The Night of Speed was the rare occurrence when three men set the world record in the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

in the same

History

On Thursday, June 20,

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Januar ...

, two semi-final races were held as part of the AAU National Championships held at Hughes Stadium in

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...

. At the time, the

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

for the 100 metres was 10.0 seconds, hand timed, set and equalled over the years by

Armin Hary Armin Hary (, ; born 22 March 1937) is a retired German sprinter who won the 1960 Olympic 100 meters dash. He was the first non-North American to win the event since Percy Williams of Canada took the gold medal in 1928, the first man to run 10 ...

(

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

) and

Harry Jerome Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...

(

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

) in 1960, Horacio Esteves (

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

) and

Bob Hayes Robert Lee Hayes (December 20, 1942 – September 18, 2002), nicknamed "Bullet Bob", was an Olympic gold medalist sprinter who then became an American football split end in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys (for 11 seasons). ...

(

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

) in 1964,

Jim Hines James Ray Hines (born September 10, 1946) is a retired American track and field athlete and NFL player, who held the 100-meter world record for 15 years. In 1968, he became the first man to officially break the 10-second barrier in the 100 me ...

(United States) and

Enrique Figuerola Enrique Figuerola Camue (born July 15, 1938) is a retired sprinter from Cuba. His major international success was his threefold participation in the Olympic Games. He made his first appearance at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, where he fini ...

(

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

) in 1967, and by Paul Nash (

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

) and Oliver Ford (United States) earlier in 1968. Earlier in the day, with the maximum allowable wind of ,

Roger Bambuck Roger Bambuck (born 22 November 1945 in Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe) is a French former sprinter and politician. Athletic career Bambuck took part in his first Olympic Games in Tokyo in 1964. At the 1966 European Championships in Bu ...

(

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

) and Charles Greene (United States) had again tied the world record. With an aiding wind of , Hines won the first semi-final, timed in 9.9 seconds, to set the new world record, but in second place

Ronnie Ray Smith Ronald Ray Smith (March 28, 1949 – March 31, 2013) was an American athlete, winner of the gold medal in the 4 × 100 m relay at the 1968 Summer Olympics. He attended San Jose State College during the "Speed City" era, coached by Lloyd (Bud) Wi ...

was also credited with the same time, equalling the world record. Minutes later in the second semi-final, with a aiding wind Greene was also given the same time. As this was before the acceptance of

fully automatic timing Fully automatic time (abbreviated FAT) is a form of race timing in which the clock is automatically activated by the starting device, and the finish time is either automatically recorded, or timed by analysis of a photo finish. The system is com ...

, the hand times were official, each recorded by three separate hand timed stopwatches. An experimental Accutrack automatic timing device was being used for this meet: the times recorded by it showed Hines ran 10.03, Smith 10.14, and Greene 10.10, information held for the interest of future track statisticians. Later that evening, Greene went on to win the National Championship, in a wind aided Later that year, with the assistance of the altitude of

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

at the 1968 Olympics, Hines improved the record to 9.95 while winning the gold medal on October 14, which was to become the first accepted fully automatic timed world record accepted when the

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

adopted such times in 1977. At those same Olympics, Greene took the bronze medal and all three teamed with

Mel Pender Melvin Pender Jr. (born October 31, 1937 in Atlanta, Georgia) competed as a runner in the 1964 and 1968 Olympics, winning an Olympic gold medalist in the 4x100 m relay at the 1968 Summer Olympics. He had been a member of the Philadelphia P ...

to win the gold medal in the 4x100 m relay in world record time. Over the next eight seasons, before the IAAF changed their record criteria, six more individuals tied the 9.9 hand timed world record. The automatic 9.95 was not surpassed until 1983, when

Calvin Smith Calvin Smith (born January 8, 1961) is a former sprint track and field athlete from the United States. He is a former world record holder in the 100-meter sprint with 9.93 seconds in 1983 and was twice world champion over 200 metres, in 1983 and ...

ran 9.93, again at altitude, at the

U.S. Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academy in El Paso County, Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs. It educates cadets for service in the officer corps of the United States Air Force and Unit ...

near It is worth noting that

was timed at 9.9 seconds four years earlier in the final of the

at the

1964 Olympics 1964 Olympics refers to both: *The 1964 Winter Olympics The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games (german: IX. Olympische Winterspiele) and commonly known as Innsbruck 1964 ( bar, Innschbruck 1964, label=Austro-Ba ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. The official time was given as 10.0 seconds because of an idiosyncratic method of measuring the 'hand' times, which were only used at that Olympics.

References

{{Reflist, 2 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships 100 metres 1968 in athletics (track and field) 1968 in California World records in athletics Sports in Sacramento, California History of Sacramento, California June 1968 sports events in North America June 1968 sports events in the United States

History

See also

References