Jim Hines, an American sprinter and the first person to finish the 100 meters in under 10 seconds, passed away on Monday at the age of 76.
Hines was famous for being the first person to complete the 100-meter race in 9.9 seconds at the 1968 US Championships in Sacramento.
Hines lowered the world record to an electronic timing of 9.95 seconds later that year when he won the 100-meter gold medal at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.
He held the men’s 100-meter world record during the completely automatic era for 15 years.
An American, Calvin Smith, finally broke the record in 1983 while still in the air with a timing of 9.93 seconds.
Although he was raised in Oakland, California, Jim Hines, the son of a construction worker, was born in Dumas, Arkansas, in September 1946.
Hines’ talent for running was first noticed by athletics coach Jim Coleman, but baseball was Hines’ primary love.
By the time he was 17 years old, Jim Hines was already among the top 20 in the world in the 100-meter category.
He first finished on the podium at the US Championships as a Texas Southern University student competing in the 200 meters.
Jim Hines broke the previous record set by Lennox Miller and Charles Greene of Jamaica when he won the 100-meter race at the Olympics in Mexico. With a time of 38.24, Hines not only broke the world record, but he also won the 4x100m relay for the USA.
Aside from racing on the tracks, Hines played in the NFL for the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs before quitting the sport at the end of 1968.
