History of the 100 M. Dash
Event Depth Chart . . .
100 M. Dash
The shortest race in the outdoor timetable, the 100m sprint offers the purest
expression of human speed and has become one of the "blue riband" athletic
events.
The race was initially run on grass or "cinders" tracks over the British
distance of 100 yards (91.44 m) before Continental influence turned it into
100 metres. Sprinters started from a standing position until 1887, when
Charles H. Sherrill (USA) dug small foot holes in the track and tried a
crouch start, a technique which, with a few variations, is still in use
today.
In 1928-29 coaches George Breshnahan and William Tuttle (USA) invented starting
blocks to facilitate more reliable starts. The IAAF officially sanctioned
the use of starting blocks in 1937.A year later the IAAF stipulated that
no official record shall be ratified without a wind gauge reading. The maximum
tailwind permitted has remained 2 meters/second.
Primitive experiments with electrical timing of sprint races date back to
the first quarter of the century. This technology improved to such an extent
that the IAAF decided to accept, from 1 January 1977, only electronically
recorded times as world records.
The photo-finish camera (in use at the 1932 Olympic Games) has enabled very
close races to be judged fairly. Today's technology permits winning margins
of as little as 1 thousandth of a second to be visible on a photofinish
print.The introduction of synthetic (all weather) tracks has also helped
improve sprint times.
The first world record for 100 yards set on a synthetic track was in 1963
by Bob Hayes (9.1) while Jim Hines recorded a world record 9.9 for 100m
at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico.