1st Bob Hayes (USA)
(from Run-Down.com)
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| Bob Hayes with permission from Finnobar Callanan |
Hayes was born on 20th December 1942. He was a massive man - a fraction under 6'0" tall and over 190 lbs. He was not a classic stylist by any means - it was once written of him that "he doesn't so much run a race as beat it to death." His first sport was US Football - he won a scholarship to Florida A&M University on the back of his football prowess and after retiring from T&F went on to an equally glorious career playing for the Dallas Cowboys. Most of Hayes' sprinting was done while at college, and it was all fitted in around the college football season!
He first burst to the fore with a 100y time of 9.3 in a heat of the NAIA in Sioux Falls on 2nd June 1961, aged 18 years 5 months. This equalled the World Record but was never ratified as 22 days later Frank Budd ran the first ever 9.2, and Hayes' mark was forgotten.
Early in 1962 (on 17th February) Hayes equalled Budd's mark with a 9.2 of his own at Coral Gables. This mark was not ratified as the starting gun was of the wrong calibre (!). On 12th May that year he ran 9.3, at the SIAC champs, a meeting for black college athletes. It was reported that the timekeepers all recorded times in the 9.0-9.1 range, but the time was rounded off to a less "inflamatory" 9.3 (the same time he had run in both heat and semi). Hayes was told by his coach that because all the timekeepers, judges and athletes were black, no-one would have believed a 9.0 or 9.1 mark and they would have been a laughing stock. Hayes went on to win the AAU title from a strong field including Harry Jerome, Paul Drayton, Ira Murchison and Frank Budd.
Also in 1962, Hayes lost the only races he would ever lose at 100m (he never lost at 100y). He ran 10.1 during a European visit in the summer of '62 but also lost very narrowly to Jerome, although some observers claimed the judges had given it to the wrong man. Hayes was also beaten earlier in the year, by Roger Sayers in the NAIA 100m final, having missed three weeks of training recovering from a virus.
1963 started with two blistering long sprint WRs - 20.5 for 200m in Pointe a Pitre on 10 February to equal the World Record, and a 20.5 for 220y (worth 20.4 for 200m) at Coral Gables on 2nd March. Following this came two landmark short sprint times. First, on 27th April, Hayes became the first man to run 100m in under 10.0, with a wind assisted 9.9 at the MSR in Walnut (beating Henry Carr and John Gilbert, both of whom ran 10.0w). Then, at the AAU in St Louis on 21st June he ran 9.1 for 100y in his semi final, the first such time ever. He repeated the time to win the final, albeit wind assisted.
1964 started with a bang, with a 9.1 for 100y and a blistering 20.1 for 220y in Coral Gables on New Year's Day. Neither was ratified as a WR because there was no wind guage. He then went indoors and ran a WR equalling 6.0 for 60y five times. Among these was a performance in New York auto timed at 5.99. It is still uncertain if this is a reliable auto time, but if it is, it has never been beaten to this day, at 55m or at 60y. Second on that day was rising star Charlie Greene, who would go on to a bronze in the 1968 OG.
Moving outdoors again, Hayes twice more ran 9.1 for 100y, at Orangeburg on 18th April and at Nashville on 2nd May. Neither was ratified as a WR - a recurring theme during Hayes career. He then won the Olympic trials 100m in 10.1 and placed third in the 200m (he gave his spot up for WR holder Henry Carr, who went on to win in Tokyo).
On to Tokyo in October, the zenith and the final act of Hayes' brief career. He breezed through the heats and quarters in 10.4 and 10.3 respectively on 14th October. The next day, at 10am, he produced an amazing semi final run of 9.91 with a 5.3m/s wind behind him. This was the first time anyone had beaten 10.00 with auto timing, and it remainded the fastest ever run until William Snoddy got on the end of an 11.2m/s wind in Dallas in 1977 and ran 9.87. No one ran faster in the Olympics (aside from Ben Johnson) until, incredibly, the three medallists in Atlanta, 32 years later!
