Jim Hines
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Template:MedalTop Template:MedalSport Template:MedalGold Template:MedalGold Template:MedalBottom James Ray ("Jim") Hines (born September 10, 1946) is an American athlete who held the 100 m World Record for 15 years.
Biography
Born in Dumas, Arkansas, Hines was raised in Oakland, California and graduated from McClymonds High School in 1964. He was a baseball player in his younger years, until he was spotted by a track coach as a running talent and became a sprinter. At the 1968 US national championships in Sacramento, California, Hines became the first man to break the ten second barrier in the 100 meter race, setting 9.9 (manual timing), with a real time of 10.03 - two other athletes, Ronnie Ray Smith behind him (real time 10.13) and Charles Greene on the other semi-final (real time 10.09) having got the same official clocking .
A few months later, at the Olympics themselves, Hines — a black athlete — found himself in a tense situation, with racial riots going on in his home country and a threat of a boycott by the black athletes of the US team who were disturbed by the controversial admittance of apartheid South Africa to the games and revelations linking the head of the IOC to a racist and anti-semitic country club. Hines reached the 100 m final, and won it. There was some controversy over his exact time, but eventually his time of 9.95 was recognised as a new World Record (electronically timed and therefore considered quicker than his 9.9). The race was also significant for being the first all-black 100 m final in Olympic history. Hines helped breaking another World Record when he and his teammates sprinted to the 4 x 400 m relay gold at the same Games.
After these successes, Hines signed up with the Miami Dolphins, an American football team, but never played. For years he worked with inner-city youth in Houston, as well as on oil rigs outside the city.
Hines' World Record remained unbeaten for an exceptionally long time, until Calvin Smith ran 9.93 in 1983.
| Olympic medalists in athletics (men) | Olympic Champions in Men's 100 m |
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| 1896: Tom Burke | 1900: Frank Jarvis | 1904: Archie Hahn | 1908: Reggie Walker | 1912: Ralph Craig | 1920: Charlie Paddock | 1924: Harold Abrahams | 1928: Percy Williams | 1932: Eddie Tolan | 1936: Jesse Owens | 1948: Harrison Dillard | 1952: Lindy Remigino | 1956: Bobby Joe Morrow | 1960: Armin Hary | 1964: Bob Hayes | 1968: Jim Hines | 1972: Valeri Borzov | 1976: Hasely Crawford | 1980: Allan Wells | 1984: Carl Lewis | 1988: Carl Lewis | 1992: Linford Christie | 1996: Donovan Bailey | 2000: Maurice Greene | 2004: Justin Gatlin |