Douglas pulls a Beamon at 100
Dutch master Troy Douglas, 40, put the masters record in the 100-meter dash into outer space Saturday at a meet in Leiden, Holland, clocking 10.29 with a just-legal wind of 1.9 mps. He crushed his own world M40 record of 10.42 set six days earlier in Hengelo. Until Troy’s debut as a master, the world M40 record was 10.61 by Switzerland’s Stefan Burkart in July 2000. The fastest before him was 10.6 (hand-time) by Eddie Hart in 1989.
The listed WMA world M40 record still stands at 10.84 by Erik Oostweegel of the Netherlands in 2000.
According to WMA’s Age-Graded Tables (the latest version of which isn’t yet available), a 10.29 at age 40 is equivalent to a 9.82 for open class.
Troy, however, fell just short of the IAAF “B” standard for qualifying for the Paris World Championships. The “B” standard is 10.28. (The “A” standard is 10.21.) He has met the 200 “B” standard already, though, with his 20.72 at Mexico City. He’s also a likely member of Holland’s 400-meter relay team.
Give him time. He could be the first masters-age sprinter in a WCs or Olympics.
One Response
First the admirable Leonore McDaniels is Jessie Owens warmed over, now a still-in-shape, never retired 40-yr. old gets compared to Bob Beamon, just for shaving 3/10ths off the 100m mark. Face it, not that many sprinters stay with it, unlike an Al Oerter, whose Discus throws well over 200 ft. as a true Master outshine any semi-competitive (Dutch Champion?) 10.3-ish sprint time.
Maybe skip the hyperbole and just continue to report the facts as you do so well.
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