If it is hard to fathom the quality of this run, what he achieved in the final is even more staggering. Hayes drew the inside lane for the final, and the last event before the race was the finish of the 20km walk. Remember, this was a cinder track, and the inside lane was so chewed up it had to be raked! Nevertheless, Hayes won in 10.06. He had a 0.19 gap over Cuba's Enrique Figuerola, who equalled the previous best ever auto time of 10.25 (Hary in 1960). Third was Harry Jerome, joint world record holder! This victory margin was not exceeded until Lewis won by 0.20 in 1984. The winning time was ratified as a WR equalling 10.0, which somewhat understated it.
And yet, Hayes greatest performance was yet to come. Running the last leg of the 4x100m, by the time Hayes got the baton, after Paul Drayton, Gerald Ashworth and Richard Stebbins, the USA were some 3-4m down on the field. Hayes, in the words of one observer, "exploded down the track in an eruption of speed never witnessed before or since." He blew past the field in 30-40m and went on to cross the line some 3m clear in a new WR of 39.0. He had taken 6-8m out of some of the finest sprinters in the world. Various times have been given for his last leg, the slowest estimate being 8.9 but most being around 8.6-8.7.
Jocelyn Delecour, France's last leg runner, famously said to Paul Drayton before the relay final that "you can't win, all you have is Bob Hayes." Drayton was able to reply, after the race "all you need..."
That was Hayes' last race. He signed for the Dallas Cowboys on his return, commencing a career in US Football which was just as impressive.
One amusing aside to Hayes' 100m victory. During some messing around in the village between Hayes, Ralph Boston and Joe Frazier, one of Hayes' spikes was kicked under a bed. He didn't realise this until he got to the stadium, and he had to run in borrowed spikes!
It is always fun to wonder what champions of the past would achieve given today's training methods, nutrition, financial rewards, competition etc. Hayes achieved all of the above before his 22nd Birthday, running in the football off-season, on mostly cinder tracks. He estimated that had he carried on he could have brought his 100m time down by "a couple of tenths." My personal view is that if Hayes had trained full time to his mid twenties, run on today's tracks and had today's social, nutritional and training benefits, he would be running 100m in at least the low 9.70s and maybe even under 9.70.
The greatest? In my view, no contest.
And what if he had run on?
I wonder if it might be interesting to consider what would have happened had Hayes decided to continue after 1964 to defend his title in Mexico City, rather than what would happen if he was transported to modern TrackWorld.
Consider the advantages Hayes would have had in '68 vs '64. Top competition for a start. A synthetic track. Altitude. 4 more years training. He had already run 9.9w (in '63) and 9.91w (in '64). The hand timing in Tokyo was 9.9 - 9.9 - 9.8. So it's fair to assume that we would have had a 9.9 WR well before Jim Hines managed the feat in the '68 AAU. Considering Hines ran 10.03 in the '68 AAU, just 3/100ths faster than Hayes had run on a cinder track in Tokyo, it's probably fair to assume that at least one auto-timer would have caught Hayes in under 10.00 before Mexico City. So already we've re-written the history of 100m running, with Hayes the first man under 10 seconds with hand-timing (windy and legal) and auto timing (windy and legal) all at sea level. Now, we get to Mexico City. Hines ran 0.08 faster in MC than his sea-level best (9.95 vs 10.03). Assuming Hayes would already have been down to around 9.95 - 9.99 it's easy to imagine him running 9.90 or faster. In fact, I consider that an extremely conservative estimate because I'm ascribing Hayes likely improvements from Tokyo to Mexico City to the track, competition and altitude, without wondering if he might actually have got FASTER with time (not unreasonable, although also not certain).
So, an altitude-assisted Bob Hayes WR of under 9.90? It's not hard to imagine this being well below 9.90. It might have stood for 30 years. It might even stand now. Sub 10.00 without altitude? It was 1983 before anyone managed that.
2nd Enrique Figuerola (Cuba)
Enrique Figuerola Camue born in Santiago de Cuba on July 15, 1938.'s Great speed he displayed in practice baseball childhood advised him they practiced athletics, and he did. At the age of eighteen he represented the School of Arts and Crafts in his hometown in speed tests, in which he was triumphant. He later won national championships against some of the legendary figures of the country as Rafael Fortun.
Thanks to the rigor of their training, Figuerola managed to run twenty-six times with time of 10.02 seconds in five with a time of 10.01 seconds and in two with a time of 10.00 seconds flats. Something very important in your style is to never, not even in training, had a false start.
His first major presentation in the Olympic Games in Rome in 1960, but had already taken part successfully in Central and Pan American dating. In Rome, Figuerola reached the fourth place that fifty-six years before the Andarín Carvajal achieved in marathon race in San Luis Olympics with a time of 10.44 minutes.
Figuerola also won gold medals at Central American and Caribbean Games, Pan American Games and Universiade Sports World. Thus, in the IV continental sports games held in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo in 1963, reached the gold medal with a time of 10.3. In the university world event held in Budapest, Hungary, in 1967, he equaled the world record time of 10 seconds flat. Four years earlier, in the summer event in Tokyo in 1964, it had reached the second position with 10.2.
His third and last participation in Olympic Games took place in Mexico City in 1968, where Figuerola joined forces with other leading figures of athletics in Cuba, and the post of the 4 x 100 meters you joined him Hermes Ramírez, Pablo Montes and Juan Morales, won silver medal with a time of 38.40 minutes, for a national record.
After offering technical assistance in the Federal District of Mexico, Figuerola is currently vice president of the Cuban Athletics Federation, and working on a project for the recruitment and promotion of sprinting across the country that bears his name.
In his "Message to the Youth", included in the book Figaro, Figuerola said: "I never intoxicated triumph, as always recognized the simplicity and modesty to him. I was committed to my group, my team and Cuba; also realized that as I came to be was the work of a people, which I received encouragement and stimulus in each moment of my sporting life. "
Enrique Figuerola is considered the most prominent Cuban athlete of the period between 1961 and 1971, and one of the hundred most prominent in the country during the twentieth century. He is a member of the National Commission for Assistance to Athletes.
https://www.nfb.ca/film/mighty_jerome/trailer/mighty_jerome_trailer
Full name: Henry Winston "Harry" Jerome
Height: 5'11" (180 cm)
Weight: 170 lbs (77 kg)
Born: September 30, 1940 in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada
Died: December 7, 1982 (Aged 42.068) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Affiliations: Oregon Ducks, Eugene (USA) / North Vancouver (CAN)
Country:
Canada
Height: 5'11" (180 cm)
Weight: 170 lbs (77 kg)
Born: September 30, 1940 in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada
Died: December 7, 1982 (Aged 42.068) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Affiliations: Oregon Ducks, Eugene (USA) / North Vancouver (CAN)
Country:
Canada
Medals: 1 Bronze (1 Total)
Harry Jerome's grandfather, Army Howard, had been Canada's top sprinter in the 1910s, but
Jerome's athletic prowess would eventually grow to eclipse that of his predecessor. Jerome
took up track at the age of 17 and broke his first national record, in the 220 yards, one year
later, eventually earning himself a scholarship to the University of Oregon. Within another two
years he had not only represented his nation at the 1959 Pan American Games and the 1960
Summer Olympics, but in July 1960 had also tied West German Armin Hary's world record of
10.0 in the 100 metres, which had been set less than a month previously. At the Olympics,
a pulled muscle cost him his chance at racing in the 100 m final, and he was also eliminated
in the opening round of the 4×100 metre relay alongside Lynn Eves, George Short, and
Terry Tobacco. After tying the 9.2 second world record of Americans Frank Budd and
Bob Hayes in the 100 yards, giving him the distinction of holding the 100 metre and yard
world records concurrently, he suffered a leg injury at the 1962 British Empire and
Commonwealth Games that nearly cost him his career. He recovered in time to attend the
1964 Summer Olympics, however, and won bronze in the 100 m behind Hayes and
Enrique Figuerola of Cuba. He was also fourth in the 200 m, missing the podium by 0.16 seconds.
Jerome's athletic prowess would eventually grow to eclipse that of his predecessor. Jerome
took up track at the age of 17 and broke his first national record, in the 220 yards, one year
later, eventually earning himself a scholarship to the University of Oregon. Within another two
years he had not only represented his nation at the 1959 Pan American Games and the 1960
Summer Olympics, but in July 1960 had also tied West German Armin Hary's world record of
10.0 in the 100 metres, which had been set less than a month previously. At the Olympics,
a pulled muscle cost him his chance at racing in the 100 m final, and he was also eliminated
in the opening round of the 4×100 metre relay alongside Lynn Eves, George Short, and
Terry Tobacco. After tying the 9.2 second world record of Americans Frank Budd and
Bob Hayes in the 100 yards, giving him the distinction of holding the 100 metre and yard
world records concurrently, he suffered a leg injury at the 1962 British Empire and
Commonwealth Games that nearly cost him his career. He recovered in time to attend the
1964 Summer Olympics, however, and won bronze in the 100 m behind Hayes and
Enrique Figuerola of Cuba. He was also fourth in the 200 m, missing the podium by 0.16 seconds.
Jerome still hungered for gold, however, and earned it at the 1966 British Empire and
Commonwealth and the 1967 Pan American Games in the 100 yards and metres respectively.
At the former, he was also fifth in the 4x110 yard relay with Don Domansky and the
non-Olympians Ed Hearne and Terry Tomlinson. His final major international tournament
was the 1968 Summer Olympics, where he finished seventh in the 100 m and was eliminated
in the quarterfinals of the 200 m. He retired after the Games and worked to promote sports
and physical activity across Canada, dying of a brain aneurysm at the age of only 42. Among
numerous honors, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1971 and received a
star on Canada's Walk of Fame in 2001. His sister Valerie also competed at the 1960 Games.
Commonwealth and the 1967 Pan American Games in the 100 yards and metres respectively.
At the former, he was also fifth in the 4x110 yard relay with Don Domansky and the
non-Olympians Ed Hearne and Terry Tomlinson. His final major international tournament
was the 1968 Summer Olympics, where he finished seventh in the 100 m and was eliminated
in the quarterfinals of the 200 m. He retired after the Games and worked to promote sports
and physical activity across Canada, dying of a brain aneurysm at the age of only 42. Among
numerous honors, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1971 and received a
star on Canada's Walk of Fame in 2001. His sister Valerie also competed at the 1960 Games.
Personal Bests\: 100 – 10.17 (1968); 200 – 20.3
4th Wiesclaw Maniak (Poland)
And I thought Marian Foik was the only great Polish sprinter of the day.
Please accept the translation errors done by my computer from Polish to English. This man's life is fascinating. He was fourth in the 100 at Tokyo and ran on the silver medal 4x100 team that year.
Wieslaw Maniak was born May 22, 1938, in Lviv, in the family of Anthony and Maria Foxów. During the war, his father was exiled to Kazakhstan's participation in the Association of Armed Struggle. Then Anders army escaped to Iraq to eventually settle in Manchester, UK. His mother a Polish teacher was also exiled in 1945 to a labor camp in the Donbas. In 1946, she was allowed to repatriate with her son to Poland. They both found a new home in Szczecin. Here Wieslaw's mother was a teacher of Polish language in Technical Economics and Wieslaw completed sequentially elementary school, High School No. II and transport economics at the Technical University of Szczecin.
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| Maniak finishing second to Hayes in the 100 semis. Third place is Tom Robinson U. of Michigan and The Bahamas |
He returned to the country in 1963 and since 1964 has become a player for Marine Sports Club Chasing Szczecin, where his club coach was Kazimierz Lubik. At the Olympic Games in Tokyo, in 1964, was the first Pole had the honor to run in the finals of the most important competition in every Olympics - Men's 100 meters. In the course of that time 10.3 s fourth place, while being the fastest European. He was given the nickname "the fastest white man in the world". 4x100 meters relay Poland composed of Andrzej Zielinski, WiesławManiak, Marian Foik and Marian Dudziak won the same games, the exciting final race, the silver medal.
In 1965, during the Polish XLI Championship played at the stadium in Szczecin MKS pursuit Wieslaw Maniak set a record Polish in the 100 meters - 10.1 s record has survived 19 years and corrected only in 1984, Marian Voronin.
in 1966 at the European Championships in Budapest Wieslaw Maniak was the only history of Polish athletics European champion in the men's 100 meters sprint .
During the Olympic Games in Mexico in 1968, Maniac was eliminated in the qualifying rounds of the 100 meters, along with Marian Dudziak, Edward Romanowski and Zenon Nowoszem took 8th place in the final 4x100 meters relay race.
After the Mexican Olympic Games in 1969 Wieslaw Maniak moved to Warsaw for the club he played for Sporting Spark.
in 1972 ended his sporting career, with the achievements of five Polish titles at 100 and 200 meters and ten Polish records in 100 and 4x100 meters.
Wieslaw After his career he completed a second faculty at the University of Education Physical Poznan. He took a job as an economist in Energopol in his free time coaching his followers in KS Spark Warsaw.
Jun. 28, 1982, died as a result of a brain hemorrhage in the course of his professional duties on the construction of a nuclear power plant in the chicken (USSR). (You will have to ask the computer how it got this expression.) He was then 44 years. He was buried in the cemetery in Wawrzyszew, in Warsaw. On the tombstone inscription today "Wieslaw Maniak - Olympian."
In 1995, the readers of the Courier Szczecin chose Wieslaw Maniac 50.lecia athlete. At the request of the President of the West Pomeranian Association of Athletics Paul Bartnik and President of Szczecin Club Olympian Richard Stadniuk, Szczecin City Council in December 2001 adopted a resolution granting the name of the stadium lekkoatletycznemu Wieslaw Maniac Street Lithuania.
official naming took place July 20, 2001, the day of the start of the Championship LXXVIII Polish Szczecin.
5th Heinz Schuman (Germany)
Height: 5'10" (179 cm)
Weight: 168 lbs (76 kg)
Born: August 6 , 1936 (Age 77.325) in São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Affiliations: Bremer Turn-Community
Country:
Germany
6th Gaossou KONE (Ivory Coast)
7th Mel Pender (USA)
Read the following link of a lengthy interview with Mel Pender. How he was serving in Viet Nam when sent home to train for the 68 Olympics and then being sent back afterward.
Lots of insightful interesting commentary.
http://trackandfield.about.com/od/sprintsandrelays/a/interviewpender.htm
an exerpt from that interview with David Rosenbaum
On being an Olympian.
“It’s like no other feeling that anyone could ever have, to be an Olympian. Especially if you come through a tough life and grew up poor like I did, it’s like a dream come true. I didn’t make the Olympic team until I was 27 years old, my first team. And my second team I was 31. But it was like no other feeling. I didn’t win a gold medal the first Olympics – I got hurt and they said I wouldn’t come back. But God was good to me, I proved them (wrong). They pulled me out of Vietnam for about eight months, I made the Olympic team in 1968 and won a gold medal. And they took (me) straight back to Vietnam. ... I was a company commander in the 82nd Airborne Division. They sent me back to the 82nd in Vietnam and then I worked for the CIA in Vietnam. And they pulled me out again for the ‘72 team and I didn’t make the ‘72 team. I probably could’ve made the relay team but I pulled a muscle, in Seattle, Wash. at the USA Track and Field Championships about 10 days before the Trials. I had no business running in that meet, but I had a stupid coach. Being in the Army, you’ve got a coach, an Army guy. If he says you run, you run. I didn’t make the team so I turned pro, I ran and the International Track Association ... where I set the world record in the 60 yard dash, I ran 5.8 seconds.”
