With the passing of Bob Hayes, I'm reposting Justin Clouder's analysis from
1997.
Justin writes:
The greatest 100m Runner Of All Time
Quite a subject heading, and a considerable claim to make about any athlete,
especially in an event with as great a history of remarkable athletes and
characters as the men's 100m.
However, among track & field historians, writers and statisticians there is
remarkeble agreement about the greatest male 100m runners of all time. Two
names always seem to come to the top of the pile - Carl Lewis and Bob Hayes.
In my view, although Lewis would rack up more "points" in terms on titles
won, times run, longevity etc, there is no doubt that Bob Hayes is the most
awesome sprinting force of modern times. This piece is a summary of his
career highlights, in the same mould as my earlier piece on Tommie Smith.
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 ame 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
