100-yard dash
Encyclopedia
The 100 yard dash is a track and field
event of 100 yard
s or 91.44 metre
s. It was part of the Commonwealth Games
until 1966, and was included in the decathlon
of the Olympics, at least in 1904. It is not generally used in international events (having been replaced by the 100 metre sprint). However, it is still occasionally run in the United States in certain competitions.
+ = en route to a longer distance
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
event of 100 yard
Yard
A yard is a unit of length in several different systems including English units, Imperial units and United States customary units. It is equal to 3 feet or 36 inches...
s or 91.44 metre
Metre
The metre , symbol m, is the base unit of length in the International System of Units . Originally intended to be one ten-millionth of the distance from the Earth's equator to the North Pole , its definition has been periodically refined to reflect growing knowledge of metrology...
s. It was part of the Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years....
until 1966, and was included in the decathlon
Decathlon
The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word decathlon is of Greek origin . Events are held over two consecutive days and the winners are determined by the combined performance in all. Performance is judged on a points system in each event, not...
of the Olympics, at least in 1904. It is not generally used in international events (having been replaced by the 100 metre sprint). However, it is still occasionally run in the United States in certain competitions.
Men
| Athlete | Date | Time | Remarks | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| F. C. Saportas | 1870 | 10.5 | Official world record | |
| Horace H. Lee | 1877 | 10.0 | Equalled official world record | |
| W. C. Wilmer | 1878 | 10.0 | Equalled official world record | |
| Lon Myers Lon Myers Laurence Eugene "Lon" Myers was an American sprinter and middle distance runner.Myers won 28 national championships. He also set world records at 11 different distances, and held every American record for races 50 yards to one mile. Myers set the world quarter-mile record while running the final... |
1880 | 10.0 | Equalled official world record | |
| Arthur Wharton Arthur Wharton Arthur Wharton is widely considered to be the first black professional association football player in the world... |
1886 | 10.0 | Equalled official world record | |
| J. Owen, Jr. | 1890 | 9.8 | Official world record | |
| R.P. Williams | 1906 | 9.0 | 5 separate time pieces – verified in Jim Thorpe article on bottom of this page | |
| D. J. Kelly | 1906 | 9.6 | Official world record | |
| Jack Donaldson Jack Donaldson (athlete) John Donaldson, Jnr, , better known as Jack, was a professional sprinter in the early part of the 1900s. He held various world sprinting records ranging from 100 yards to 400 yards, some of which stood for many years.-Early life:... |
Johannesburg, 1910 | 9.375 | World record | |
| Eric Liddell Eric Liddell Eric Henry Liddell was a Scottish athlete, rugby union international player, and missionary.Liddell was the winner of the men's 400 metres at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris... |
1924 | 9.7 | British record | |
| Eddie Tolan Eddie Tolan Thomas Edward "Eddie" Tolan , nicknamed the "Midnight Express", was an American track and field athlete who compete in the Sprints. He set world records in the 100 yard dash and 100 meters event and Olympic records in the 100 meters and 200 meters events... |
1929 | 9.5 | Official world record | |
| Frank Wykoff Frank Wykoff Frank Clifford Wyckoff was an American athlete, triple gold medal winner in 4x100 m relay at the Olympic Games.... |
Chicago June 7, 1930 | 9.4 | Official world record, without starting blocks | |
| Jesse Owens Jesse Owens James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens was an American track and field athlete who specialized in the sprints and the long jump. He participated in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, where he achieved international fame by winning four gold medals: one each in the 100 meters, the 200 meters, the... |
1933 | 9.4 | Equalled world record, set U.S. high school record | |
| Mel Patton Mel Patton Melvin Emery "Mel" Patton is an American track and field athlete, who won two gold medals at the 1948 Summer Olympics.-Biography:... |
1948 | 9.3 | Official world record | |
| James Jackson | Alameda High School, Alameda, California Alameda, California Alameda is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is located on Alameda Island and Bay Farm Island, and is adjacent to Oakland in the San Francisco Bay. The Bay Farm Island portion of the city is adjacent to the Oakland International Airport. At the 2010 census, the city had a... , 1954 |
9.4 | Equalled U.S. high-school record | |
| Ken Irvine Ken Irvine Kenneth John Irvine was an Australian rugby league footballer of the 1950s, 60s and 70s. He holds the standing record for the most number of tries in a first-grade career – 212. No other player has yet managed 200 tries in their career, apart from Steve Menzies who has scored 216... |
1961 | 9.3 | Equalled professional 100 yard world record | |
| Frank Budd Frank Budd Frank Budd is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League for the Philadelphia Eagles and the Washington Redskins. He ran track at Villanova University but never played a down of college football... |
1962 | 9.2 | Official world record | |
| Bob Hayes Bob Hayes Robert Lee "Bullet Bob" Hayes was an Olympic sprinter turned American football wide receiver in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys. An American track and field athlete, he was a two-sport stand-out in college in both track and football at Florida A&M University... |
1962 | 9.35 | ||
| Charles Greene | 1967 | 9.21 | ||
| Bob Hayes Bob Hayes Robert Lee "Bullet Bob" Hayes was an Olympic sprinter turned American football wide receiver in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys. An American track and field athlete, he was a two-sport stand-out in college in both track and football at Florida A&M University... |
1964 | 9.1 | Hand-timed | |
| John Carlos John Carlos John Wesley Carlos is a Cuban American former track and field athlete and professional football player. He was the bronze-medal winner in the 200 meters at the 1968 Summer Olympics and his black power salute on the podium with Tommie Smith caused much political controversy... |
1969 | 9.1 | Hand-timed, equalled Hayes's world record | |
| Houston McTear Houston McTear Houston McTear , is a former American sprinter, who emerged from desperate poverty in the Florida Panhandle to become an international track star in the mid-1970s. McTear rated in the top 10 in the 100 meters for the United States from 1975–1980, but he was stronger at shorter distances, including... |
early 1970s | 9.0 | Unofficial and hand-timed. In 1975 registered a time of 9.30 seconds. | |
| Pharnell Raines | 1971, Fort Myers, Florida Fort Myers, Florida Fort Myers is the county seat and commercial center of Lee County, Florida, United States. Its population was 62,298 in the 2010 census, a 29.23 percent increase over the 2000 figure.... |
9.2 | High school record, hand-timed | |
| Ivory Crockett Ivory Crockett Ivory Crockett is a former sprinter who, for a time, held the distinction of being "the world's fastest man" at his distance. Crockett, a track star from Webster Groves in St. Louis County, Missouri, ran college sprints for Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois... |
1974 | 9.0 | Hand-timed | |
| Asafa Powell Asafa Powell Asafa Powell C.D is a Jamaican sprinter who specialises in the 100 metres. He held the 100 m world record between June 2005 and May 2008, with times of 9.77 and 9.74 seconds respectively. Powell has consistently broken the 10-second barrier in competition, with his personal best of... |
27 May 2010 | 9.07+ (−0.5 m/s) | Official World Best, en-route to 100m |
Women
| Athlete | Date | Time | Remarks | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Veronica Campbell-Brown | 31 May 2011 | 9.91+ (+1.1 m/s) | Official World Best, en-route to 100m | |
| Iris Davis | 1973 | 10.3w | ||
| Chi Cheng | June 13, 1970 | 10.0 | Portland, Oregon Portland, Oregon Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States... |
|
| Barbara Ferrell Barbara Ferrell Barbara Ann Ferrell is a former American athlete, who competed mainly in the 100 metres.... |
1969 | 10.7 | ||
| Wyomia Tyus Wyomia Tyus Wyomia Tyus is an American athlete, and the first person to retain the Olympic title in the 100 m.... |
1965 | 10.5 | ||
| Wilma Rudolph Wilma Rudolph Wilma Glodean Rudolph was an American athlete. Rudolph was considered the fastest woman in the world in the 1960s and competed in two Olympic Games, in 1956 and in 1960.... |
1961 | 10.8 | ||
| Mae Faggs Mae Faggs Heriwentha Faggs Starr1 was an American athlete who mainly competed in the sprint events. She graduated from Bayside High School, and then went to Tennessee State University to run under Hall of Fame coach Ed Temple, one of the first U.S... |
1954 | 10.8 |
+ = en route to a longer distance
External links
- All-time men's best 100 yards www.alltime-athletics.com
- Newspaper articles Tribune Cap 6-10-1930 (Des Moines, Iowa ?) and Los Angeles Times Jan 1974 cited on Frank Wykoff tribute website
- Article in The Rotarian June 1940 "What is the Human Limit" by Jim Thorpe pg.18 http://books.google.com/books?id=I0EEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA16&ots=lQ5pPngZDr&dq=r.p.%20williams%20athlete&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q=&f=false