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| Heinz Schumann (196 lane 2) |
Height: 5'10" (179 cm)
Weight: 168 lbs (76 kg)
Born: August 6 , 1936 (Age 77.325) in São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Affiliations: Bremer Turn-Community
Country:
Germany
In 1962 he was at the European Athletics Championships in Belgrade sixth over 200 meters . At the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, he was fifth on 100 meters , reaching 200 meters semi-final.
In the German Athletics Championships he won the title in the 100 meters in 1962 and in 1964 a third place. At 200 meters he was third in 1962 and 1964 champion. Indoors, he won over 60 meters in 1963 gold and 1966 silver.
Heinz Schumann competed for Werder Bremen and the Bremen gymnastics community.
Personal Best [ Edit ]
6th Gaossou KONE (Ivory Coast)
Kone was the first ever sprinter from an African country to reach the 100 meter finals in the
Olympics.
I found very little on Kone except one very disjointed article that defied translation.
Olympics.
I found very little on Kone except one very disjointed article that defied translation.
Gaoussou Koné
Height: 5'10" (177 cm)
Weight: 150 lbs (68 kg)
Born: April 28, 1944 (Age 70.060)
Country:
Cote d'Ivoire
Height: 5'10" (177 cm)
Weight: 150 lbs (68 kg)
Born: April 28, 1944 (Age 70.060)
Country:
Cote d'Ivoire
Personal Bests: 100 – 10.21 (1967); 200 – 21.1 (1965).
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| Games | Age | City | Sport | Event | Team | NOC | Rank | Medal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 Summer | 20 | Tokyo | Athletics | Men's 100 metres | Cote d'Ivoire | CIV | 6T | ||
| 1968 Summer | 24 | Ciudad de México | Athletics | Men's 100 metres | Cote d'Ivoire | CIV | 5 h2 r3/4 | ||
| 1968 Summer | 24 | Ciudad de México | Athletics | Men's 4 × 100 metres Relay | Cote d'Ivoire | CIV | 7 h1 r2/3 | ||
| 1972 Summer | 28 | München | Athletics | Men's 4 × 100 metres Relay | Cote d'Ivoire | CIV | 5 h2 r1/3 |
| Games | Age | City | Sport | Country | Phase | Unit | Rank | T(H) | T(A) | L | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 Summer | 20 | Tokyo | Athletics | Cote d'Ivoire | Final | 6T | 10.4 | 10.47 | 4 | ||
| 1964 Summer | 20 | Tokyo | Athletics | Cote d'Ivoire | Semi-Finals | Heat Two | 2 | QU | 10.4 | 10,48 | |
| 1964 Summer | 20 | Tokyo | Athletics | Cote d'Ivoire | Quarter-Finals | Heat One | 4 | QU | 10.4 | 10,45 | |
| 1964 Summer | 20 | Tokyo | Athletics | Cote d'Ivoire | Round One | Heat Three | 1 | QU | 10.5 | 10,50 | |
| 1968 Summer | 24 | Ciudad de México | Athletics | Cote d'Ivoire | Semi-Finals | Heat Two | 5 | 10.2 | 10.27 | ||
| 1968 Summer | 24 | Ciudad de México | Athletics | Cote d'Ivoire | Quarter-Finals | Heat Four | 3 | QU | 10.2 | 10.22 | |
| 1968 Summer | 24 | Ciudad de México | Athletics | Cote d'Ivoire | Round One | Heat Two | 3 | QU | 10.3 | 10.37 |
| Games | Age | City | Sport | Team | NOC | Phase | Unit | Rank | T(H) | T(A) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 Summer | 24 | Ciudad de México | Athletics | Cote d'Ivoire | CIV | Semi-Finals | Heat One | 7 | 39.6 | 39.69 | |
| 1968 Summer | 24 | Ciudad de México | Athletics | Cote d'Ivoire | CIV | Round One | Heat Two | 5 | QU | 39.6 | 39.68 |
| 1972 Summer | 28 | München | Athletics | Cote d'Ivoire | CIV | Round One | Heat Two | 5 | 39.81 |
 |
| Pender taking the baton from Charley Greene four years later in Mexico City |
Read the following link of a lengthy interview with Mel Pender. How he was serving in Viet Nam when sent home to train for the 68 Olympics and then being sent back afterward.
Lots of insightful interesting commentary.
http://trackandfield.about.com/od/sprintsandrelays/a/interviewpender.htm
an exerpt from that interview with David Rosenbaum
On being an Olympian.
“It’s like no other feeling that anyone could ever have, to be an Olympian. Especially if you come through a tough life and grew up poor like I did, it’s like a dream come true. I didn’t make the Olympic team until I was 27 years old, my first team. And my second team I was 31. But it was like no other feeling. I didn’t win a gold medal the first Olympics – I got hurt and they said I wouldn’t come back. But God was good to me, I proved them (wrong). They pulled me out of Vietnam for about eight months, I made the Olympic team in 1968 and won a gold medal. And they took (me) straight back to Vietnam. ... I was a company commander in the 82nd Airborne Division. They sent me back to the 82nd in Vietnam and then I worked for the CIA in Vietnam. And they pulled me out again for the ‘72 team and I didn’t make the ‘72 team. I probably could’ve made the relay team but I pulled a muscle, in Seattle, Wash. at the USA Track and Field Championships about 10 days before the Trials. I had no business running in that meet, but I had a stupid coach. Being in the Army, you’ve got a coach, an Army guy. If he says you run, you run. I didn’t make the team so I turned pro, I ran and the International Track Association ... where I set the world record in the 60 yard dash, I ran 5.8 seconds.”
8th Thomas Robinson (The Bahamas)
Full name: Thomas Augustus "Tom" Robinson
Gender: Male
Height: 5'11" (180 cm)
Weight: 181 lbs (82 kg)
Born: March 16, 1938 in Nassau, New Providence, Bahamas
Died: November 25, 2012 (Aged 74.254) in Nassau, New Providence, Bahamas
Affiliations: Michigan Wolverines, Ann Arbor (USA)
Country:
Bahamas
Sport: Athletics
Gender: Male
Height: 5'11" (180 cm)
Weight: 181 lbs (82 kg)
Born: March 16, 1938 in Nassau, New Providence, Bahamas
Died: November 25, 2012 (Aged 74.254) in Nassau, New Providence, Bahamas
Affiliations: Michigan Wolverines, Ann Arbor (USA)
Country:
BahamasSport: Athletics
Tom Robinson is considered one of the legends of Bahamian sports, having competed at four Olympic
Games as a sprinter. At the Commonwealth Games in 1958, he won the gold medal at 220 yards, and would win silver medals in the 100 in 1958, 1962, and 1966. He was also the champion in the 100 at the 1962 Central American and Caribbean Games. Robinson won the 100 at the 1958 and 1964 West Indian Federation Games. He also set a world indoor record of 21.7 for 220 yards in Chicago in January 1959. Robinson attended college at the University of Michigan, placing fifth at the NCAAs in 1960 in both the 100 and 220, and he later studied business at the University of Toronto. He worked as a banker and also made some minor forays into the political world. The athletics stadium in Nassau is named in his honor.
Personal Bests: 100y - 9.4 (1958); 100 - 10.38 (1964); 200 - 20.8y (1960).
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