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Jim Hines, first to run 100 meters in under 10 seconds, dies

June 5, 2023

The sports world mourns the loss of US sprinter Jim Hines, who was the first athlete to run the 100 meters in less than 10 seconds. He would later move to the NFL, but his hands were not as quick as his feet.

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Jim Hines, 1968 Olympics in Mexico City
In the dramatic men's 100 meters final on October 14, 1968 in the Olympic Stadium in Mexico City, Jim Hines (right) crosses the finish line firstImage: picture-alliance/dpa

US sprinter Jim Hines, the first man to break the 10-second barrier for 100 meters, died at the age of 76, the association World Athletics said on Monday.

"World Athletics is deeply saddened to hear that legendary US sprinter Jim Hines died on Saturday," the governing body said in a statement.

At the 1968 US Championships in Sacramento, Hines became the first man to officially go below 10 seconds for 100 meters, running a hand-timed 9.9 seconds.

Record that lasted 15 years

Later that year, in winning the 1968 Olympic 100 meters gold medal at altitude in Mexico City, Hines lowered the world record to an electronic-timed run of 9.95 seconds.

His record stood for 15 years, until it was finally broken by another American, Calvin Smith, in 1983 with 9.93 seconds.

Jim Hines, 1968 Olympics in Mexico City
Jim Hines, anchor for the United States team in the 4 x 100 meter relay, is seen crossing the Olympic finish line to complete was at the time was a new world record of 38.2 seconds in Mexico City on October 20, 1968Image: AP/picture alliance

Hines also won another Olympic gold medal — and world record — when he anchored the USA to gold in the 4x100 meter relay.

Soon after the Olympics, burglars broke into his home in Houston and stole his gold medals. But after placing an advert in his local newspaper appealing for the medals to be returned, they were posted back to him in a plain brown envelope.

From sprinter to footballer

Hines, the son of a construction worker, was born in Dumas, Arkansas, in September 1946, but was raised in Oakland, California.

His early passion was for baseball, but athletics coach Jim Coleman spotted his talent for sprinting and by the time Hines was 17, he already ranked among the top 20 in the world over 100 yards.

Shortly after 1968 Olympics, however, Hines ended his sprint career to try his hand at the NFL professional football league.

There Hines played for the Miami Dolphins and the Kansas City Chiefs. However, he could not translate his speed into success in a new discipline, and only had the ball in his hands a few times in his brief NFL career, earning the locker room nickname "Oops" during his year with the Dolphins.

dh/msh (AFP, dpa, Reuters, SID)