A dirt track is of course not worth half-a-second, but I'd be surprised if Bob wasn't a 9.8 calibre athlete - possibly even 9.7. Bob vs a Maurice Greene would have been a tasty match-up for sure. You do have to take into account the calibre of competition he's pulling away from, however. 9.5 calibre he certainly is not even if he was 20 years ahead of his time.
And "8.6" is an old wives tale imo. Some say he ran 8.6, statisticians claim 9.0 with many between. Crazy fast for the 60s though!
10.05 lane 1(loose dirt)lane had to be racked before start let off on last 2 strides if not even on this DIRT track he would've been under 10.0sec and he was just 21 yrs old in this race and he ran track as a "side sport" after football season
you know when you watch this there is no doubt in my mind, even on this shit track that he would have run under 10.0 if he didn't ease up on his last 2 strides !
@use2slam2 'Sick' is not the word that i would have chosen to describe Mr Hayes' performance in the 4 x 100 metres relay final at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 1964.
Hines in 68-modern track AND altitude 9.95. i would bet if hayes ran how he ran that 100m final and had altitude but especially that modern track under his feet=OMG!!!
I believe the video was a kinescope from NBC's broadcast, recorded in the 'States, after it was fed either live or on tape by the then-newly-launched Syncom 3 satellite.
This may explain the somewhat poor video quality.
funny all these Chris Johnson fans and Desean Jackson fans stating how fast they are
take a look at 2nd place Cuba's Enrique Figueroa he ran 10.2 and on this peice of shit dirt
track look by how much he was beaten by hayes on this same shit dirt track and in an even shittier chewed up lane. Johnson's best 100m is 10.34(and on todays fast modern surface tracks)hayes in his prime would EMBARRESS Jobnhson so bad and i mean
@nassah2010 I bet he wasn't! In my view, Bob Hayes was the most naturally talented sprinter that has ever lived (with one notable exception: the remarkable Caribbean sprinter, Usain Bolt).
If it were possible to transport Mr Bolt back in time to the year 1964, and get him to compete against Mr Hayes in a 100 metres sprint, I think that the 6 foot 5" Jamaican would win ... but I cannot be certain.
What one can be certain of is that "Bullet" Bob Hayes was a phenomenal sprinter, in his prime
@joshuadelapenha That may be a bit of an exaggeration, given that even the remarkable Usain Bolt (surely at least the equal of Bob Hayes in terms of natural sprinting talent) has a personal best of 9.58 seconds.
Having said that, I do believe that, had Hayes been born in 1982 - not 1942 - he would have run the 100 metres in 9.70 seconds (or maybe slightly faster).
"Bullet" Bob was a phenomenal sprinter, by any standards. God rest his soul.
definitely fastest NFL player ever, and that includes modern players. And he would not have been a 40 runner, he was a top end speedster. His anchor leg in the 4x100 relay is still regarded as the fastest a man has run. At WOT speed , nooone was his equal. would have left D Green behind.
To this day, no NFL player has run 100 meters faster than Bob ran it in this race. And look at his start. It's terrible. Dude could fly. Today he'd definitely be running Tyson Gay times.
youtube "1966 cowboys at browns 2-2" at 6:20 and replay at 6:50 watch hayes think a play is over and start walking across the feild then he sees a DB intercepted the ball, then from a good 20 yards back he flys by everybody and runs down the DB
in no time.darrell green, ron brown both 10.08 on modern synthetic tracks, hayes 10.05 46yrs ago on a wet loose dirt( YES DIRT) track. staubach said in an interveiw 2 yrs ago if hayes was around now in his prime he'd be the fastest
Cuba's figueroa was 2nd in a time of 10.2, Deion Sanders BEST 100m ever was 10.24 and look at by how much Hayes left the Cuban behind not to mention Sanders ran his 10.24 on a fast modern track and here Hyes not even being pressed ran 10.05 on D-I-R-T !!! Chris Johnson, Desean Jackson, etc. would get completely SMOKED by Hayes in his prime, hell even Darrall Green said at his hall of fame interview that he was the fastest player in the league ever-AFTER Bob Hayes !!!
anybody out there have a clip from back in 73-74 of a CBS special called CBS PRO
FOOTBALL OLYMPIAD. it had differant compititions for passing,punting,etc. and had a 60 yd dash on grass with hayes age 31 and looking chunky running against john gilliam,mercury morris,herb mul-key,issac curtis etc. hayes beat these guys SO bad it wasn't even close ! anyone remember ?
@puljacina Yup I agree. More than any other sprinter than I've ever seen on archival footage, The Bullet destroyed the track, pulverizing the surface. His power was amazing....
@puljacina He would be killing ppl. I read an article on how he trained. He would find a hill, start running on the flat part and as he ascended, he tried to increase his power and speed. He did this repeatedly and I think he had weights in his hand and pumped his arms as he ran. He was amazing....
:36-:42 amazing come from behind win. You won't see anyone do that these days from that far behind. He was litterally in like sixth place!!! That top seepd was sick.
If you look at the race from the begininning he slips out of the blocks at the start. I agree with all of you, two great athletes and two great people.
On 2010 4x100 Bolt did 8,79 and on 1964 4x100 Hayes did 8,90 But Bolt did 4,19 on the last 50 meters instead Hayes did last 50 meters in 3,6-3,7, like an ET.
So, only this little-big thing, with the all the cronomethers, would say and shout: Hayes was really a bullet, and you didn't see it. But this is just what I think.
On 2010 4x100 Bolt did 8,79 and on 1964 4x100 Hayes did 8,90 But Bolt did 4,19 on the last 50 meters instead Hayes did last 50 meters in 3,6-3,7, like an ET.
So, only this little-big thing, with the all the cronomethers, would say and cry: Hayes was really a bullet, and you didnt see it. But this I just what I think.
Bolt 2010 4x100 is 8,79, Hayes 1964 4x100 was 8,90, and Hayes, cause cinder track, loses 0,6-0,7 seconds only in the first 50 meters. Hayes could run his practice in 9,7 and his 10.06 today is considered 9,8-9,9. This things would say: "Maybe, probably, "for sure", Hayes it was really a bullet.
Moreover Bolt, on 2010 4x100 last 50 meters, does 4,19 ... Hayes did 3,6-3,7.
Bolt 2010 4x100 is 8,79, Hayes 1964 4x100 was 8,90, and Hayes, cause cinder track, loses 0,6-0,7 seconds only in the first 50 meters. Hayes could run his practice in 9,7 and his 10.06 today is considered 9,8-9,9. This things would say: "Maybe, probably, for sure, Hayes he was really a bullet,
Bolt 2010 4x100 is 8,79, Hayes 1964 4x100 was 8,90, and Hayes, cause cinder track, loses 0,6-0,7 seconds only in the first 50 meters. Hayes could run his practice in 9,7 and his 10.06 today is considered 9,8-9,9. This things would say: "Maybe, probably, Hayes it was really a bullet.
cuba's enrique figeuroa took second in 10.2, on this shitting cinder track look at by how much hayes beat him by. deion sanders best 100m was 10.24 ON MODERN SURFACE TRACK. if hayes in his prime raced deion in his prime dieon would have got completely S-M-O-K-E-D !!!!
cont. We were also forced to take salt tablets and weren't allowed to drink water during practice. If any coach used these tactics today,he would be fired and facing a lawsuit.
Cool, thanks for your insight and experience. That's crazy you weren't allowed to lift at all! I guess if you look at most athletes from that era, most were not very musclebound.
1. Bob's was hand-timed, based on 100 YARDS, and OUTSIDE of the zone. 2. The fastest split ever recorded was Carl Lewis's, and IT was timed with video.
1. Hayes' Tokyo time wasn't based on 100 yards at all, it was for 100m. In 1963 he was timed in a flying 100 yards, that was a separate ocassion
2. Carl's fastest anchor leg (that was recorded) was 8.85 from Barcelona, Asafa has the fastest now with 8.70 from Beijing (backed it up with an 8.73 from last year's World Championships in Berlin)
no that was 100m his 100yards was a 9.1 his 60y which is 55m was 5.9 so he is fast and had a college time of a 9.95 and they rounded that up because they said back then they didnt wont a black man to be the first to run under 10 secs so they dq him so yeah
I am very suspicious of any track and field records set after the early 70's. I love the sport,but it's also very dirty when it comes to cheating with drugs. Bolt may be clean,but you can't say it with 100% accuracy
I've heard rumors from athletes that competed in the 70s that some big athletes in the 60s also used PEDs. I like to think everyone is clean until proven guilty, but it's not the case.
That is very true Thomas. I've also read stories about steroids being used in the early 60's,but they were confined to the weightlifting community mainly. The prevailing thought at the time was building muscle caused the body to become musclebound and took away from the atletes speed and quickness. That old wives tale was disproved starting in the early 80's. Just to give an example of how things change, I played high school baseball in the 1970's. Our players weren't allowed to lift weights.
Hayes was a beast....10.06 45 years ago on cinder track...I admire Bolt but he is not the only or even the first sprinter to do amazing things and won't be the last either
Most of you don't know how easy modern PED's are to hide. Testing now doesn't mean much...Bolt is about as clean as all the other enhanced sprinters now. I think only Spearman may be natural. Bolt's weird personal reduction of nearly a second plus in the 200 and 2/3 second in the 100 are not physically possible, either in the short or long haul. Sad.
Bolt was running sub 20 before he was a junior. From the time he was 17 to 24, I bet Bolt has improved as much, or less, than any other world class sprinter. He has improved 1 second in the 200m since he was 16. That's 8 years! And it's hard to gauge his 100m improvement because he has only been running it for two and a half years. He basically started the event at 9.76.
@NOPN Yes the time Bob Hayes ran on the chewed-up cinder track with borrowed spikes in cotton shorts and singlet would be the equivalent to running a 9.6 or 9.7 on a Mondo track... so Bob Hayes ability is probably equivalent to Usain Bolt's.
@Jakethesnake991 not only that,the shoes hayes wore in the 100 meters were borrowed from a teammate. He woke up late that morning and had to rush to the track and couldn't find his regular ones
cmon the tech these runners have now is wayyyy better jsut the surface they run on is better and from a standing start he ran a 8.9 last leg of the 4x100
In the Tokyo Olimpic Games 4x100 relay, Bob Hayes passed the "line-start" of the last 100 meters at 30"5-30"6 (see the video: at 30"4 he had not yet the baton in the hand) and he finished in 39"06: so he runned his fliyng start 100 m between 8"56 and 8"46 (electronic time!) with vintage shoes and on a cinder track. Nobody has runned so fast fliyng start 100 m (Powell 8"74 in Bejing Olimpcs games is the second better).
I am very peased to see all of you track enthusiasts with some tenure giving your thoughts about bob hayes.I have no doubt in my mind Bob Hayes in his prime was faster than anyone ever given what he had to work with...his overdrive was superior to all...thank you Bobby
On a modern surface and with a pair of high tech shoes, Hayes would have been a 9:96! Where I would love to have seen him was in Mexico City or Colorado Springs.
NOPN, Yep, that's the run that finally matched the evolution of time. Bolt was just astounding! The criticism had been that the 100 M Wr should be sub 9:6 by now. Well low and behold, you finally have it...For someone like him (in height) to have been clear of Gay at the 20 meter mark was amazing, just amazing!!! Hats off to him...
Hayes always had an extra 'gear' when he needed it. It shows best when he is challenged, like being WAY behind in the 4x at tokyo. We had seats 11 rows up on the 45 behind the cowboy bench at the cotton bowl and I saw him use that gear to humiliate defensive backs time and again. And do not forget, he won the 100 at tokyo using one borrowed shoe on the inside lane of a cinder track. Bolt is by far the best I have seen since Hayes, but Bob wins when he hits overdrive.
Yeah its pretty hard to tell, but some old timers where giving me shit when Bolt ran his 9.69 (because I said he could give Bob a good challenge lol)
By the looks of it Bolt would be right there with Hayes if we rewind to the 60's, and Hayes would be running close to Bolt if he had the same training/equiptment as Bolt
@NOPN I've run in both conditions over 40 years of competing, and this is how I would adjust (with the help of sports science). Cinder track: 0.15 slower. Old uniforms: 0.04 slower. Old, long spikes with smooth leather bottoms: 0.10 slower. That would get Hayes to 9.71. Better, smarter training and better nutrition? Would that get him another 0.13 seconds? I just don't know. Hayes was never really pushed, so maybe.
Decades ago, Dad took me to Sears one evening in Ft. Worth, Tx because Bob was going to be there. He signed a picture for me and then dad whipped out volume T from the Encylopedia and turned to Track & Field. He showed Bob a picture of himself at the Olympics and Bob didnt even know he was in there!! He took the book from dad and read the paragraphs, and said, "Well, I'll be!" He then signed it and we went home. Dad still has the book and everytime I visit, I relive that evening with Bullet.
@THB79 Hey, if you are referring to the time he came to that strip mall in ft. worth called seminary south, I was there too. I was a young kid but i'll always remember how gracious and humble he was. I'll always fell that he is the fastest man to ever live!!
here's something interesting. Bob Hayes ran 8.74 electronic (converted from an 8.5 hand timed) final leg at the 1964 olympics. Asafa Powell ran 8.70 at Bieijing. The first 100m split faster than Hayes since 1964. I still believe that the cinder track and probable use of anabolic agents AT LEAST cancel each other out. The performances just 4 years later were better again..surpassing Bob's.
I've often wondered who the last "clean" winner of the Olympic 100 was. When did roids and other substances begin to be used? Maybe Bullet Bob was the last guy to do it on talent alone.
steroids were being well used in the late 1950s. in the late 50s to early 60s they became a standard element of any track athlete's training. ive actually borrowed books from the library where the doses were explained as part of the routine. By 1964 you can bet only the ill informed countries werent using them. prior to that, testosterone was being used even as far back as the 191Xs...albeit in gross form. The last one to win without assistance would be Usain Bolt. retro testing has fixed it.
A cinder track was basically a bed of fine gravel - or many times, dirt. The track had to be graded to get it level. The lane lines were "drawn" in chalk. If it rained, it turned to mud and ruts formed wherever the water ran off. Most had cement curbs so you could break an ankle if stepped out of lane one or lane eight.
Bullet Bob Hayes was, by far, the fastest man on earth. If any of you younger people have ever tried running on a cinder track instead of the all-weather surfaces they use today, wearing baggy short and a regular muscle t-shirt instead of the skin-tight, streamlined outfits the sprinters these days use, then you could better understand how fast Bob Hayes really was....even by today's standards.
Contradulations on making the NFL Hall of Fame, Bob "Bullet" Hayes. R.I.P.
i'm 52 do any of you remember back in 72' CBS put on a show "pro football olympiad" they had a 60 yd dash on grass and the players had to also carry the football. morris,curtis,gilliam,mul-key,to name a few ran against hayes. he totally smoked everybody
and cliked off if remember a 6.2-.3(on grass and with a football under his arm.
The only difference between old time athletes and today's athletes are the drugs, don't kid yourself. Humans haven't magically "evolved" over the past 100 years, drugs have.
You know what I love most about this clip? It's Bullet Bob running thru the finish line at full speed (0:12). No looking around to see where the competition is. No posing for the cameras. Just running the race like it was meant to be run.
Some facts have been mixed up with hearsay, opinion, excitement, etc. First, Hayes was clocked at 7.8 for a flying 100yd in a relay, the Guinness Book of Records (one of the 1960s editions) remarks this. Secondly, Hayes' relay leg was given estimates from 8.6 to 8.9 all hand-timed, no eletronic. People have got to stop exaggerating the margins that Hayes made up. Its simple, he got the baton 3m behind the field and won by 3m (3.3yd).
@oznapoli You are right when you say that Bob Hayes was a great sprinter (obviously). But you are way off the mark when you say that he was 26 years of age when he became the Olympic 100 metres sprint champion in November 1964. In actual fact, he was five years younger than that.
As far as I know, the only sprinter under 21 years of age to have won the 100 metres sprint title at the Olympic Games was Bobby Joe Morrow, in 1956. He was 20 years of age at the time.
Don't know why you got a thumbs down. You're perfectly correct that Hayes was just 21 when he took the title. He would turn 22 in December of 1964. People go on as if Hayes just turned up at track and ran not the case. He trained seriously for track as much as he did football.
Bob Hayes was an amateur sprinter who retired from track and field at age 20 - today that would be considered an age as just beginning a professional career. At age 14 ( yes - 14 ) he ran the 100 yards in 9.6 seconds ( that equates to approx 10.5 for the 100 metres ). He ran that final leg in the Tokyo relay in 8.5 seconds - not bad for a 20 year old amateur athlete. It was no fluke either as he'd been timed running the 100 yards in 7.8 seconds while anchoring a relay.
I didn't know anything about Bob Hayes until Mike & Mike talked about him this morning or yesterday morning. He hawked down 4 runners and then won by 20-30 yards. DAMN!
Very well put Entropy...NOPN...obviously you do not understand the training of today, the diet, the legal suppl,ements as well as the illegal...and furthermore...the tracks of today. Hayes ran the 100 meters on a cinder track in which his lane was chewed up from the distance race run on it the day before.
Did you even see the 100m final in Beijing? I was a Hayes believer as well but Bolt just ran freakin 9.6 easing up! That is absolutely amazing, Hayes had his time...Bolt is now the fastest without question
NOPN...A Bob Hayes would have beaten any man...My Grand father knew Bob Hayes....and i believe him when he told me...If Bob had the technology these guys have today..Hayes would have lowered the record so low that no human would have even came close...He ran 10 flat on a cinder track with someone else's shoes on...Those weren't even his shoes..This man still to this day has the fastest 100 meter split ever..Some say he ran it as low as 8.2 seconds..Bolt would have never been able to be Hayes.
I completely agree,except If bob was to compete in today's standards he would be roughly on par with Usain Bolt instead of total domination, also his 100m split was handtimed as low as 8.5 not 8.2 but still better than the fastest electronic time of all time set by Asafa powell during beijing
The difference in cinder vs. tartan is alone enough to give Hayes the advantage. The coefficient of friction on tartan vs. cinder is not even close. Then there's the shoes. In 1964, Olympic spikes weighed in around135 grams. Try 93 grams today. I ran track in the late 70's when tracks were changing to tartan. A tartan track would change a 200m time from 24 flat to 22.8. Technology makes a huge difference. Bob all day long. Bolt would ease up only -because it would be Bob by 1-2m.
If Bob Hayes had today's sports technology in his era, todays speedsters would only see his back. Bullet also deserves the HOF, he changed the game during an era when teams ran the ball. His prescence on the field made the Cowboys a superb rushing team. Often he out ran the throw and had to come back to make a catch! He also was a threat as punt returner. I'm sure Don Meridith and Roger Staubach if they could vote would elect him.
Don't know much about his football career, but he's remembered in the UK as THE most convincing Olympic 100m champion of the modern era. He could really shift. The relay leg defies belief.
Bob Hayes. I'm not as old as some of you old school 1964 Tokyo guys but I have to admit. 10.06 on a cinder track is huge. If anyone here has run on these old tracks, like dirt, and also run on new ones, all weather, you can tell the difference. Finally, his 8.6 was hand timed but electronically timed at 8.9. Finally, besides Hayes being without the benefit of modern technology, he was also flat footed / pigeon toed. Pretty crazy if you ask me.
I think his technique is not that bad. He has low heel recovery and nice turn over just like Asafa Powell. I am convinced that his mechanics are good, otherwise you can't run that fast on a cinder track.
You know who reminds me of Bob Hayes? Donovan Bailey. Bailey runs a lot like Hayes with that all-too-familiar "rocky run," and they both had ridiculous top-end speed.
To All you youngsters. This guy ran on a cinder track ,in lane 1(after the 20 km walk). As for football speed. Keep in mind that he still hold several Dallas Cowboy Records and he did that in a 14 game season. Only Ben Johnson of Canada would've come lose and Ben was on roids. I saw both live trust me nothing out there could catch him even today. all I have to say is no one has run 8.6 since then and he did that on cinder.
OK, I'll admit he is fast but he should NOT be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He isn't even the greatest receiver in Dallas Cowboys history let alone NFL history. I'm not a Cowboys fan but I know that Michael Irvin is WAY better than Bob Hayes.
HurricaneB, since when do u hav to b the best position in a centains teams history to b in the hall of fame??? so wut u r saying is that u think steve young shouldnt b in the hall becuz joe m was better than him???
No, Steve Young is in the Hall of Fame as he should be. Steve Young and Joe Montana are two of the greatest QB's ever. Bob Hayes wasn't even thought of as the best at his position. People say that some other WR's that were better than Bob Hayes shouldn't be in the HOF. Bob Hayes is good but not great.
His speed and physical talent that made him the most dangerous receiver at the time led to the creation of zone defenses...I believe for one person to change what the defense does should be in the HOF...He pretty much shaped football a bit by himself.
Your such an idiot man it's not even funny. You don't don't anything about Bob Hayes so let me clue you in. He revolutionized the wide receiever position because of his speed forcing NFL teams to create the zone defense because he could not be stopped, to this day he still owns several Cowboy receiving records for touchdowns and others, he did all this in just 14 games a season, and if Steve Young could get in the HOF with one ring Bob Hayes should have been in 20 years ago.
Don't be a moron dude. Steve Young holds serveral NFL records as well as a Super Bowl ring but I'm not talking about Steve Young. A lot of people say that certain WR's that were better than Bob Hayes shouldn't be in the HOF and they all hold records as well.
"Bullet" Bob Hayes would be in the football Hall of Fame, except for certain things that happened off the field...on playing ability, he should be in the HOF...
Lawrence Taylor had more off-the-field problems than Bullet Bob Hayes. LT got in the Hall of Fame first-ballot, while Bullet Bob continues to get screwed based solely on his off-the-field problems. DO I SMELL A DOUBLE STANDARD HERE?!
Bullet Bob is once again a Senior candidate. Let's hope the double standard ends this time around!
@HurricaneBradshaw I am a Brit, and (like most of my fellow 'limeys') I am dead ignorant about American football ... but I will take your word for it that Michael Irvin is better at that sport than Bob Hayes ever was.
That said, Bob Hayes was WAY better at athletics than Michael Irvin.
Jocelyn Delecour, France's last leg runner, famously said to Paul Drayton before the relay final that "you can't win, all you have is Bob Hayes." Drayton was able to reply, after the race "all you need..."
By the way, I just checked, and Hayes ran a windaided 9.91 semi, the first time anyone broke 10.0 auto-timed.
Why is Bullet Bob Hayes in Lane 1 in the 100M finals? Don't they normally award the best lanes (4 &5) to the sprinters who had the best times during the semifinals? I'm assuming Hayes had the best times in the semies.
He was the fastest human on earth and when drafted by the Cowboys, the other NFL teams had to create a new defense to cover him. It was named the "Zone defense" and even with his statistics he is NOT IN THE NFL HALL OF FAME!!!!!!! For shame HOF voters!!!!
Even in this steroid era, players have gotten bigger but the top end speed hasn't really been surpassed for skill positions like WRs. Guys like Gault, Deion, Bo Jackson, and D. Green are still far faster then what we see today and that was over 20 years ago. LBs and DL are faster but the skill positions seem to be maxed out, its rare even in the combine to see anyone break 4.2, most can't break 4.3.
no he wouldnbt he would get beat by .23 seconds and actually he would smoke evryone else beacsue the technologyt we have now is alot better than the technology then
There's a couple of things you haven't considered about Bob's ability. He was running on a cinder track, he was only 21 years old and only trained after the football season was over. His anchor leg was the fastest ever run and has not been beaten by the guys from today, especially Asafa. I believe the 2nd fastest anchor leg was Carl Lewis at 8.9 and change. That in itself speaks for his speed compared to today's sprinters.
Also, that day, he left one of his shoes in his room and had to borrow a size 10 left shoe from a teammate (Tommy Farrell). The cinder track was also a little chewed up from the 10K runners the day before.
All of that and he still blew everyone away! Amazing.
If Bob Hayes was a young track star today he would still be the world's fastest human, no doubt about it. He would be a recipient of current track training techniques. The guy played football and ran track in the spring
Bob Hayes is and was the fastest human to ever live...No one could beat hayes. If he ran on the same track that they have today he would run it in 8 seconds no human can achieve that...It's a shame that he never made it into the NFL hall of fame.
Here is were I scare all of you... On that anchor leg race in 64... Hayes was running with a pulled hamstring which was aggravated by his 100 run... Now imagine if he had been healthy that day...
Thank you for sharing this Bob Hayes moment. I went to the Cowboy games back in the 60's in Dallas and the guy could put on a terrific show. He could outrun anybody that was chasing him!
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A dirt track is of course not worth half-a-second, but I'd be surprised if Bob wasn't a 9.8 calibre athlete - possibly even 9.7. Bob vs a Maurice Greene would have been a tasty match-up for sure. You do have to take into account the calibre of competition he's pulling away from, however. 9.5 calibre he certainly is not even if he was 20 years ahead of his time.
And "8.6" is an old wives tale imo. Some say he ran 8.6, statisticians claim 9.0 with many between. Crazy fast for the 60s though!
danhar2688 4 months ago
Comment removed
danhar2688 4 months ago
10.05 lane 1(loose dirt)lane had to be racked before start let off on last 2 strides if not even on this DIRT track he would've been under 10.0sec and he was just 21 yrs old in this race and he ran track as a "side sport" after football season
use2slam2 4 months ago
@use2slam2 he borrowed the spikes too. He just went out with no excuses
TheMrMonkee 3 weeks ago
you know when you watch this there is no doubt in my mind, even on this shit track that he would have run under 10.0 if he didn't ease up on his last 2 strides !
use2slam2 7 months ago
no matter how many times i see this,that top end on the anchor leg was just=SICK !!!!!
use2slam2 7 months ago
@use2slam2 'Sick' is not the word that i would have chosen to describe Mr Hayes' performance in the 4 x 100 metres relay final at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 1964.
TheEctomorph 5 months ago
Hines in 68-modern track AND altitude 9.95. i would bet if hayes ran how he ran that 100m final and had altitude but especially that modern track under his feet=OMG!!!
use2slam2 8 months ago
I believe the video was a kinescope from NBC's broadcast, recorded in the 'States, after it was fed either live or on tape by the then-newly-launched Syncom 3 satellite.
