US sprinter Michael Norman (© Getty Images)
Michael Norman stormed to a world-leading 9.86 100m victory at a small meeting in Ft Worth, Texas, on Monday (20).
With the performance, Norman, known more as a 400m sprinter, shattered his previous 100m personal best of 10.27 he set in 2016 when he was still in high school. It was also Norman's first 100m race since.
"After four long years I finally got to run the 100m," Norman said in a post on Twitter.
A better view of Michael Norman’s world-leading 100m time of 9.86 (+1.6) run today pic.twitter.com/nidxb8yeJl
— USC Track & Field (@USC_Track_Field) July 20, 2020
The performance makes Norman, 22, just the second man in history to run sub-10 for 100m, sub-20 for 200m and sub-44 for 400m, joining Olympic 400m champion Wayde van Niekerk in that exclusive club. Last year, Norman sped 19.70 to win at the Rome Diamond League meeting on 6 June. Less than two months earlier, he clocked 43.45 at a race in Torrance, California. Norman arrived in Doha as a favourite for the 400m title at last year’s World Championships, but an injury knocked him out in the semi-finals.
Rai Benjamin, Norman’s roommate and training partner, clocked 10.03, also a massive personal best for the world 400m hurdles silver medallist. Benjamin, 22, last ran a 100m race in March 2017, clocking a wind-assisted 10.40.
"Might just switch events," he joked on Twitter.
Benjamin also has sub-20 200m credentials, having run 19.99 in 2018. With 46.98, Benjamin is the third fastest man in history in the 400m hurdles.
Bob Ramsak for World Athletics
