Montgomery finally erases Johnson's legacy
John Mehaffey, Reuters, Paris
Since one of the darkest days in Olympic history, the official world men's 100 meters record has been held by Carl Lewis, Leroy Burrell, Donovan Bailey and Maurice Greene.
But the 9.79 seconds clocked by a drugs-fueled Ben Johnson in the 1988 Seoul Olympic final, subsequently struck from the record books, had not been bettered in 14 years before Saturday when Tim Montgomery electrified a modest Grand Prix athletics final with a time of 9.78.
Montgomery's mark was one-hundredth of a second faster than Maurice Greene's 9.79 set three years ago in Athens. He is also now unquestionably the fastest man in history.
As the 27-year-old American contemplated his epochal race, he was asked if he had seen Johnson's run. Emphasizing how much time has elapsed since the biggest scandal in the history of the Olympics' core sport, Montgomery replied: "No, my first track meet I ever watched was in 1993."
One year later, Montgomery realized before anybody else that he had the potential to become a world record holder. Running on a grass track, Montgomery clocked 9.96 to win the 1994 Junior Colleges title, easily a world record for a junior.
"They said the track was three centimeters short but they measured in front of the 100 meters line," he said. "So then they ratified the world record and then they came back and said the wind gauge was at the side of the track and not in the middle of the field.
"So at 19 years old with no muscles, no nothing, no technique you run 9.96."
Montgomery raced against Burrell when he clocked a world record of 9.85 in Lausanne in 1994. He was in the field when Greene set his mark three years ago. In 1996 he watched from the stands as Canadian Bailey set his record of 9.84 at the Atlanta Olympics.
"I knew all along I could break it (the world record)," Montgomery said. "I ran six times under 10 seconds in '97. And I am telling you right now I trained three times a week.
"So I knew when I got to a program when I got to six times a week and put in the work that something big was going to happen. I didn't know when but I knew it would happen."
In May this year Montgomery confidently predicted he could feel a world record in the offing and everything fell into place on Saturday.
After Montgomery's training partner Marion Jones clocked 10.88 in the women's race, Montgomery felt he could run fast.
He ran in lane five, the same as Jones, and even used her starting blocks. He also anticipated the gun perfectly.
"I knew the gun was going to be kind of quick and I got out of the blocks quick," he said. "When the sound came, I went. Today was perfect, the whole run, the whole day."
Olympic double sprint champion Jones, unexpectedly upstaged on the day when she won the women's overall Grand Prix title for the second time, was delighted at her friend's success.
"I see him out there in Raleigh every day," she said. "I see him put in the time. I see him dissect his race over and over and over. He gets so excited when he gets something and he gets it right.
"All of a sudden everybody is really surprised when he has been around all along," she added. "He's overlooked so much. You always hear about Maurice and Dwain Chambers.
"You have somebody who has not gotten the respect they deserve and they have quietly crept their way up."