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Jim Hines was an Olympic champion in track and field who became the first person to run the 100-meter dash in under 10 seconds.
Jim Hines’s legacy
Hines made history at the 1968 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Sacramento, California, when he ran the 100-meter dash with an official time of 9.9 seconds. With this race, he broke the “10-second barrier” that had eluded all athletes before him and was a psychological mountain for runners to conquer. Later that same year, Hines recorded another 9.9 second time at the Summer Olympics in Mexico City, winning a gold medal and setting both an Olympic record and a world record that stood for 15 years.
After his Olympic victory, Hines was drafted by the Miami Dolphins, though his football career did not replicate the success of his track and field years. He played in a handful of games for the Dolphins before a brief career with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Tributes to Jim Hines
Full obituary: Olympics