Teenager Yoshihide Kiryu now knows the sensation of running the men's 100 meters in under 10 seconds — too bad, this time it was wind assisted.
The 19-year-old Kiryu clocked 9.87 to win the men's invitational sprint at the Texas Relays on Saturday although his time was deemed invalid for official purposes as the wind at his back (3.3 meters per second) exceeded the allowable limit of 2.0 meters per second.
According to the IAAF athletics governing body, it is the fastest-ever electronically recorded performance by an Asian sprinter under any conditions.
"It was wind assisted but I am glad I went under 10 seconds for the first time," said Kiryu, who holds the second-fastest Japanese record of 10.01.
"I had a good feeling at the start. At 50 meters I could feel my speed pick up and I was able to run more relaxed than usual. It would have been great if it was official, but I got the sensation of running a sub-10."
Incidentally, Kiryu's countrymen Yoshitaka Ito and Koji Ito, who owns the Japanese national record of 10.00, ran wind-assisted times of 9.8 (9.3 meters per second) and 9.9 (1.6 meters per second) on manual clocks in 1995 and 1999, respectively.