This may explain the somewhat poor video quality.
altfactor 9 months ago
funny all these Chris Johnson fans and Desean Jackson fans stating how fast they are
take a look at 2nd place Cuba's Enrique Figueroa he ran 10.2 and on this peice of shit dirt
track look by how much he was beaten by hayes on this same shit dirt track and in an even shittier chewed up lane. Johnson's best 100m is 10.34(and on todays fast modern surface tracks)hayes in his prime would EMBARRESS Jobnhson so bad and i mean
B-A-D !!!
use2slam2 9 months ago
0:35 holy fuck
thetenzintsung 10 months ago
bet that guy was on drugs
nassah2010 11 months ago
@nassah2010 I bet he wasn't! In my view, Bob Hayes was the most naturally talented sprinter that has ever lived (with one notable exception: the remarkable Caribbean sprinter, Usain Bolt).
If it were possible to transport Mr Bolt back in time to the year 1964, and get him to compete against Mr Hayes in a 100 metres sprint, I think that the 6 foot 5" Jamaican would win ... but I cannot be certain.
What one can be certain of is that "Bullet" Bob Hayes was a phenomenal sprinter, in his prime
TheEctomorph 5 months ago
0:37 I never truly understood the saying "why hes got an extra gear."... NOW I DO
doublesk1 11 months ago
Yea i agree, with todays surfaces and equipment id put him at 9.50 or faster.
joshuadelapenha 1 year ago
@joshuadelapenha not sure if he would be a sub 9.5 sprinter but without doubt he would be runnin in the low 9.6 range and perhaps in the 9.5 range
puljacina 11 months ago
@joshuadelapenha That may be a bit of an exaggeration, given that even the remarkable Usain Bolt (surely at least the equal of Bob Hayes in terms of natural sprinting talent) has a personal best of 9.58 seconds.
Having said that, I do believe that, had Hayes been born in 1982 - not 1942 - he would have run the 100 metres in 9.70 seconds (or maybe slightly faster).
"Bullet" Bob was a phenomenal sprinter, by any standards. God rest his soul.
TheEctomorph 5 months ago
definitely fastest NFL player ever, and that includes modern players. And he would not have been a 40 runner, he was a top end speedster. His anchor leg in the 4x100 relay is still regarded as the fastest a man has run. At WOT speed , nooone was his equal. would have left D Green behind.
jhunterharris 1 year ago
@jhunterharris
To this day, no NFL player has run 100 meters faster than Bob ran it in this race. And look at his start. It's terrible. Dude could fly. Today he'd definitely be running Tyson Gay times.
uhmfar 11 months ago
youtube "1966 cowboys at browns 2-2" at 6:20 and replay at 6:50 watch hayes think a play is over and start walking across the feild then he sees a DB intercepted the ball, then from a good 20 yards back he flys by everybody and runs down the DB
in no time.darrell green, ron brown both 10.08 on modern synthetic tracks, hayes 10.05 46yrs ago on a wet loose dirt( YES DIRT) track. staubach said in an interveiw 2 yrs ago if hayes was around now in his prime he'd be the fastest
player today
use2slam2 1 year ago
Cuba's figueroa was 2nd in a time of 10.2, Deion Sanders BEST 100m ever was 10.24 and look at by how much Hayes left the Cuban behind not to mention Sanders ran his 10.24 on a fast modern track and here Hyes not even being pressed ran 10.05 on D-I-R-T !!! Chris Johnson, Desean Jackson, etc. would get completely SMOKED by Hayes in his prime, hell even Darrall Green said at his hall of fame interview that he was the fastest player in the league ever-AFTER Bob Hayes !!!
use2slam2 1 year ago
To accomplish this during that time period is truly amazing. Imagine him TODAY with all the benefits the athletes have today.
Josefsing 1 year ago
anybody out there have a clip from back in 73-74 of a CBS special called CBS PRO
FOOTBALL OLYMPIAD. it had differant compititions for passing,punting,etc. and had a 60 yd dash on grass with hayes age 31 and looking chunky running against john gilliam,mercury morris,herb mul-key,issac curtis etc. hayes beat these guys SO bad it wasn't even close ! anyone remember ?
use2slam2 1 year ago
"Bullet" Bob Hayes in today's sprinting world would beat Usain Bolt!
4smasher 1 year ago
sweet jesus.i cant stop watchin this video lol just the imagination what hayes would run on nowadays mondotracks!! goosebumps
puljacina 1 year ago
holy shit look at bob's last 40m in that relay race!!!!!!!!!!! his top end speed was out of this world
puljacina 1 year ago
@puljacina Yup I agree. More than any other sprinter than I've ever seen on archival footage, The Bullet destroyed the track, pulverizing the surface. His power was amazing....
ripperduck 1 year ago
@ripperduck just imagine him on todays fast mondotracks!!! he would be a 9.6 sprinter,at least
puljacina 1 year ago
@puljacina He would be killing ppl. I read an article on how he trained. He would find a hill, start running on the flat part and as he ascended, he tried to increase his power and speed. He did this repeatedly and I think he had weights in his hand and pumped his arms as he ran. He was amazing....
ripperduck 1 year ago
the last 30 meters off his anchor leg are just CRAZY !!! keep an eye on the anchorman in lane two and how fast he passed him in those last 30 meters
( IT'S NOT HUMAN)
use2slam2 1 year ago
:36-:42 amazing come from behind win. You won't see anyone do that these days from that far behind. He was litterally in like sixth place!!! That top seepd was sick.
EPizits 1 year ago
HAYES WON WITH PLENTY OF ROOM TO SPARE THAT IS WHY HE'S KNOWN AS "BULLET" BOB
dal4018 1 year ago
JESUS CHRIST THAT MAN HAYES WAS CRAZY FAST!!!!
dal4018 1 year ago
he was a huge reason pro teams switched to zone coverage from man to man.
tomloft2000 1 year ago
@tomloft2000 Yes no kidding no man could stick with him on one leg he was faster than most db's
dal4018 1 year ago
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dal4018 1 year ago
AMAZING I WONDER WHERE THE FRENCH ANCHORMAN WAS AFTER THAT HISTORIC WALKDOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
dal4018 1 year ago
If you look at the race from the begininning he slips out of the blocks at the start. I agree with all of you, two great athletes and two great people.
slinker001 1 year ago
Wow, this film is complete crap. There are much better quality films of these races posted on YouTube.
CaneFu 1 year ago
Bob Hayes, in 1964, ran his leg of the 4x100m relay in 8.50 seconds
octoron85 1 year ago
GIMAGIMA70 : Bob didn't run his last 50m anywhere near 3.6-3.7 seconds.....Bolt's final 50m in his 9.58 was 4.09 (50m split: 5.49)
bossofalltime 1 year ago
Or was that jesse owens
infamousquentin 1 year ago
On 2010 4x100 Bolt did 8,79 and on 1964 4x100 Hayes did 8,90 But Bolt did 4,19 on the last 50 meters instead Hayes did last 50 meters in 3,6-3,7, like an ET.
So, only this little-big thing, with the all the cronomethers, would say and shout: Hayes was really a bullet, and you didn't see it. But this is just what I think.
GIMAGIMA70 1 year ago
On 2010 4x100 Bolt did 8,79 and on 1964 4x100 Hayes did 8,90 But Bolt did 4,19 on the last 50 meters instead Hayes did last 50 meters in 3,6-3,7, like an ET.
So, only this little-big thing, with the all the cronomethers, would say and cry: Hayes was really a bullet, and you didnt see it. But this I just what I think.
GIMAGIMA70 1 year ago
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Bolt 2010 4x100 is 8,79, Hayes 1964 4x100 was 8,90, and Hayes, cause cinder track, loses 0,6-0,7 seconds only in the first 50 meters. Hayes could run his practice in 9,7 and his 10.06 today is considered 9,8-9,9. This things would say: "Maybe, probably, "for sure", Hayes it was really a bullet.
Moreover Bolt, on 2010 4x100 last 50 meters, does 4,19 ... Hayes did 3,6-3,7.
GIMAGIMA70 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Bolt 2010 4x100 is 8,79, Hayes 1964 4x100 was 8,90, and Hayes, cause cinder track, loses 0,6-0,7 seconds only in the first 50 meters. Hayes could run his practice in 9,7 and his 10.06 today is considered 9,8-9,9. This things would say: "Maybe, probably, for sure, Hayes he was really a bullet,
GIMAGIMA70 1 year ago
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GIMAGIMA70 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Bolt 2010 4x100 is 8,79, Hayes 1964 4x100 was 8,90, and Hayes, cause cinder track, loses 0,6-0,7 seconds only in the first 50 meters. Hayes could run his practice in 9,7 and his 10.06 today is considered 9,8-9,9. This things would say: "Maybe, probably, Hayes it was really a bullet.
GIMAGIMA70 1 year ago
Comment removed
GIMAGIMA70 1 year ago
cuba's enrique figeuroa took second in 10.2, on this shitting cinder track look at by how much hayes beat him by. deion sanders best 100m was 10.24 ON MODERN SURFACE TRACK. if hayes in his prime raced deion in his prime dieon would have got completely S-M-O-K-E-D !!!!
use2slam2 1 year ago
cont. We were also forced to take salt tablets and weren't allowed to drink water during practice. If any coach used these tactics today,he would be fired and facing a lawsuit.
kingfish4242 2 years ago
@kingfish4242
Cool, thanks for your insight and experience. That's crazy you weren't allowed to lift at all! I guess if you look at most athletes from that era, most were not very musclebound.
ThomasRiekki 2 years ago
usain wouldn beat bob shit now days we got better trainin way better tracks n he ran that 45yrs ago so let bob live 2day he would b runnin 9.3s 9.2s
MrJordan123123 2 years ago 3
what? what crack are you on?
bob hayes wouldnt TOUCH Bolt. Look, I'm a huge fan of Hayes but I'm not on drugs. They're not even the same CLASS of speed. Spare me, man. Spare me.
decadyne 2 years ago
What the fuck are you talking about? Speed is speed regardless of who the man is. A 9.1 is a 9.1, So correct me if I'm wrong?
4waynosespray 1 year ago
i wish bob n usain could have had a race cause theyre times look very close
sahandf1 2 years ago
Fastest 100M ever was run by Hayes in anchor leg of this relay. 8.5 seconds.
Bullet Bob is king.
PackedFunk 2 years ago 2
Wrong.
1. Bob's was hand-timed, based on 100 YARDS, and OUTSIDE of the zone. 2. The fastest split ever recorded was Carl Lewis's, and IT was timed with video.
You know next to nothing about track.
decadyne 2 years ago
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Fastest 100M ever run by a human was Hayes' in anchor leg of the '64 Olympic 4x100 meter relay, 8.5 seconds.
Bullet Bob is king.
Your the one who knows NOTHING about track.
PackedFunk 2 years ago
1. Hayes' Tokyo time wasn't based on 100 yards at all, it was for 100m. In 1963 he was timed in a flying 100 yards, that was a separate ocassion
2. Carl's fastest anchor leg (that was recorded) was 8.85 from Barcelona, Asafa has the fastest now with 8.70 from Beijing (backed it up with an 8.73 from last year's World Championships in Berlin)
bossofalltime 1 year ago
no that was 100m his 100yards was a 9.1 his 60y which is 55m was 5.9 so he is fast and had a college time of a 9.95 and they rounded that up because they said back then they didnt wont a black man to be the first to run under 10 secs so they dq him so yeah
raylord89 1 year ago
I am very suspicious of any track and field records set after the early 70's. I love the sport,but it's also very dirty when it comes to cheating with drugs. Bolt may be clean,but you can't say it with 100% accuracy
kingfish4242 2 years ago 3
@kingfish4242
I've heard rumors from athletes that competed in the 70s that some big athletes in the 60s also used PEDs. I like to think everyone is clean until proven guilty, but it's not the case.
ThomasRiekki 2 years ago
That is very true Thomas. I've also read stories about steroids being used in the early 60's,but they were confined to the weightlifting community mainly. The prevailing thought at the time was building muscle caused the body to become musclebound and took away from the atletes speed and quickness. That old wives tale was disproved starting in the early 80's. Just to give an example of how things change, I played high school baseball in the 1970's. Our players weren't allowed to lift weights.
kingfish4242 2 years ago
usain bolt its better in the 100m than all those guys...
the people that think thats not true its just wrong.
Apache3619 2 years ago
Hayes was a beast....10.06 45 years ago on cinder track...I admire Bolt but he is not the only or even the first sprinter to do amazing things and won't be the last either
bossofalltime 2 years ago 6
Bob Hayes was trailing the leader on the anchor leg of the 4x100 relay by 27 feet when he got the baton in the '64 Olympics.
He won that race hands down. Bare in mind, these are the fastest men in the world at that time.
He ran that anchor leg in 8.6 seconds.
I rest my case.
Bullet Bobby Hayes was the fastest man ever, period.
PackedFunk 2 years ago
Most of you don't know how easy modern PED's are to hide. Testing now doesn't mean much...Bolt is about as clean as all the other enhanced sprinters now. I think only Spearman may be natural. Bolt's weird personal reduction of nearly a second plus in the 200 and 2/3 second in the 100 are not physically possible, either in the short or long haul. Sad.
wichitazen 2 years ago
@wichitazen
Bolt was running sub 20 before he was a junior. From the time he was 17 to 24, I bet Bolt has improved as much, or less, than any other world class sprinter. He has improved 1 second in the 200m since he was 16. That's 8 years! And it's hard to gauge his 100m improvement because he has only been running it for two and a half years. He basically started the event at 9.76.
ThomasRiekki 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
this time is slow compared to usain 10.00 9.58
lpull456 2 years ago
Dirt track in 1964. Obviously.
If you put Bolt on the same track the race would be close.
NOPN 2 years ago 9
@NOPN Yes the time Bob Hayes ran on the chewed-up cinder track with borrowed spikes in cotton shorts and singlet would be the equivalent to running a 9.6 or 9.7 on a Mondo track... so Bob Hayes ability is probably equivalent to Usain Bolt's.
5kdamian 1 year ago
Every world record from 1964 is slow compared to the world records of today.
oldaardvark 1 year ago
@NOPN 1964 shoes too
Jakethesnake991 1 year ago
@Jakethesnake991 not only that,the shoes hayes wore in the 100 meters were borrowed from a teammate. He woke up late that morning and had to rush to the track and couldn't find his regular ones
kingfish4242 1 year ago
@NOPN and im shir they didnt have acess to the kind of training they do these days
The1TubeYou1 9 months ago
@NOPN and im shir they didnt have access to the kind of training they do these days
The1TubeYou1 9 months ago
cmon the tech these runners have now is wayyyy better jsut the surface they run on is better and from a standing start he ran a 8.9 last leg of the 4x100
XRRfan 2 years ago
@lpull456 Jim Hines, Usain Bolt, Bob Hayes, what a race that would be.
liamg353 1 year ago
@lpull456 But probably no steroids!
altfactor 11 months ago
@lpull456
In the Tokyo Olimpic Games 4x100 relay, Bob Hayes passed the "line-start" of the last 100 meters at 30"5-30"6 (see the video: at 30"4 he had not yet the baton in the hand) and he finished in 39"06: so he runned his fliyng start 100 m between 8"56 and 8"46 (electronic time!) with vintage shoes and on a cinder track. Nobody has runned so fast fliyng start 100 m (Powell 8"74 in Bejing Olimpcs games is the second better).
ricutbily 8 months ago
@ricutbily powell actually ran 8.70 in beijing and 8.74 in berlin but bob's tokyo anchor is still the most impressive EVER!!!!
puljacina 8 months ago
@puljacina Bob HAYES, 8"5 in the CINDER'S!!!
Boassful 2 months ago
did u see that damn gear he kicked in at da end, omg dat iz tha fastest top speed ever.
mone1303 2 years ago
Hayes has finally been inducted into the NFL Hall Of Fame a honor that is long overdue too bad he's not here to enjoy it.
dal4018 2 years ago
Bob Hayes THE LEGEND
amercican 2 years ago
I am very peased to see all of you track enthusiasts with some tenure giving your thoughts about bob hayes.I have no doubt in my mind Bob Hayes in his prime was faster than anyone ever given what he had to work with...his overdrive was superior to all...thank you Bobby
diatoneic 2 years ago
On a modern surface and with a pair of high tech shoes, Hayes would have been a 9:96! Where I would love to have seen him was in Mexico City or Colorado Springs.
NOPN, Yep, that's the run that finally matched the evolution of time. Bolt was just astounding! The criticism had been that the 100 M Wr should be sub 9:6 by now. Well low and behold, you finally have it...For someone like him (in height) to have been clear of Gay at the 20 meter mark was amazing, just amazing!!! Hats off to him...
JSS62N 2 years ago
Hayes always had an extra 'gear' when he needed it. It shows best when he is challenged, like being WAY behind in the 4x at tokyo. We had seats 11 rows up on the 45 behind the cowboy bench at the cotton bowl and I saw him use that gear to humiliate defensive backs time and again. And do not forget, he won the 100 at tokyo using one borrowed shoe on the inside lane of a cinder track. Bolt is by far the best I have seen since Hayes, but Bob wins when he hits overdrive.
songman53 2 years ago 14
Bolt just ran 9.58. I think Bob has been surpassed
NOPN 2 years ago
NOPN, you would never know if bob would be surpassed or not.
Give Bob the equipment, trainingsschedules, nutrition,... of today and he would certainly be a tough opponent for Bolt.
domainemain 2 years ago 11
Yeah its pretty hard to tell, but some old timers where giving me shit when Bolt ran his 9.69 (because I said he could give Bob a good challenge lol)
By the looks of it Bolt would be right there with Hayes if we rewind to the 60's, and Hayes would be running close to Bolt if he had the same training/equiptment as Bolt
NOPN 2 years ago
@NOPN I've run in both conditions over 40 years of competing, and this is how I would adjust (with the help of sports science). Cinder track: 0.15 slower. Old uniforms: 0.04 slower. Old, long spikes with smooth leather bottoms: 0.10 slower. That would get Hayes to 9.71. Better, smarter training and better nutrition? Would that get him another 0.13 seconds? I just don't know. Hayes was never really pushed, so maybe.
aeiou99999 1 year ago
@domainemain
and steroids that Bolt got a hold of
TribalWarfare 1 year ago
Keep in mind that Bolt is still just entering his prime as a runner. He's only going to get faster, barring injury.
ChargersLVII 2 years ago
you cooking on another planet?
lucasboy46 4 months ago
Decades ago, Dad took me to Sears one evening in Ft. Worth, Tx because Bob was going to be there. He signed a picture for me and then dad whipped out volume T from the Encylopedia and turned to Track & Field. He showed Bob a picture of himself at the Olympics and Bob didnt even know he was in there!! He took the book from dad and read the paragraphs, and said, "Well, I'll be!" He then signed it and we went home. Dad still has the book and everytime I visit, I relive that evening with Bullet.
THB79 2 years ago 17
@THB79 LUCKY YOU!!!!!!
dal4018 1 year ago
@THB79 Hey, if you are referring to the time he came to that strip mall in ft. worth called seminary south, I was there too. I was a young kid but i'll always remember how gracious and humble he was. I'll always fell that he is the fastest man to ever live!!
stonekeeper86 10 months ago
get him out on that beijing track in some powerwebs and maxcats lol, then see what he can run. Im sayin 9.6 flat!
speedyslime93 2 years ago
here's something interesting. Bob Hayes ran 8.74 electronic (converted from an 8.5 hand timed) final leg at the 1964 olympics. Asafa Powell ran 8.70 at Bieijing. The first 100m split faster than Hayes since 1964. I still believe that the cinder track and probable use of anabolic agents AT LEAST cancel each other out. The performances just 4 years later were better again..surpassing Bob's.
bnewman227 2 years ago
Bolt ran the corner not the anchor. Cinder is much slower than tartan. It would be a great race. I'll take Bob.
quadbravo 2 years ago 6
all day
C2K510 2 years ago
agreed.
speedyslime93 2 years ago
I've often wondered who the last "clean" winner of the Olympic 100 was. When did roids and other substances begin to be used? Maybe Bullet Bob was the last guy to do it on talent alone.
bus114 3 years ago
steroids were being well used in the late 1950s. in the late 50s to early 60s they became a standard element of any track athlete's training. ive actually borrowed books from the library where the doses were explained as part of the routine. By 1964 you can bet only the ill informed countries werent using them. prior to that, testosterone was being used even as far back as the 191Xs...albeit in gross form. The last one to win without assistance would be Usain Bolt. retro testing has fixed it.
bnewman227 2 years ago 3
Ussain Bolt has been tested more times than... probably... any athlete short of Michael Phelps. He did it clean.
ChargersLVII 2 years ago 6
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haha i know that right
lhwood777 2 years ago
Could anyone explain me what cinder track is? so far i know it's not bouncy... and why was it chewed up when often used... TQ..
adryanerock 3 years ago
A cinder track was basically a bed of fine gravel - or many times, dirt. The track had to be graded to get it level. The lane lines were "drawn" in chalk. If it rained, it turned to mud and ruts formed wherever the water ran off. Most had cement curbs so you could break an ankle if stepped out of lane one or lane eight.
twentysixpoint2 3 years ago
Bullet Bob Hayes was, by far, the fastest man on earth. If any of you younger people have ever tried running on a cinder track instead of the all-weather surfaces they use today, wearing baggy short and a regular muscle t-shirt instead of the skin-tight, streamlined outfits the sprinters these days use, then you could better understand how fast Bob Hayes really was....even by today's standards.
Contradulations on making the NFL Hall of Fame, Bob "Bullet" Hayes. R.I.P.
iamarine 3 years ago 16
i'm 52 do any of you remember back in 72' CBS put on a show "pro football olympiad" they had a 60 yd dash on grass and the players had to also carry the football. morris,curtis,gilliam,mul-key,to name a few ran against hayes. he totally smoked everybody
and cliked off if remember a 6.2-.3(on grass and with a football under his arm.
use2slam2 3 years ago
The only difference between old time athletes and today's athletes are the drugs, don't kid yourself. Humans haven't magically "evolved" over the past 100 years, drugs have.
bobd007 3 years ago
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cnsparrot 3 years ago
bob hayes was a legend..he made jacksonville fl . proud...R.I.P
journeyman295 3 years ago 3
You know what I love most about this clip? It's Bullet Bob running thru the finish line at full speed (0:12). No looking around to see where the competition is. No posing for the cameras. Just running the race like it was meant to be run.
ddenuci 3 years ago 4
Some facts have been mixed up with hearsay, opinion, excitement, etc. First, Hayes was clocked at 7.8 for a flying 100yd in a relay, the Guinness Book of Records (one of the 1960s editions) remarks this. Secondly, Hayes' relay leg was given estimates from 8.6 to 8.9 all hand-timed, no eletronic. People have got to stop exaggerating the margins that Hayes made up. Its simple, he got the baton 3m behind the field and won by 3m (3.3yd).
bossofalltime 3 years ago 3
Bob Hayes was not 20 years old when he won the olympic 100 metres, but 26 years old. A great sprinter!
oznapoli 3 years ago
@oznapoli You are right when you say that Bob Hayes was a great sprinter (obviously). But you are way off the mark when you say that he was 26 years of age when he became the Olympic 100 metres sprint champion in November 1964. In actual fact, he was five years younger than that.
As far as I know, the only sprinter under 21 years of age to have won the 100 metres sprint title at the Olympic Games was Bobby Joe Morrow, in 1956. He was 20 years of age at the time.
TheEctomorph 5 months ago
Hayes didn't retire at age 20. He was 21 in that clip and was as active in track as any runner today.
As for running a 7.8 100, I say bullshlt.
jahtez 3 years ago
Don't know why you got a thumbs down. You're perfectly correct that Hayes was just 21 when he took the title. He would turn 22 in December of 1964. People go on as if Hayes just turned up at track and ran not the case. He trained seriously for track as much as he did football.
bossofalltime 3 years ago
hell naw hayes picked up that baton and ran dat russian ass down, evry body had given up and hayes pulled thru and da white ppl went crazy!
ss6truks 3 years ago
Bob Hayes was an amateur sprinter who retired from track and field at age 20 - today that would be considered an age as just beginning a professional career. At age 14 ( yes - 14 ) he ran the 100 yards in 9.6 seconds ( that equates to approx 10.5 for the 100 metres ). He ran that final leg in the Tokyo relay in 8.5 seconds - not bad for a 20 year old amateur athlete. It was no fluke either as he'd been timed running the 100 yards in 7.8 seconds while anchoring a relay.
thGory1 3 years ago
UUUAAAAUUUU
Col5Arg0 3 years ago
My goodness,
This is maybe the best 100m performance of all time !
Bolt there too !!
Chauvignoul 3 years ago
All I could say was DAMN (about 12 times).
I didn't know anything about Bob Hayes until Mike & Mike talked about him this morning or yesterday morning. He hawked down 4 runners and then won by 20-30 yards. DAMN!
DrunkenYao 3 years ago
Very well put Entropy...NOPN...obviously you do not understand the training of today, the diet, the legal suppl,ements as well as the illegal...and furthermore...the tracks of today. Hayes ran the 100 meters on a cinder track in which his lane was chewed up from the distance race run on it the day before.
bbmtge 3 years ago
Did you even see the 100m final in Beijing? I was a Hayes believer as well but Bolt just ran freakin 9.6 easing up! That is absolutely amazing, Hayes had his time...Bolt is now the fastest without question
NOPN 3 years ago
Seeing Bolt run 9.69 easing up after 80m, I think Bolt could have beat Hayes in his prine
NOPN 3 years ago
NOPN...A Bob Hayes would have beaten any man...My Grand father knew Bob Hayes....and i believe him when he told me...If Bob had the technology these guys have today..Hayes would have lowered the record so low that no human would have even came close...He ran 10 flat on a cinder track with someone else's shoes on...Those weren't even his shoes..This man still to this day has the fastest 100 meter split ever..Some say he ran it as low as 8.2 seconds..Bolt would have never been able to be Hayes.
knowitall1975 3 years ago
I completely agree,except If bob was to compete in today's standards he would be roughly on par with Usain Bolt instead of total domination, also his 100m split was handtimed as low as 8.5 not 8.2 but still better than the fastest electronic time of all time set by Asafa powell during beijing
danny941016 3 years ago
The difference in cinder vs. tartan is alone enough to give Hayes the advantage. The coefficient of friction on tartan vs. cinder is not even close. Then there's the shoes. In 1964, Olympic spikes weighed in around135 grams. Try 93 grams today. I ran track in the late 70's when tracks were changing to tartan. A tartan track would change a 200m time from 24 flat to 22.8. Technology makes a huge difference. Bob all day long. