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Jamaica breaks the Penn Relays and Franklin Field record with a 37.90 victory (was 37.92 set in 2009 by Walter Dix, Travis Padgett, Shawn Crawford, Darvis Patton).
It was reported Usain Bolt’s Anchor Leg was 8.71 seconds.
Fastest 100 meter split ever recorded?
Sorry, no.
At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Asafa Powell’s split time was recorded at 8.70 seconds by the USTAF High Performance Registered Split Analysis team.
Other Anchor Splits
At the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, Asafa Powell’s anchor split was 8.84 seconds.
Carl Lewis’ anchor leg at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics was 8.85 en route to a World Record of 37.40 seconds.
“Bullet” Bob Hayes recorded a 8.5 second (hand time) 4×100 meter anchor relay leg at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Converted to FAT, that translates to 8.74 seconds.
Partial results here…
USA vs. the World Men 4×100 (full results here)
Jamaica Gold 37.90 (Mario Forsythe, Yohan Blake, Marvin Anderson, Usain Bolt) - USA Blue 38.33 (Walter Dix, Mike Rodgers, Shawn Crawford, Ivory Williams)
- USA Red 38.50 (Ryan Bailey, Travis Padgett, Doc Patton, Rae Edwards)
Jamaica Gold 37.90 (Mario Forsythe, Yohan Blake, Marvin Anderson, Usain Bolt) 
USA Blue 38.33 (Walter Dix, Mike Rodgers, Shawn Crawford, Ivory Williams) 
USA Red 38.50 (Ryan Bailey, Travis Padgett, Doc Patton, Rae Edwards)
USA vs. the World Women 4×100 (full results here)
- USA Blue 42.74 (Lisa Barber, Allyson Felix, Mikele Barber, Carmelita Jeter)
- Jamaica 42.94 (Simone Facey, Kerron Stewart, Sherone Simpson, Shelly-Ann Fraser)
- USA Red 43.69 (Tiffany Ofili, Virginia Crawford, Rachelle Boone-Smith, Alexandria Anderson)
Jamaica 42.94 (Simone Facey, Kerron Stewart, Sherone Simpson, Shelly-Ann Fraser) Usain Bolt Penn Relays Video
UPDATE: Check back on this site in a few hours for the latest Video of Usain Bolt at the Penn Relays
Jimson Lee
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Thanks PJ for this data:
8.73 Asafa POWELL JAM WC Berlin 22 Aug 09
8.79 Usain BOLT JAM Penn Philadelphia 24 Apr 10
8.85 Carl LEWIS USA OG Barcelona 8 Aug 92
8.92 Leroy BURRELL USA WC Stuttgart 21 Aug 93
8.94 Donovan BAILEY CAN WC Athina 10 Aug 97
8.94 Richard THOMPSON TRI WC Berlin 22 Aug 09
8.95 Linford CHRISTIE GBR OG Seoul 1 Oct 88
8.98 Dennis MITCHELL USA OG Atlanta 2 Aug 96
9.00 Bryan BARNETT CAN WC Berlin 22 Aug 09
9.01 Vladimir KRYLOV URS WC Roma 6 Sep 87
* Electronic timing only (source : Omega, Official Reports and in-situ Biomechanical Analysis) *
Oh, about the “adjustment” for Bullet Bob Hayes’s 8.5 second anchor leg on a cinder track, you don’t add .24 seconds. Why?, because the frames of the footage can be frozen and the exact time can be determined. Thus, there is no need to account for human reaction time and inaccuracy. BTW, I hand-timed the video and his anchor leg was 8.4 seconds. Whatever his true leg segment was, it could be determined by frame analysis. That said, I believe that his anchor leg some 46 years ago is still the fastest ever run by any human.