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From the track to the NFL: Who was the legendary American sprinter Jim Hines and what is he famous for?

An elite sprinter, who eventually joined the NFL, Jim Hines will always be remembered for the monumental mark he left on the 100 meter sprint and rightly so.

Paul Rudder
Paul RudderEnglish_AS
An elite sprinter, who eventually joined the NFL, Jim Hines will always be remembered for the monumental mark he left on the 100 meter sprint and rightly so.
-AFP

Both the NFL and World Athletics are in a state of mourning this week after reports confirmed the passing of a legendary man who competed in both sports. With the news of his passing, we take a look at just who was Jim Hines?

Jim Hines passes away

According to an official release from World Athletics on Sunday, Jim Hines, Jim Hines, a two-time Olympic gold medalist passed away on Saturday. He was 76-years-old. If Hines’ name rings a bell, it’s likely because he was in fact the first man to post an official time of less than 10 seconds in the 100-meter sprint. Fittingly, USA Track and Field also acknowledged Hines’ death in a tweet from its official account. “The sport has lost a legend...”

Those who are aware of his exploits, will of course remember Hines two legendary races in 1968. The first arrived on June 20th of that year, when he was clocked running the 100-meter sprint in a then world-record 9.90 seconds by a manual timer in Sacramento, California. Though the time was later adjusted to 10.03 seconds electronically, Hines did what any icon does in such a situation: Prove it wasn’t a fluke. Thus, on October 14th, during the Summer Olympics in Mexico City, he posted an official electronic time of 9.95 seconds to beat his own time, set a world record and of course win the gold medal. Incidentally, Hines won another gold medal at those very same Olympics, when he and his teammates posted a then world-record time of 38.24 in the 4x100 meter relay.

So, Jim Hines played in the NFL?

Quite right. Though he would continue to run following Olympic glory in 68′ and his record time would stand for 15 years, until fellow American Calvin Smith beat it by 0.2 seconds in Colorado Springs in 1983, Hines would be destined for pastures anew. To that end, the Texas Southern track star finally made the jump to football, such that he would end up playing three seasons between the AFL and the NFL before they merged. Indeed, between 1968 and 1970, he would turn out for both the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs.