0:00:02 > 0:00:05- Wells has got it!- Marvellous!
0:00:05 > 0:00:07I cannot believe that Thorpe's done that!
0:00:07 > 0:00:11A fantastic run by Coe! He's done it. He's got the gold!
0:00:18 > 0:00:26The 100 metres Olympic final - the big one, the must-see event.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29Thousands in stadiums, millions on television,
0:00:29 > 0:00:33wait for the fastest men in the world to begin their race.
0:00:33 > 0:00:37Spectators, athletes, everybody is on edge.
0:00:39 > 0:00:41STARTING GUN FIRES
0:00:41 > 0:00:45- COMMENTATOR:- Away they go...
0:00:45 > 0:00:49Here, there is only ten seconds to gain sporting immortality.
0:00:49 > 0:00:53Barely the time it takes to hear these words.
0:00:53 > 0:00:57The fastest man in the whole world, you're number one,
0:00:57 > 0:01:01nobody else is better, that's the most prestigious title
0:01:01 > 0:01:04that any human being could ever dream of or accomplish.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08The race looks so simple.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11But at every phase of a 100 metre Olympic final,
0:01:11 > 0:01:14there is a challenge to winning gold, from start to finish.
0:01:16 > 0:01:18You'd better be 100% effective
0:01:18 > 0:01:21and be the best you can at every phase of that race.
0:01:21 > 0:01:23STARTING GUN FIRES
0:01:26 > 0:01:31First when the starting gun fires,
0:01:31 > 0:01:34then sprinting at speeds of up to 28mph.
0:01:34 > 0:01:38At this stage, the energy cost is greater
0:01:38 > 0:01:41than in any other athletic event.
0:01:42 > 0:01:45Ending with the drama of the finishing line.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49I crossed the line and I looked over at the clock.
0:01:49 > 0:01:50I didn't know about the world record.
0:01:50 > 0:01:55- COMMENTATOR: - 9.84 is a new world record!
0:01:56 > 0:02:01This film examines each stage of the 100 metres final
0:02:01 > 0:02:05to reveal how the race has been run faster and faster.
0:02:05 > 0:02:11It tells a 100-year story made with fractions of seconds,
0:02:11 > 0:02:14and how the greatest sprinters have won gold
0:02:14 > 0:02:16and made this explosive burst of speed
0:02:16 > 0:02:21the most electrifying spectacle in any sport.
0:02:21 > 0:02:25That is superb! It's a new world record!
0:02:33 > 0:02:35- COMMENTATOR: - The Olympic 100 metre final.
0:02:38 > 0:02:42It's show time and lining up for the 100 metre final
0:02:42 > 0:02:45are the big beasts of the Olympic track.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51These athletes are focused on getting the right start,
0:02:51 > 0:02:54mentally preparing in the few seconds they have
0:02:54 > 0:02:57before the race explodes into life.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01All the names have been mentioned and it's quiet.
0:03:05 > 0:03:10And people in the stand are quiet. And you can hear a pin drop.
0:03:10 > 0:03:13The starter says, "On your marks."
0:03:13 > 0:03:16Get to your marks.
0:03:16 > 0:03:20That is the most nerve-racking time that I felt.
0:03:34 > 0:03:35From the very beginning,
0:03:35 > 0:03:39the way the 100 metre was started has its own history.
0:03:41 > 0:03:48The first Olympic 100 metre took place at the inaugural modern Games of 1896, in Athens.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53For the final, there were as many ways to start as there were runners.
0:03:58 > 0:04:04In lane four was 21-year-old student Tom Burke, from Boston University.
0:04:07 > 0:04:08At the Athens final,
0:04:08 > 0:04:13Burke did something that changed forever how the race would begin.
0:04:13 > 0:04:16He switched from a standing to a crouching start.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21Tom Burke used the crouch start in 1896.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24If one looks at the rest of the guys in the race,
0:04:24 > 0:04:27you see they're using variations of a standing start.
0:04:27 > 0:04:31One guy is using, as I remember it, a couple of pegs.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38The crouching start allows science to help,
0:04:38 > 0:04:41propelling the runners forward faster.
0:04:41 > 0:04:44You want to project yourself at a unique angle
0:04:44 > 0:04:48as fast as possible, as explosively as possible.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51So being coiled up would allow you
0:04:51 > 0:04:55to apply more force in a shorter period of time
0:04:55 > 0:04:57than if you're just standing upright.
0:04:58 > 0:05:01The revolutionary new start won Burke the race
0:05:01 > 0:05:05in a time of 12 seconds.
0:05:09 > 0:05:12Another early innovation also helped sprinters
0:05:12 > 0:05:15get the right start to the race.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21In the early Olympics, there were no starting blocks.
0:05:21 > 0:05:25So athletes would dig their own holes in the cinder tracks
0:05:25 > 0:05:27to allow secure footing.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30You needed something firm to drive against.
0:05:30 > 0:05:35So sprinters took trowels to the start of the race and dug a nice hole
0:05:35 > 0:05:39and they could drive out nicely and they wouldn't slip.
0:05:40 > 0:05:42The right start also demands
0:05:42 > 0:05:47that 100 metre athletes react with skill to the starting gun.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49- STARTER:- Set!
0:05:51 > 0:05:53Your reaction time needs to be as quick as possible.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56You have to react to the gun.
0:05:56 > 0:05:58You can't listen for the gun and then go.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01- Bang! - STARTING GUN FIRES
0:06:01 > 0:06:05The secret is to have just the right instinctive response to the gun.
0:06:07 > 0:06:11So a quick reaction immediately gives you the edge
0:06:11 > 0:06:15that turns centimetres into metres of advantage.
0:06:15 > 0:06:19If you are shocked by the gun,
0:06:19 > 0:06:23you're going to react sooner, quicker, more reflexively
0:06:23 > 0:06:25than if you're trying to listen for the gun.
0:06:25 > 0:06:27STARTING GUN FIRES
0:06:28 > 0:06:32So it's like if you're walking down the street and a bus backfires,
0:06:32 > 0:06:34you react.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43But good reaction times can be taught.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51British sprinter Harold Abrahams, of Chariots Of Fire fame,
0:06:51 > 0:06:53trained with his coach, Sam Mussabini,
0:06:53 > 0:06:57to master the challenge of the gun.
0:07:01 > 0:07:03There's a wonderful picture of Sam using the gun
0:07:03 > 0:07:07that was going to be used in competition, just behind Harold
0:07:07 > 0:07:10as he blasts from the blocks with a puff smoke.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15Rehearsing it and rehearsing it and rehearsing it.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20They also trained for the right finish.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23And at the finish, where he would rehearse
0:07:23 > 0:07:25dipping to the finish over and over again.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32Abrahams was part of a generation of athletes
0:07:32 > 0:07:36more rigorous in their approach to the race than earlier amateurs.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39And this helped Abrahams and others to run the race faster.
0:07:43 > 0:07:48In the run-up to the 1924 Olympics in Paris, some things worked,
0:07:48 > 0:07:50others were discarded.
0:07:50 > 0:07:54His cross-arm action was ludicrous, which he has Abrahams doing.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57But when you see the 1924 Olympics film,
0:07:57 > 0:08:00Abrahams runs with a linear action, which is what you should do.
0:08:00 > 0:08:06So Abrahams seemed to have ignored most of what was shown in the film, I'm afraid!
0:08:11 > 0:08:14Paris provided the opportunity for Abrahams
0:08:14 > 0:08:16to apply this more professional approach
0:08:16 > 0:08:18to an Olympic 100 metre final.
0:08:27 > 0:08:29He reacted perfectly to the gun.
0:08:30 > 0:08:36And then crossed the line with a finish of equally practised precision.
0:08:36 > 0:08:41Abrahams won gold in an Olympic-record time of 10.6 seconds.
0:08:43 > 0:08:45They were no longer now just sprinters
0:08:45 > 0:08:48going over the starting line to run as fast as they could.
0:08:48 > 0:08:51They were athletes who had prepared, who had thought about it
0:08:51 > 0:08:53and who had rehearsed it.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56It was, in a sense, a new beginning for the 100 metres.
0:09:06 > 0:09:11After the tense wait for the gun comes release...
0:09:11 > 0:09:13out of the blocks.
0:09:14 > 0:09:18But immediately, there is another challenge for the 100 metre finalist.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22There is now barely three seconds to complete
0:09:22 > 0:09:28the 30 metres of what is known as the drive stage of the race.
0:09:28 > 0:09:30It's the most advantageous part of the race,
0:09:30 > 0:09:32where you can really gain an advantage for yourself.
0:09:32 > 0:09:36Not necessarily... We're not talking about other competitors, but for yourself.
0:09:43 > 0:09:44The first stride, the second stride,
0:09:44 > 0:09:47the third stride are so important
0:09:47 > 0:09:49to get the right momentum,
0:09:49 > 0:09:52to get the right foot placement and to get the right drive.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58Coming out of the blocks too high or too low
0:09:58 > 0:10:01can cost vital thousandths of seconds.
0:10:04 > 0:10:07The ideal situation is when your body
0:10:07 > 0:10:09is at the angle coming out of the blocks
0:10:09 > 0:10:11and you're at a 45-degree angle.
0:10:12 > 0:10:14Now you're able with every step
0:10:14 > 0:10:18to put force back into the track that propels you forward.
0:10:23 > 0:10:27The great sprinter calculates his angles perfectly
0:10:27 > 0:10:32and speeds to full velocity with athletic grace.
0:10:34 > 0:10:38Such a runner was the American star of the 1936 Olympics,
0:10:38 > 0:10:40Jesse Owens.
0:10:43 > 0:10:47Jesse Owens was just simply beautiful to watch.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50He flowed over the ground majestically.
0:10:56 > 0:10:58He was running on cinders, of course.
0:10:58 > 0:11:00You could hear the sound when he ran -
0:11:00 > 0:11:04tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick...
0:11:05 > 0:11:10It was regal. Just a regal bearing, the way he ran.
0:11:13 > 0:11:15Owens showed that the 100 metres could be raced
0:11:15 > 0:11:18with elegant economy and flawless technique.
0:11:20 > 0:11:22When you look at Jesse Owens running,
0:11:22 > 0:11:25he was a very, very efficient sprinter.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28Very upright in his style.
0:11:28 > 0:11:32It's very fluid and very efficient,
0:11:32 > 0:11:36because there isn't any wasted motion.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41Owens had sporting genius,
0:11:41 > 0:11:44yet faced barriers as a black athlete to expressing it.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50To help nurture a new generation of US medal winners,
0:11:50 > 0:11:55sports scholarships had begun to be awarded.
0:11:55 > 0:11:57But these went to white athletes
0:11:57 > 0:12:01and were denied to "runners of colour".
0:12:01 > 0:12:04Even Jesse Owens didn't have a scholarship.
0:12:04 > 0:12:06He was the greatest athlete in the world.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09He didn't have a scholarship. He wasn't allowed to sleep on campus.
0:12:09 > 0:12:13He had to keep himself going by working in a petrol station.
0:12:16 > 0:12:18Yet by the time of the Berlin Games,
0:12:18 > 0:12:2222-year-old Owens was breaking records.
0:12:22 > 0:12:26So his selection for the US Olympic team was irresistible.
0:12:28 > 0:12:30But by travelling to Germany,
0:12:30 > 0:12:34Owens was jumping from the frying pan of American racism
0:12:34 > 0:12:38into the fire of Nazi ideology.
0:12:43 > 0:12:45Sieg heil! Sieg heil!
0:12:48 > 0:12:51How society was in 1936,
0:12:51 > 0:12:56with Hitler and with this kid from the US.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59You talk about pressure.
0:12:59 > 0:13:03He, by far, has shouldered
0:13:03 > 0:13:07a billion times more than any of us.
0:13:09 > 0:13:13These Olympics were deliberately choreographed by Hitler
0:13:13 > 0:13:17to show the world the physical superiority of a white master race.
0:13:20 > 0:13:24For the 100 metre final, the Nazis would look on,
0:13:24 > 0:13:26anticipating certain victory
0:13:26 > 0:13:29for the German in lane three, Eric Borchmeyer.
0:13:31 > 0:13:36- COMMENTATOR:- The six fastest sprinters of the world are getting ready.
0:13:36 > 0:13:38When the starting gun went,
0:13:38 > 0:13:42Owens provided his own retort as he exploded out of the blocks.
0:13:47 > 0:13:53Jesse Owens, when he moved away from the 1936 finalists,
0:13:53 > 0:13:57seemed to be on silken threads.
0:13:57 > 0:14:02He didn't seem to be doing anything that was remotely like hard work.
0:14:06 > 0:14:09Owens is ahead! Strandberg and Borchmeyer fighting.
0:14:09 > 0:14:11Osendarp challenges Wykoff.
0:14:11 > 0:14:13Metcalfe comes up, but Owens wins in 10.3.
0:14:13 > 0:14:15Second - Metcalfe, America.
0:14:15 > 0:14:17Third - Osendarp, Holland.
0:14:17 > 0:14:23Owens won by what seemed a mile in a time of 10.3 seconds.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26Winning silver was his black team-mate, Ralph Metcalfe.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29Borchmeyer came fifth.
0:14:31 > 0:14:32The whole Aryan nation,
0:14:32 > 0:14:36the whole white-supremacist approach that Hitler had for this Games,
0:14:36 > 0:14:38it was, if you will, a coming-out party
0:14:38 > 0:14:41for this new ideology that he was promoting.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44With Owens winning, it destroys this idea.
0:14:47 > 0:14:52In one ten-second moment in time, it throws it out the window.
0:14:52 > 0:14:54I think that for Owens,
0:14:54 > 0:14:57whether or not he believed what he did was significant,
0:14:57 > 0:14:59later in life, he would understand that.
0:14:59 > 0:15:00But I think for the rest of the world,
0:15:00 > 0:15:03who were there to observe this very special Olympics,
0:15:03 > 0:15:07what Owens did was really question this idea of white supremacy,
0:15:07 > 0:15:09but also this idea of black inferiority.
0:15:15 > 0:15:19By winning gold in Berlin, Jesse Owens inspired a new generation
0:15:19 > 0:15:23of African-American sprinters to run the 100 metres.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26One of these competed at Wembley Stadium in 1948,
0:15:26 > 0:15:29at the first Olympics to take place after the Second World War.
0:15:29 > 0:15:33- COMMENTATOR:- The spectacular entry of the United States of America,
0:15:33 > 0:15:36their massed ranks representing their country's...
0:15:36 > 0:15:39Harrison Dillard was from the same city as his hero, Jesse Owens -
0:15:39 > 0:15:41Cleveland, Ohio.
0:15:41 > 0:15:45He'd even been to the same high school.
0:15:46 > 0:15:50Known as a hurdler, through an accident of selection
0:15:50 > 0:15:54he ended up competing in London in the 100 metres.
0:15:54 > 0:15:56- COMMENTARY: - Here's the first semifinal.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59Harrison Dillard and Ewell of the US are on the far side.
0:15:59 > 0:16:04I used to think to myself, "You've got to win, you can win.
0:16:04 > 0:16:05"You will win."
0:16:05 > 0:16:08They're away and Dillard, number 69, leaps into the lead.
0:16:08 > 0:16:12Dillard ran in a competition where, both at the start
0:16:12 > 0:16:14and on the finishing line, there was innovation.
0:16:19 > 0:16:21For the first time at an Olympics,
0:16:21 > 0:16:25Harrison and the other runners could use starting blocks.
0:16:25 > 0:16:28The old method on cinder tracks of digging holes
0:16:28 > 0:16:31had proved itself unsatisfactory,
0:16:31 > 0:16:36because although it was perfect for the person who arrived first in the lane to dig holes,
0:16:36 > 0:16:40it was less than perfect for the person who came to run the second race
0:16:40 > 0:16:43and the third and, at the end of the afternoon, it was just mush.
0:16:43 > 0:16:46So a contraption that you could put on top of the track,
0:16:46 > 0:16:49which you could nail in, was perfect.
0:16:50 > 0:16:52A phrase was now coined -
0:16:52 > 0:16:54out of the blocks.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57And blocks gave sprinters better lift-off at the start of the race.
0:16:57 > 0:16:59It's a duel between Bailey and Ewell.
0:16:59 > 0:17:00There was just a feeling,
0:17:00 > 0:17:04the idea that you have something that is going to aid you.
0:17:04 > 0:17:07I guess, psychologically, it does,
0:17:07 > 0:17:12to be sitting on the ground instead of in the ground when you start.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17A company manufactured them and manufactured them
0:17:17 > 0:17:20so you could adjust the front block, the back block, so you could move it
0:17:20 > 0:17:22forward and backwards and you could change the angle of it
0:17:22 > 0:17:24at the front and back foot.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27You could have your own pair. You could get them as you wanted them
0:17:27 > 0:17:29and carry them around from one track to another.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36In 1948, Dillard got through the heats
0:17:36 > 0:17:39to find himself on the outside lane
0:17:39 > 0:17:42in a final watched by a crowd of 82,000 people.
0:17:42 > 0:17:44Set!
0:17:45 > 0:17:49I don't think too many people gave me a chance of winning.
0:17:49 > 0:17:51However, my coach, Eddie Finnegan, and I, we talked about it
0:17:51 > 0:17:54and he said, "The watch doesn't lie,
0:17:54 > 0:17:57"you can run just as fast as these guys can."
0:17:59 > 0:18:02They're off, with Dillard on the outside, getting away in front.
0:18:02 > 0:18:04As we watch the race in slow motion, left to right,
0:18:04 > 0:18:08it's Dillard, Bailey, McCorquodale, LaBeach, Ewell and Patton.
0:18:10 > 0:18:14After the initial start,
0:18:14 > 0:18:1625, 30 metres out,
0:18:16 > 0:18:19you've got to relax and go on to your so-called cruise mode,
0:18:19 > 0:18:22then just see what happens.
0:18:24 > 0:18:28Dillard still holds his lead with Ewell resolutely closing ground.
0:18:31 > 0:18:33The tape struck my chest
0:18:33 > 0:18:36and I said, "Well, I guess you did it."
0:18:36 > 0:18:39But at the same time, using peripheral vision,
0:18:39 > 0:18:43I did see another white jersey leaning into the tape.
0:18:47 > 0:18:49I thought I'd won.
0:18:52 > 0:18:56A revolutionary piece of technology would decide who had won the race.
0:18:56 > 0:19:00It is anyone's race. They're in a line together. No-one's sure who's won.
0:19:00 > 0:19:04For Olympic track events, the result of tight finishes
0:19:04 > 0:19:06had always been decided by the visual evidence
0:19:06 > 0:19:08of officials in the stands.
0:19:08 > 0:19:13Now the photo finish was introduced to help them.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16Barney started to celebrate and he was jumping up and down,
0:19:16 > 0:19:19clasping his hands over his head.
0:19:19 > 0:19:24- COMMENTARY:- Barney Ewell dances with joy in the belief that he has won this great event.
0:19:24 > 0:19:26I said, "Hell, maybe I didn't win."
0:19:28 > 0:19:29The camera didn't lie
0:19:29 > 0:19:33and confirmed that Dillard had won the gold medal.
0:19:33 > 0:19:38But on that particular day, it was my turn.
0:19:38 > 0:19:40MUSIC: "The Star-Spangled Banner"
0:19:43 > 0:19:48I remember when the anthem played, our national anthem played,
0:19:48 > 0:19:50I just felt the hair coming up on the back of my neck.
0:19:53 > 0:19:54And here I was,
0:19:54 > 0:20:00having gone to the same high school that my idol Jesse Owens had gone to.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04And here I was, winning the same event
0:20:04 > 0:20:06that my idol had won a dozen years before.
0:20:06 > 0:20:08But the winner was Harrison Dillard,
0:20:08 > 0:20:12who equalled the Olympic record of 10.3.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15Harrison Dillard was one of the last skinnier,
0:20:15 > 0:20:20lighter-framed runners who floated over the ground to win gold.
0:20:20 > 0:20:24They would soon be replaced by bigger sprinters,
0:20:24 > 0:20:29using something more elemental to reach top speed and run the race faster.
0:20:44 > 0:20:47At 30 metres, enormous power is needed
0:20:47 > 0:20:49for the next phase of the 100 metre Olympic final,
0:20:49 > 0:20:54where, for just five seconds, athletes sprint at maximum velocity.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58Now you are at, probably, full speed.
0:20:58 > 0:21:00You are up at 90 degrees
0:21:00 > 0:21:04and now you are what you would consider into your stride.
0:21:04 > 0:21:08But that stride has to be quick and it has to be fast.
0:21:09 > 0:21:13What fires a sprinter to reach top speed
0:21:13 > 0:21:17is the raw power generated by a strongly muscled body.
0:21:17 > 0:21:21You're talking about going from A to B as fast as possible.
0:21:21 > 0:21:24The only way to do that is to have more powerful muscles,
0:21:24 > 0:21:27bigger muscles, stronger muscles, faster muscles.
0:21:33 > 0:21:36Sheer power began to decide who would win gold medals
0:21:36 > 0:21:41from the Tokyo Games of 1964 onwards.
0:21:41 > 0:21:44And with power came a new body type.
0:21:44 > 0:21:46So those runners were bigger, erm,
0:21:46 > 0:21:49they were more muscular.
0:21:49 > 0:21:51And you saw that displayed on the track,
0:21:51 > 0:21:53where there was much more power
0:21:53 > 0:21:55in terms of their upper-body strength
0:21:55 > 0:21:58and lower body as well.
0:22:00 > 0:22:03The first of the great power runners ran in Tokyo -
0:22:03 > 0:22:05Bob Hayes.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09He was the prime example,
0:22:09 > 0:22:12even to this day, of the most powerful,
0:22:12 > 0:22:15natural sprinter I've ever seen.
0:22:18 > 0:22:22In Tokyo, Bullet Bob powered his way through the heats.
0:22:35 > 0:22:41British sprinter Peter Radford raced against Hayes in the second round.
0:22:41 > 0:22:46Bob Hayes was a natural-born, powerful sprinter
0:22:46 > 0:22:54who had the talent to unleash his powers without inhibition.
0:22:57 > 0:23:00I was shocked when I saw how careless he was
0:23:00 > 0:23:02in putting in his starting blocks.
0:23:02 > 0:23:03He didn't seem to care.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08Whereas we runners who didn't have that power
0:23:08 > 0:23:11were meticulous to the centimetre
0:23:11 > 0:23:13where we put the starting blocks,
0:23:13 > 0:23:15lining up behind them to make sure they were dead straight
0:23:15 > 0:23:20and they weren't out one degree out at an angle. Absolutely right.
0:23:20 > 0:23:24He just put his starting blocks down and hammered them in,
0:23:24 > 0:23:26apparently, wherever they landed.
0:23:27 > 0:23:31Because to him, it didn't matter much about the finesse of it.
0:23:31 > 0:23:32He had the power.
0:23:32 > 0:23:36He had enormous power and he muscled his way over the track.
0:23:37 > 0:23:41Having failed to qualify, Radford was in the stands
0:23:41 > 0:23:47as millions of others watched the Tokyo final live by satellite on television.
0:23:47 > 0:23:52Lining up in lane one, wearing 702, was Hayes.
0:23:53 > 0:23:58What they witnessed was one of the greatest sprints in Olympic history,
0:23:58 > 0:24:01run in the most demanding of conditions.
0:24:04 > 0:24:09They had atrocious weather and it poured and poured on occasions.
0:24:11 > 0:24:15But you've also got to remember the track in 1964 was a cinder track.
0:24:15 > 0:24:19It didn't stand up particularly well to the wear and tear.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23When you put your foot to the ground, you couldn't be absolutely certain
0:24:23 > 0:24:26that you'd get a true surface to drive off
0:24:26 > 0:24:29in exactly the same way that the previous stride had.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32So what you're constantly doing
0:24:32 > 0:24:36is struggling to produce your own rhythm and tempo
0:24:36 > 0:24:39that the track is not helping you with at all.
0:24:43 > 0:24:48He had the power to overcome this rather poor surface
0:24:48 > 0:24:49and he just let it rip.
0:24:54 > 0:24:56STARTING GUN FIRES
0:24:57 > 0:25:01- COMMENTATOR:- Hayes got a good one, so did Figuerola. Jerome in the centre of the picture!
0:25:09 > 0:25:13Hayes won in Tokyo in a time of ten seconds.
0:25:13 > 0:25:18Power running had shaved a vital 0.3 of a second off the world record.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21Sometimes, after an Olympic final, you think
0:25:21 > 0:25:24if you ran the race three times would you get three different winners?
0:25:24 > 0:25:28With Bob Hayes, what you knew was if you ran it three times,
0:25:28 > 0:25:30Bob Hayes would win it every time.
0:25:32 > 0:25:34Just look at Hayes go!
0:25:34 > 0:25:37The way Bob Hayes went, he should have left a trail of smoke.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40No doubt about who was the best man, Bob Hayes.
0:25:42 > 0:25:48To watch somebody like him, it was awesome, it was absolutely fantastic.
0:25:49 > 0:25:52In fact, it inspires you, to some extent, to see somebody,
0:25:52 > 0:25:58a human being, running with this raw physical talent.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01It's incredible. I think it was incredible.
0:26:04 > 0:26:09Also inspired by Hayes was a young American sprinter.
0:26:09 > 0:26:14In 1964, when I saw Bob Hayes become the fastest man in the world,
0:26:14 > 0:26:18and I was in high school, I knew right then
0:26:18 > 0:26:22that I wanted to be just like him. He was my idol.
0:26:25 > 0:26:30Jim Hines' admiration would soon translate into an ambition to go one better than Hayes
0:26:30 > 0:26:35and break the ten-second barrier at the next Olympics.
0:26:42 > 0:26:47And when Jim Hines competed at the 1968 Games in Mexico City,
0:26:47 > 0:26:51he had the advantage of running on synthetic tracks.
0:26:51 > 0:26:55The cinder track, you had to dig in and dig in and dig in.
0:26:55 > 0:26:59And when the new track came along,
0:26:59 > 0:27:03it was like you were floating on your toes.
0:27:04 > 0:27:08Synthetic tracks are made of polyurethane and rubber
0:27:08 > 0:27:12and allow sprinters to run at even greater speed.
0:27:14 > 0:27:16You want a firm track
0:27:16 > 0:27:18that has good bounce
0:27:18 > 0:27:21because in sprinting, you contact the ground
0:27:21 > 0:27:24and the shorter the contact, the better.
0:27:24 > 0:27:28But you want it to throw you further down the track.
0:27:31 > 0:27:35To a very great extent, the tracks the people were training on
0:27:35 > 0:27:37were like the ones they competed on.
0:27:37 > 0:27:41So you could learn the rhythm and tempo of your event on the training track
0:27:41 > 0:27:43and transfer it to the competition track.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46That was impossible in the cinder-track days.
0:27:46 > 0:27:49- COMMENTARY: - 100 metres...men's finals.
0:27:51 > 0:27:54Just before the Mexico City final,
0:27:54 > 0:27:58Jim Hines played silent mind games with his rivals.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01I used a silent code on the guys.
0:28:01 > 0:28:02"He's not saying nothing!"
0:28:02 > 0:28:06"I don't have to say nothing, cos I'm gonna kick your butts anyway!"
0:28:10 > 0:28:16Hines, wearing 279, was running in lane three.
0:28:19 > 0:28:23- COMMENTATOR:- The 1968 Olympic Games 100 metre final.
0:28:23 > 0:28:27I knew no matter how good I started,
0:28:27 > 0:28:30that I was not going to beat three or four guys out of the blocks.
0:28:33 > 0:28:37I knew they wouldn't have a tremendous lead on me,
0:28:37 > 0:28:42so I wasn't worried, because I knew, sometimes, their mechanics start breaking down.
0:28:42 > 0:28:45While they were breaking down, mine was always picking up.
0:28:47 > 0:28:51Sprinting at high altitude was a painful experience for 100 metre runners
0:28:51 > 0:28:55with their own brief intensity of effort.
0:28:55 > 0:28:58For us sprinters, it was disastrous.
0:28:59 > 0:29:03It was a great track, but I've never felt so bad in my whole life.
0:29:03 > 0:29:05First time I'd ever felt bad, period.
0:29:06 > 0:29:08Despite the thin air,
0:29:08 > 0:29:12the power running of Hines was brutally efficient.
0:29:12 > 0:29:16He ran his maximum-velocity phase to maximum effect.
0:29:17 > 0:29:20Once I caught 'em, right then I felt good.
0:29:20 > 0:29:22Cos once I catch you and go past you, it's all over with.
0:29:22 > 0:29:25Miller is going well. And Hines comes through!
0:29:29 > 0:29:32By 1968, Olympic time-keepers could measure the race
0:29:32 > 0:29:34to a hundredth of a second.
0:29:34 > 0:29:38So when Hines crossed the line, they recorded an historic moment.
0:29:38 > 0:29:42A tremendous finish and look at the time there.
0:29:42 > 0:29:46Inside the world record. The world record pending at 9.9
0:29:46 > 0:29:48and Jim Hines takes the gold medal.
0:29:48 > 0:29:53With a time of 9.95, power and the new tracks helped Hines
0:29:53 > 0:29:57become the first man to run under ten seconds.
0:29:57 > 0:29:59The fastest man in the whole world.
0:29:59 > 0:30:02You're number one, nobody else is better.
0:30:02 > 0:30:08That's the most prestigious title any human being could ever dream of or accomplish.
0:30:13 > 0:30:16With the victories of Hines and Hayes,
0:30:16 > 0:30:20it seemed that power running might be the preserve of black athletes.
0:30:22 > 0:30:24But with the right training,
0:30:24 > 0:30:29white runners could also win gold with turbo-charged sprinting.
0:30:29 > 0:30:32Borzov got away well, but Kornelyuk with a brilliant start!
0:30:32 > 0:30:34It's the little Russian, and Crawford has pulled up lame.
0:30:34 > 0:30:39The little Russian coming through. And Borzov wins the gold.
0:30:40 > 0:30:43At the Munich Games of 1972, the final was won
0:30:43 > 0:30:46by the Soviet Valeriy Borzov, whose running style
0:30:46 > 0:30:50and stony demeanour won him the nickname the Robot.
0:30:53 > 0:30:57And in the early '80s, Britain had its very own power runner -
0:30:57 > 0:30:58Alan Wells.
0:31:00 > 0:31:02Wells had the build of a boxer.
0:31:03 > 0:31:05He trained like one, too,
0:31:05 > 0:31:09for the extra punch generated by bigger and better muscles.
0:31:11 > 0:31:17We introduced the weights, static weights, plyometrics, hill runs.
0:31:18 > 0:31:24These are all different ways to improve power and speed.
0:31:27 > 0:31:29All this hard work was devoted
0:31:29 > 0:31:34towards realising Wells's one moment of destiny on the track.
0:31:36 > 0:31:40And this came at the 100 metre final in Moscow,
0:31:40 > 0:31:43during the US-boycotted 1980 Games.
0:31:45 > 0:31:50I'd focused on this for a long time, for a long, long time.
0:31:52 > 0:31:55You know, as a young boy, I dreamt about being an athlete.
0:31:57 > 0:31:59And here was this moment,
0:31:59 > 0:32:03the one moment to achieve something that I'd always wanted to achieve.
0:32:14 > 0:32:17When we got down to the blocks, I thought, "God, I don't feel right."
0:32:17 > 0:32:22I didn't feel right. "Can we have it tomorrow?"
0:32:22 > 0:32:24I thought, "You get a hold of yourself, mate,
0:32:24 > 0:32:28"because you're not going to get another chance here."
0:32:30 > 0:32:33When the gun went, I thought, "God, I didn't get a good start."
0:32:35 > 0:32:39And the thing is, I had a gauge - two Cubans, one in lane one,
0:32:39 > 0:32:43Leonard, who was my main competitor,
0:32:43 > 0:32:47and we had Lara in lane seven, his training partner.
0:32:47 > 0:32:49And I'd watched them training,
0:32:49 > 0:32:55so I knew that Leonard was capable of beating him by a yard at about 30.
0:32:55 > 0:32:59So my intention was to be in front of Lara by a yard.
0:33:00 > 0:33:02I was just with him at 30.
0:33:04 > 0:33:06With spectators on their feet,
0:33:06 > 0:33:10Wells seized his moment during the maximum-velocity phase.
0:33:10 > 0:33:13From 30, I just went away from him.
0:33:13 > 0:33:16The Olympic final under way. Wells got away well and also going well is Lara
0:33:16 > 0:33:18and on the far side, Leonard and Aksinin.
0:33:18 > 0:33:20It's Wells on the near side for Great Britain.
0:33:20 > 0:33:23On the far side, Leonard of Cuba. They can't see each other.
0:33:23 > 0:33:26Leonard and Wells, absolutely together!
0:33:26 > 0:33:30Leonard looks up at the clock. 10.24.
0:33:33 > 0:33:36And Wells has got it!
0:33:36 > 0:33:42Wells is waving now in the back straight and already celebrating.
0:33:46 > 0:33:49You look at Valeriy Borzov and you look at Alan Wells,
0:33:49 > 0:33:54both powerful runners, powerful 100 metre runners, big upper-body athletes.
0:33:54 > 0:33:57I think that at that point, the transition was complete.
0:33:57 > 0:34:01The coaches and trainers at that point knew that that's where it's at.
0:34:01 > 0:34:03It's all about power.
0:34:06 > 0:34:09But power isn't everything,
0:34:09 > 0:34:12as the next phase reveals the race's biggest secret.
0:34:23 > 0:34:26At 80 metres, runners are tantalisingly close
0:34:26 > 0:34:27to the finishing line.
0:34:29 > 0:34:32Muscles, sinews, limbs and lungs
0:34:32 > 0:34:35are all straining for a maximum of effort.
0:34:38 > 0:34:41When the foot comes into contact with the ground,
0:34:41 > 0:34:44there are enormous forces.
0:34:44 > 0:34:47The ground reaction times on each grounded foot
0:34:47 > 0:34:51is something like two and a half times your own body weight.
0:34:51 > 0:34:54Now that's a lot of weight on every stride.
0:34:54 > 0:34:58And don't forget, you are doing these strides five times per second.
0:35:01 > 0:35:03But there are limits, even to the superhuman qualities
0:35:03 > 0:35:05of the greatest Olympic sprinters.
0:35:07 > 0:35:10And at this point, something astonishing happens.
0:35:11 > 0:35:15All the data from races from the beginning of data collection
0:35:15 > 0:35:19show the greatest sprinters slow down at the end.
0:35:21 > 0:35:25Incredibly, these most powerful of athletes have to slow down.
0:35:26 > 0:35:28With such an intensity of effort,
0:35:28 > 0:35:31they simply can't keep running this fast.
0:35:33 > 0:35:37At that point, you're really trying to hold form.
0:35:37 > 0:35:40That's what it's all about.
0:35:40 > 0:35:43And you're holding form because you're starting to lose momentum,
0:35:43 > 0:35:44you're starting to lose the power.
0:35:46 > 0:35:49You've only got enough power for, I think it was 90 metres
0:35:49 > 0:35:50I've been told, scientifically.
0:35:52 > 0:35:56You'd think when you have the fastest men on Earth,
0:35:56 > 0:36:01trained to a centimetre, and with years and years of preparation,
0:36:01 > 0:36:05with colossal physiological reservoirs,
0:36:05 > 0:36:07that they could run like the wind and last forever.
0:36:07 > 0:36:09And they can't.
0:36:11 > 0:36:15Because the demands are so great, the demand outstrips the supply.
0:36:17 > 0:36:22'Ladies and gentlemen, a salute to the nations of the 23rd Olympiad.'
0:36:22 > 0:36:24CROWD CHEERS
0:36:25 > 0:36:30There was one great sprinter in the 1980s who was the master finisher
0:36:30 > 0:36:32in the last 20 metres, where slowdown takes place.
0:36:35 > 0:36:40This was Carl Lewis, who paraded his athletic genius in front
0:36:40 > 0:36:45of spectators at the Los Angeles Coliseum during the 1984 Games.
0:36:45 > 0:36:48'The man to watch, Carl Lewis, second from the left.'
0:36:50 > 0:36:54Lewis showed them that sprinting could still be a thing of beauty.
0:36:54 > 0:36:57He was a reminder of a time before power running.
0:36:57 > 0:36:59STARTING PISTOL FIRES
0:37:08 > 0:37:11Carl Lewis was a superb runner in the sense that he was the classic,
0:37:11 > 0:37:15big, rangy, fluid, relaxed runner.
0:37:16 > 0:37:19Shoulders down, hips high, very fluid.
0:37:24 > 0:37:26He captured some of the spirit of the past
0:37:26 > 0:37:28where he seemed to be stroking the ground.
0:37:28 > 0:37:31And it didn't seem to be as much effort to him
0:37:31 > 0:37:33as to the people who were struggling around him.
0:37:35 > 0:37:39In my mind, the most perfect technical sprinter.
0:37:39 > 0:37:42And of course, he was bloody quick!
0:37:44 > 0:37:48But the reason Carl Lewis came first was that he could almost defy
0:37:48 > 0:37:52the law of sprinting, which states that as you reach the line
0:37:52 > 0:37:54you must slow down.
0:37:56 > 0:38:01On the records that we have, he's the one who lost the least
0:38:01 > 0:38:05of his top speed going to the final 20 of anybody, ever.
0:38:05 > 0:38:08It was his signature quality, that Carl would decelerate
0:38:08 > 0:38:11at a much slower rate than everyone else.
0:38:11 > 0:38:12'Set.'
0:38:13 > 0:38:15- STARTING PISTOL FIRES - 'This time they go.'
0:38:16 > 0:38:19Just about every race you watch with Carl Lewis,
0:38:19 > 0:38:23the first half of the race, it doesn't look like he's going to win the race, he's not in it,
0:38:23 > 0:38:26but then he's able to pull out the victory at the last,
0:38:26 > 0:38:30sometimes 20 and even ten metres at the end of the race.
0:38:30 > 0:38:32'Carl Lewis is showing his paces, and it's Graddy.
0:38:32 > 0:38:33'It's Carl Lewis and Graddy.'
0:38:33 > 0:38:37It actually looked like he was speeding up at the end of the race,
0:38:37 > 0:38:41but he's not speeding up, no-one is, everyone's decelerating at the end of the race.
0:38:41 > 0:38:44He was just so much more efficient in terms of his technique,
0:38:44 > 0:38:45he's a very clean runner,
0:38:45 > 0:38:48and so he was decelerating at a much slower rate.
0:38:48 > 0:38:50'Carl Lewis on the nearside.
0:38:50 > 0:38:53'And America may have got one, two, three.'
0:38:56 > 0:38:57CROWD CHEERS
0:38:57 > 0:39:02'What a celebration in this stadium, just listen to them. 92,000 people.'
0:39:04 > 0:39:09Lewis confirmed the 100 metres as THE event of the Olympics,
0:39:09 > 0:39:11its winner the star of the Games.
0:39:13 > 0:39:18Up until now, winning 100 metre gold made you famous, but not rich.
0:39:18 > 0:39:22Now in the newly commercialised sports culture of the '80s,
0:39:22 > 0:39:24Lewis was emphatically both.
0:39:25 > 0:39:30There is something about Carl Lewis that people both loathed and loved.
0:39:30 > 0:39:33They loved the fact that here was this man who was able to do
0:39:33 > 0:39:36what he was able to do with his body athletically,
0:39:36 > 0:39:41but they didn't like the fact that he was so narcissistic, I guess, about it,
0:39:41 > 0:39:43that he told you about it in so many ways.
0:39:44 > 0:39:47And I think that, you know, in our society at that time,
0:39:47 > 0:39:50that's where we were evolving into this kind of individualism.
0:39:50 > 0:39:53And he exemplifies that, especially in track and field.
0:39:57 > 0:40:02Lewis made one runner who won bronze in Los Angeles jealous
0:40:02 > 0:40:06and determined to depose him as champion by any means necessary.
0:40:24 > 0:40:27The Jamaican-born Ben Johnson ran for Canada
0:40:27 > 0:40:32and just scraped into the final of the 1988 Olympics.
0:40:33 > 0:40:36For that final, Johnson lined up against Lewis.
0:40:43 > 0:40:47My feeling of watching '88 was like everyone else on the planet.
0:40:48 > 0:40:50You saw something
0:40:50 > 0:40:53that was incredible. You saw something that was out of this world.
0:40:55 > 0:40:56STARTING PISTOL FIRES
0:40:56 > 0:40:59'The rest of them go first time and Ben Johnson got a brilliant start.
0:40:59 > 0:41:03'It's Johnson away and clear and Lewis is not going to catch him.
0:41:03 > 0:41:04'Johnson wins it.'
0:41:04 > 0:41:09And so Johnson ran the perfect race, from start to finish.
0:41:09 > 0:41:12'The world record has gone again.'
0:41:12 > 0:41:14No-one was really amazed by Ben's rocket start -
0:41:14 > 0:41:16he always got an incredible start.
0:41:17 > 0:41:19Out of the blocks.
0:41:20 > 0:41:23And no-one was amazed by the power that he was able to display
0:41:23 > 0:41:26in the first 30 to 35 metres with his stride phase.
0:41:28 > 0:41:29At maximum velocity.
0:41:32 > 0:41:33And as for the slowdown...
0:41:34 > 0:41:37The thing that was most shocking to me was that
0:41:37 > 0:41:41he never really decelerated like we expected to see him
0:41:41 > 0:41:44and we didn't see Carl able to make what always looked like
0:41:44 > 0:41:46that surge at the end.
0:41:48 > 0:41:51He never came back. That was... That was shocking.
0:41:53 > 0:41:55'The final of the Olympic 100 metres.'
0:41:55 > 0:41:57STARTING PISTOL FIRES
0:41:57 > 0:42:00'The rest of them go first time and Ben Johnson got a brilliant start.
0:42:00 > 0:42:04'It's Johnson away and clear and Lewis is not going to catch him.
0:42:04 > 0:42:07'Johnson wins it, Lewis second, Christie third
0:42:07 > 0:42:10'and the world record has gone again.'
0:42:10 > 0:42:14The explanation for Johnson's astonishing world record
0:42:14 > 0:42:18of 9.79 seconds came several days later.
0:42:18 > 0:42:21I've just been handed a piece of paper that, if it's right,
0:42:21 > 0:42:23it'll be the most dramatic story out of these Olympics
0:42:23 > 0:42:24or perhaps any others.
0:42:26 > 0:42:30I see Ben Johnson's yellow eyes. I don't know if you remember that.
0:42:30 > 0:42:32Can you remember his eyes were not white?
0:42:32 > 0:42:38The urine sample of Ben Johnson was found to contain the metabolites
0:42:38 > 0:42:42of a banned substance, namely stanozolol.
0:42:46 > 0:42:48Found guilty of taking illegal steroids,
0:42:48 > 0:42:51Johnson was stripped of his gold medal.
0:42:53 > 0:42:56I felt that the race had been hijacked,
0:42:56 > 0:42:59that it was no longer what it was supposed to be.
0:43:00 > 0:43:02It was a sham.
0:43:03 > 0:43:06It was a fake, a complete fraud.
0:43:10 > 0:43:13Until Seoul, the ambition to become the fastest man in the world
0:43:13 > 0:43:16had been a ruthless but noble pursuit.
0:43:20 > 0:43:21Now there was doubt and suspicion
0:43:21 > 0:43:24about the running of the greatest race on Earth.
0:43:32 > 0:43:36The game had changed. And the fact that it was the hundred,
0:43:36 > 0:43:40it was saying something about how important this race was.
0:43:41 > 0:43:44How important is 100 metres that you're going to take drugs
0:43:44 > 0:43:46in order to be successful,
0:43:46 > 0:43:48and think you can get away with it?
0:44:10 > 0:44:14And so to the last phase of the 100 metre Olympic final.
0:44:16 > 0:44:20Runners are metres from the line, a few strides from touching gold.
0:44:24 > 0:44:27Now comes the final challenge -
0:44:27 > 0:44:30to cross the line and finish first.
0:44:33 > 0:44:36If you're involved in one of these finishes
0:44:36 > 0:44:39where you and one, two, three, half a dozen other people
0:44:39 > 0:44:42are virtually all on the line together,
0:44:42 > 0:44:47then races are won and lost by how you present your body
0:44:47 > 0:44:49to the photo finish equipment.
0:44:51 > 0:44:55Runners get to the line and as they get there, they throw themselves forward.
0:44:55 > 0:44:57That's a matter of very precise timing.
0:45:04 > 0:45:08After 99 metres and all that effort, why lose now?
0:45:10 > 0:45:12The biggest mistake you can make is to try early.
0:45:12 > 0:45:14You see that happening all the time. A guy's head
0:45:14 > 0:45:17goes forward three or four metres away from the tape,
0:45:17 > 0:45:20and they've still got two or three strides to go and they've lost.
0:45:20 > 0:45:23'While Chambers got away well, so did Drummond on the nearside
0:45:23 > 0:45:25'and Chambers in the third lane going brilliantly.'
0:45:25 > 0:45:27At Sydney in 2000,
0:45:27 > 0:45:31the wrong finish cost British runner Dwain Chambers a medal.
0:45:31 > 0:45:34'And Chambers, I think, was in contention for the bronze,
0:45:34 > 0:45:36'I don't... We'll check on that in a moment.
0:45:36 > 0:45:39'And Chambers looked so strong. And in the final stages,
0:45:39 > 0:45:41'when Thompson comes on his shoulder, look, he dips here.
0:45:41 > 0:45:44'He dips there, he dips there. It's too early, it's far too early,
0:45:44 > 0:45:47'and he loses the bronze because of that early dip.'
0:45:47 > 0:45:51Some people have been known to get it absolutely right and won races
0:45:51 > 0:45:53that they might otherwise have been third in.
0:45:54 > 0:45:58The right finish guaranteed another British athlete his gold medal
0:45:58 > 0:46:00in Moscow, 20 years earlier.
0:46:02 > 0:46:03STARTING PISTOL FIRES
0:46:03 > 0:46:05'Wells got away well and also going well is Lara.
0:46:05 > 0:46:07'On the far side, Leonard and Aksinin.
0:46:07 > 0:46:09'But it's Wells on the nearside for Great Britain.
0:46:09 > 0:46:12'On the far side Leonard of Cuba, they can't see each other.'
0:46:12 > 0:46:18I knew it was very close and, as people know, I dipped for the line.
0:46:18 > 0:46:22'Wells driving for the line, looking anxious across there.
0:46:22 > 0:46:23'And did he get it or not?'
0:46:23 > 0:46:29I think the "don't" is to dip the chest ten yards before the line.
0:46:29 > 0:46:33The brain's probably thinking that, to dip at five yards.
0:46:33 > 0:46:35Possibly that's even too early.
0:46:35 > 0:46:40I think that the last stride before the line is when you dip.
0:46:40 > 0:46:42I may have dipped a stride and a half before.
0:46:42 > 0:46:46'It looked to me as if Wells was beaten into second place.'
0:46:46 > 0:46:49It's probably two inches, maybe three inches,
0:46:49 > 0:46:50but that's enough to lose.
0:46:50 > 0:46:52'It is very, very close.
0:46:52 > 0:46:56'Wells lunges at the line and takes the gold medal.'
0:46:56 > 0:46:58Whether it was too early or too late,
0:46:58 > 0:47:00it doesn't matter any more, does it?
0:47:03 > 0:47:07It had taken 60 years to run the first sub-ten-second 100 metres
0:47:07 > 0:47:09at the Olympics.
0:47:10 > 0:47:14By the '80s, every gold medal winner was running this
0:47:14 > 0:47:17and shaving winning times down by hundredths of seconds.
0:47:19 > 0:47:24In the last 20 years, it has been sprinters born in a small island
0:47:24 > 0:47:28in the Caribbean who have been running faster and faster.
0:47:34 > 0:47:37Jamaica has a population of just three million.
0:47:37 > 0:47:42But it has always had a history of athletic excellence.
0:47:42 > 0:47:44The Jamaicans have always had talent.
0:47:44 > 0:47:47They've always had some of the most talented sprinters and hurdlers
0:47:47 > 0:47:49in the world.
0:47:50 > 0:47:52From as far back as Donald Quarrie.
0:47:54 > 0:47:56Raymond Stewart in the '80s.
0:47:57 > 0:48:01And because of that, it's always been sort of the national sport.
0:48:04 > 0:48:06Jamaicans seem to have the right genetics.
0:48:06 > 0:48:09It is claimed the West African heritage of fast-twitch muscles
0:48:09 > 0:48:11provides the explosive power needed for sprinting.
0:48:11 > 0:48:14'They get away first time. Powell has got a very good start sorted,
0:48:14 > 0:48:17'So did Dix. But here comes Usain Bolt.'
0:48:20 > 0:48:23And Jamaicans bring the right kind of relaxation
0:48:23 > 0:48:25to the pressure of competition.
0:48:25 > 0:48:29Jamaican culture is very much a laid-back culture.
0:48:29 > 0:48:32I think it helps them, to some degree, on the track, you know.
0:48:32 > 0:48:34It's going to be what it's going to be,
0:48:34 > 0:48:36and we go out and just run the race.
0:48:39 > 0:48:40STARING PISTOL FIRES
0:48:40 > 0:48:42'This time they go...'
0:48:42 > 0:48:46In the '90s, gold medals went to athletes from the Jamaican diaspora.
0:48:46 > 0:48:50'Christie comes storming through. It's Linford Christie!'
0:48:50 > 0:48:52First in Barcelona in 1992,
0:48:52 > 0:48:55running for Great Britain, Linford Christie won gold.
0:48:56 > 0:49:00'And the British captain is the Olympic champion.'
0:49:00 > 0:49:03I've got this vision of Linford in the Union Jack
0:49:03 > 0:49:05when he won his medals.
0:49:05 > 0:49:09You know, representing Great Britain, proud, happy to do so.
0:49:09 > 0:49:10He's Jamaican.
0:49:13 > 0:49:16Four years later, Christie was defending his title in Atlanta.
0:49:17 > 0:49:19'Linford Christie.'
0:49:20 > 0:49:24In the 1996 final, he faced another runner born in Jamaica,
0:49:24 > 0:49:28but now running for Canada, Donovan Bailey.
0:49:28 > 0:49:31'Canada. Donovan Bailey.'
0:49:31 > 0:49:33CROWD CHEERS
0:49:33 > 0:49:35When you're between the blocks in the 100 metres,
0:49:35 > 0:49:38you're a different animal. And if you show up
0:49:38 > 0:49:42and you have no confidence, then you will not get a gold medal.
0:49:45 > 0:49:47There was sensation from the start.
0:49:47 > 0:49:49CROWD SIGHS
0:49:50 > 0:49:54Christie false started and was disqualified.
0:49:54 > 0:49:57'Linford Christie has been asked to leave the arena
0:49:57 > 0:50:02'and the champion walks away without being able to defend the title.
0:50:02 > 0:50:03'Two false starts.'
0:50:07 > 0:50:13When the race did begin, Donovan Bailey was lying fifth at 30 metres.
0:50:13 > 0:50:15The start was bad.
0:50:15 > 0:50:17I thought the gun kind of went quickly
0:50:17 > 0:50:19cos I didn't want to false start.
0:50:21 > 0:50:23With the finishing line rushing towards him,
0:50:23 > 0:50:30Bailey was burning up the track at 27mph, over 12 metres per second.
0:50:33 > 0:50:36It's really an out-of-body experience
0:50:36 > 0:50:38because, essentially, the world slows down.
0:50:38 > 0:50:41For the audience watching it,
0:50:41 > 0:50:44they see something and it's finished in seconds.
0:50:44 > 0:50:49But for myself, it's a week, it's a month, it's a year.
0:50:49 > 0:50:51- STARTING PISTOL FIRES - 'This time they get away.
0:50:51 > 0:50:54'Bolden got away well, also going well alongside him is Dennis Mitchell.
0:50:54 > 0:50:58'And it's Bolden and Bolden comes through.
0:50:58 > 0:51:01'And Bailey! Bailey wins it, Bolden second, Fredericks third.'
0:51:05 > 0:51:08I crossed the line and I just looked over at the clock.
0:51:08 > 0:51:11And I looked over at the clock and it said 9.8.
0:51:11 > 0:51:13And I have no idea whether it said 9.8 anything,
0:51:13 > 0:51:15I didn't know about the world record.
0:51:15 > 0:51:22'Bailey won it, 9.84. 9.84 is a new world record!'
0:51:27 > 0:51:31In the past, athletes left Jamaica to better themselves.
0:51:31 > 0:51:34But now the island is producing runners
0:51:34 > 0:51:37who are definitely not for export.
0:51:38 > 0:51:42Intensity of competition combines with skilled coaching
0:51:42 > 0:51:44to create winners.
0:51:46 > 0:51:52From a psychological standpoint, Jamaicans from Jamaica,
0:51:52 > 0:51:55representing Jamaica, know now that they can dominate.
0:51:55 > 0:51:58So, as soon as you do that, they're not going to let go.
0:51:58 > 0:52:00This is what lies behind
0:52:00 > 0:52:04the emergence of Jamaica's own home-grown superstar.
0:52:06 > 0:52:08STARTING PISTOL FIRES
0:52:08 > 0:52:10CROWD CHEERS
0:52:11 > 0:52:15Usain Bolt simply electrified the 2008 Olympics.
0:52:17 > 0:52:20Well, if I think of the Beijing final...
0:52:21 > 0:52:26I can hardly stop smiling, cos I do think it's wonderful.
0:52:26 > 0:52:28CROWD CHEERS
0:52:31 > 0:52:35In the 100 metre final in Beijing, Bolt showed a genius
0:52:35 > 0:52:38that allowed him both to obey...
0:52:38 > 0:52:41and then defy established laws of sprinting.
0:52:43 > 0:52:47Getting to his marks, Bolt played no mind games,
0:52:47 > 0:52:48just played to the cameras.
0:52:51 > 0:52:55He's a million miles away from what we expect from a sprinter
0:52:55 > 0:52:57traditionally, just before a big race.
0:52:57 > 0:52:59You know, traditionally, what would we see?
0:52:59 > 0:53:04Lots of focus, lots of nervous looks and glances.
0:53:04 > 0:53:05Usain does the opposite to that.
0:53:05 > 0:53:08And the reason he does the opposite,
0:53:08 > 0:53:11he has the ability and he knows that.
0:53:11 > 0:53:14That's a psychological edge over his opponents.
0:53:14 > 0:53:18"How can this guy, before the biggest race of all our lives,
0:53:18 > 0:53:20"be so calm and relaxed?"
0:53:24 > 0:53:25Bolt started badly.
0:53:25 > 0:53:29He was out of the blocks with the second slowest reaction time
0:53:29 > 0:53:32of precisely 0.165 seconds.
0:53:33 > 0:53:35STARTING PISTOL FIRES
0:53:35 > 0:53:37CROWD CHEERS
0:53:39 > 0:53:42And according to conventional wisdom, at six foot five
0:53:42 > 0:53:45Bolt is just too tall for a sprinter.
0:53:45 > 0:53:49At the very least, he should be at a disadvantage in the drive stage.
0:53:53 > 0:53:55His uniqueness comes from the fact that
0:53:55 > 0:53:57even though he's six foot five inches tall,
0:53:57 > 0:54:01he's able to run and start and run through that drive phase
0:54:01 > 0:54:04in the first 30 metres as if he's much shorter than he is.
0:54:04 > 0:54:06STARTING PISTOL FIRES
0:54:09 > 0:54:13But as the race progresses, Bolt's height becomes an advantage.
0:54:13 > 0:54:16It gives him his eight-foot stride
0:54:16 > 0:54:21that covers the 100 metres in 41 rather than the average 45 steps.
0:54:23 > 0:54:29He covers much more ground with each stride than anyone else does.
0:54:30 > 0:54:34So, at 30 metres into the race,
0:54:34 > 0:54:37they really haven't gotten much of an advantage over him.
0:54:37 > 0:54:38And that's a problem
0:54:38 > 0:54:44because once everyone gets up into their upright running and transition
0:54:44 > 0:54:46out of the drive phase and into their maximum velocity,
0:54:46 > 0:54:48now he's just going to run away from everyone
0:54:48 > 0:54:50because of the stride that he has.
0:54:58 > 0:55:01He's got a fast turnover of legs, very fast turnover,
0:55:01 > 0:55:03and a big range of movement.
0:55:05 > 0:55:08Approaching the finishing line, Bolt decelerated.
0:55:08 > 0:55:11But it wasn't his body forcing him to slow down.
0:55:14 > 0:55:18Usain Bolt knew he was winning easily,
0:55:18 > 0:55:20so it was he who decided to ease up.
0:55:20 > 0:55:25The sheer naivety of it,
0:55:25 > 0:55:29that his success even surprised him.
0:55:30 > 0:55:33So that he was overcome with this sort of emotional response,
0:55:33 > 0:55:35long before it was over.
0:55:39 > 0:55:41I think it was just extraordinary to watch.
0:55:44 > 0:55:46Even with this cheeky go-slow,
0:55:46 > 0:55:51he had won the final in a world record time of 9.69 seconds.
0:55:51 > 0:55:53I think I was live on air
0:55:53 > 0:55:56and just had one of those moments that you're talking
0:55:56 > 0:55:59and then the mic's on and I'm talking,
0:55:59 > 0:56:00but there's no words coming out.
0:56:00 > 0:56:03I'm like, "Wow, this is... This is special."
0:56:05 > 0:56:07- STARTING PISTOL FIRES - 'They get away first time.
0:56:07 > 0:56:10'Powell has got a very good start. So did Dix.
0:56:10 > 0:56:13'But here comes Usain Bolt. Usain Bolt streaking away from the field.
0:56:13 > 0:56:15'It's going to be gold for Jamaica.
0:56:15 > 0:56:19'That is superb! It's a new world record!
0:56:19 > 0:56:21'He has blown them all away!'
0:56:22 > 0:56:27He's one of those Jesse Owens, Carl Lewis type of sprinters
0:56:27 > 0:56:30that comes along and starts to kind of re-write the rules of,
0:56:30 > 0:56:33you know, what we previously thought was the way to do it.
0:56:34 > 0:56:38'Usain Bolt is the Olympic champion!
0:56:38 > 0:56:42'That was phenomenal and he goes ballistic.'
0:56:44 > 0:56:47A year after Beijing, Bolt was at it again,
0:56:47 > 0:56:49winning the World Championships
0:56:49 > 0:56:53and breaking his own world record with a time of 9.58 seconds.
0:56:56 > 0:56:58So, can Bolt run faster?
0:56:58 > 0:57:02If you go back and you look at 20 of his races
0:57:02 > 0:57:06and you pull out his best zero to ten, wherever that was,
0:57:06 > 0:57:09and his next 20 to 30, wherever that was,
0:57:09 > 0:57:12and you paste all his best segments together,
0:57:12 > 0:57:16you can argue that he can run sub-9.30.
0:57:17 > 0:57:22And can anybody run faster than Bolt? Even break the nine-second barrier?
0:57:22 > 0:57:25Or is there a speed limit?
0:57:28 > 0:57:30You know what, I don't know. I don't know.
0:57:30 > 0:57:32I don't know if it's possible.
0:57:39 > 0:57:40For over a hundred years,
0:57:40 > 0:57:42there has been an incredible journey in speed,
0:57:42 > 0:57:45from Tom Burke's 12 seconds in 1896
0:57:45 > 0:57:50to Usain Bolt's 9.58 seconds in 2009.
0:57:50 > 0:57:52If they could run against each other,
0:57:52 > 0:57:57the Jamaican would have a huge 20 metre winning margin.
0:58:00 > 0:58:05What the great sprinters of the past do prove is that the promise of gold
0:58:05 > 0:58:09will always drive athletes to run faster and faster.
0:58:09 > 0:58:11'Just look at Hayes go.
0:58:11 > 0:58:15'And the way Bob Hayes went, he should have left a trail of smoke.'
0:58:15 > 0:58:19'Inside the world record, Jim Hines takes the gold medal.'
0:58:19 > 0:58:21So in the future,
0:58:21 > 0:58:25surely anything might be possible in this most iconic of Olympic events.
0:58:27 > 0:58:30I start with the premise that everything can be broken.
0:58:41 > 0:58:44Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd