8 years making it one of the longest standing records in 100 meter history but then on september 16th of 1920 jackson schultz also from the united states managed to run another 10.6 tying lippincott as the fastest human being of all time if you'll take notice these performances again only go down to the 10th of a second which at the time wasn't a big issue for the sport of athletics however as the world record got closer and closer to the 10-second barrier the international olympic committee and the iaef had to find a better way to clarify these times to a much more precise level from 1912 through 1968 many tremendous athletes changed the entire course of athletics with their speed in 1936 we saw the great jesse owens break the world record in the olympic games with a time of 10.20 seconds in 1956 we saw willie williams become the first athlete to ever run a 10.1 and then in the 1964 olympic finals in tokyo japan we saw bob hayes a professional american football player when the 100 meters with a time of 10 seconds flat this 56 year span represented a huge decrease in overall performances with many historic athletes setting new standards for the 100 meters but if we fast forward to 1977 the iaaf officially made electronic timing a requirement for new world records meaning that unlike the previous 77 years precise digital timing down to the 100th of a second was now a requirement for a world record breakthrough this paramount shift in timing changed the entire course of world record sprinting but thankfully various performances had already been achieved with fully electronic timing this brings us to the modern age of the 100 meter dash and these world record performances represent some of the greatest talents in track and field history starting on june 20th of 1968 jim hines from the united states achieved a time of 10.03 seconds in the united states track and field olympic trials in sacramento california this performance was only 0.03 seconds faster than bob hayes back in 1964 who hit an exact time of 10.06 but just a few months later in the 1968 olympics heinz became the first person to ever run under 10 seconds for the 100 meters in the 68 olympic finals in mexico city heinz achieved a time of 9.95 seconds winning the olympic gold medal and becoming the first sprinter ever to break the 10-second barrier this victory sent shockwaves throughout the entire world upon completing this race the finishing clock actually read 9.89 seconds which would have been a super human effort but after further review the official time read 9.95 still quite the impressive performance for the 100 meter dash heinz's 9.95 would prove to be one of the most revolutionary breakthroughs in 100 meter history as it stood as the world record for a total of 14 years 8 months and 19 days which as of the making of this video is still the longest standing world record in men's 100 meter history from 1969 all the way up to 1983 no athlete could break the record of the great jim heinz in fact over the course of these 14 years only two other athletes were ever able to break 10 seconds for the 100 but even with these historic times heinz's records still stood very strong after almost 15 years of untouchable greatness it was finally time for another athlete to take the throne as the sprinting king and this athlete was calvin smith also from the united states for much of smith's 1983 season he had been closing in on the 10 second barrier but then on july 3 of 1983 he would stride away with one of the greatest performances in 100 meter history running out in lane six smith got a solid start and had a decent drive phase but then over the second half his top end speed was completely unrivalled with a finishing time of 9.93 seconds smith had finally taken down the historic record of jim hines by just two one hundredths of a second and with this new world record he entered the 1983 world championships as the heavy favorite given that smith had just taken down one of the most legendary marks in track and field it seemed as though he was destined to win the gold medal in these world championships and even though he still ran a solid race here he was only able to win the silver medal hitting a time of 10.21 seconds finishing in front of smith was carl lewis who ran a stunning time of 10.06 seconds quite the significant margin over calvin smith with a new world record and a world championship medal smith continued forward with dominant performances over the following few years but he was never able to match this 9.93 ever again over the following few seasons it was evident that someone was about to break the record in 1984 mel lattany ran a 9.96 in 1987 carl lewis hit a time of 9.94 but then in 1988 in the olympic finals in seoul south korea one single race would change the entire course of track and field forever for this olympic final the world was desperately awaiting the historic clash between ben johnson from canada and carl lewis from the united states before these finals both men had become two of the very few athletes to ever run a time under 10 seconds and over the following 100 meters this race would completely rewrite the course of track and field forever with one of the greatest starts in racing history ben johnson was gone from the gun and with an absolutely scintillating finish he achieved a time of 9.79 seconds outperforming carl lewis by .13 seconds this performance seemed almost too good to be true and well that's because it was just three days after this performance johnson tested positive for a banned substance and because of this positive test he was subsequently stripped of his olympic gold medal his new world record and he was also stripped of his previous world record that he had set back in 1987. this news made headlines all around the globe however what many don't realize about this race was that carl lewis who had placed second ran a time of 9.92 seconds which given that johnson had now been disqualified meant that carl lewis had just broken the world record of calvin smith lewis's time of 9.92 just barely improved on the previous record and even though it appeared as though he had only won the silver medal carl lewis was then awarded the gold medal with a new world record performance for the remainder of the 1980s lewis's record continued as the mark to beat but then on june 14th of 1991 leroy burrell ran a blistering time of 9.90 seconds taking down lewis record and he also managed to beat carl lewis in this very race this performance was a big deal just a few months before the 1991 world championships lewis looked to be almost unbeatable in multiple events but with a new world record of 9.90 burrell made his mark in world record history fast forward just a few months to the 1991 world championships and carl lewis was once again on a world record mission moving into these world championship finals it did seem possible that carl lewis could once again break this record and with one of the greatest performances of his entire career he managed to do just that although he didn't get a great start lewis hunted down the entire field over the closing stages pulling away from everyone else and hitting a tremendous time of 9.86 seconds this was arguably the greatest 100 meter dash of lewis's career at 30 years of age he had become the oldest winner of the 100 meter dash in any championship final and even against leroy barrell who hit a time of 9.88 seconds in this race he still placed first and broke the world record this would prove to be carl lewis's final world record in the 100 meters and coincidentally the man who would go on to break this time was the man who placed second in this 100 meter final on july 6th of 1994 burrell entered a 100 meter dash in zurich switzerland up to this point barrel had proven himself as one of the world's greatest for a few years however he still had one final race where he made his mark in world record history with incredible top-end speed over the second half burrell hit a time of 9.85 seconds just barely eclipsing the previous mark of carl lewis in 1991. it really was amazing to see just how powerful barrel looked over the second half here and with such intense sprinting ferocity he was rewarded with a new world record once again over the span of the previous 30 years the world record had improved from 10.06 all the way down to 9.85 these three decades were full of some of the fastest athletes the world had ever seen and even though 9.85 seemed incredibly quick at the time there was so much more to come over the following few years in the 1996 olympic finals in atlanta georgia the men's 100 meter dash was said to be one of the most exciting events of these olympics in this field there was otto bolden frankie fredericks dennis mitchell and also donovan bailey and even though bayley got off to a fairly rough start he absolutely took off over the second half with one of the greatest top-end speeds ever achieved in athletics bayley won the gold medal in the men's 100 with a new world record of 9.84 seconds again cutting just one 100th of a second off the previous world record this finish would forever be cemented into the minds of anyone who watched it in 1996 after crossing the finish line bayley's stunned reaction became one of the biggest moments of these olympics after bayley's incredible 9.84 the world record would once again return to the united states just a few years later and that's because on june 6th of 1999 the legend himself maurice greene would outperform any and all expectations in a small track meet in athens greece green hit a time of 9.79 taking .05 seconds off bayley's world record this was actually the single largest margin of improvement in 100 meter history dating all the way back to the 1968 olympics and with such a powerful race green's dominance would soon be unquestionable as he won the 1999 world championships the 2000 sydney olympics and the 2001 world championships in the 100 meter dash greens 9.79 was a landmark moment in the 100 meters not just because he took off such a huge chunk from the previous record but because after maury screen one small country with a population of just under 3 million people would forever change the history of the 100 meter dash and from this point forward they would be the only country to hold the world record in the men's 100 on june 14th of 2005 the jamaican sprinter asafa powell towed the line in the men's 100 in athens greece just six years before this race maurice green ran a 9.79 in this exact city however for this performance powell was set to run much much quicker with an absolutely incredible start and a dry phase that was completely unmatched powell stormed away with a new world record of 9.77 seconds taking down green's time by .02 seconds this was quite the performance from the 22 year old asafa powell and as the years progressed he would go on to make history on various occasions on june 11th of 2006 powell again ran a time of 9.77 tying his own world record with yet another massive victory then just two months later he managed to run another time of 9.77 in zurich switzerland now cementing his dominance as the fastest man in the world by quite the large margin these races were executed to absolute perfection but powell still had another world record up his sleeve in 2007 when he ran a remarkable time of 9.74 absolutely destroying any other athlete in this race and he also did this by jogging across the finish line over the final 10 meters [Music] powell's dominance at this point in track and field was unparalleled over the course of just two years he had broken the world record on four separate occasions ultimately improving on the world record by .05 seconds powell's dominance came as a result of incredible starts amazing drive phases and solid execution over the second half and while his dominance over this 100 meter discipline seemed to be unwavering one athlete from the exact same country as assafa powell would soon forever change the 100 meters this is the reign of the greatest sprinter to ever compete just one year after powell's 9.74 a 21 year old jamaican ran one of the most stunning 100 meter races in history with a solid start and a completely unmatched top-end speed usain bolt broke the world record with a time of 9.72 seconds this performance was incredible even against tyson gay who was the world champion just one year earlier in 2007 bolt won this race in convincing style however it soon became obvious that usain bolt was just getting started just three months later in the 2008 beijing olympics this powerful jamaican athlete once again shocked the world in one of the most dramatic victories in olympic history he clocked a time of 9.69 seconds becoming the first human ever to dip under 9.70 seconds both exploits over the previous few months were absolutely insane at just 21 years of age he made running under 9.7 looked like a walk in the park and even though his 2008 season was that of legends his all-time fastest 100 meter race would come one year later in 2009 in the 2009 world track and field championships in berlin germany bolt was the red hot favorite for the 100 meter dash and even though his sprinting profile was already through the roof this one championship final would represent one of the most stunning performances in all of athletics this was the 100 meter dash that changed everything with an almost inconceivable performance bolt hit the line first achieving a historic time of 9.5 seconds taking off over a tenth of a second from his own world record to this day this is still the largest margin of improvement in world record history and now some 12 years and one month later this performance still makes bolt the fastest human being of all time still by over one tenth of a second thanks for watching everyone and as always until next time [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Total Running Productions

Views: 3,908,219

Keywords: 100 meters, track and field, 100 meter dash, world record track and field, 9.58 usain bolt, usain bolt track and field, athletics world record, world record 100 meters dash, 100, usain bolt jamaica, athletics

Id: -wzR3X1BsEg

Length: 20min 11sec (1211 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 01 2021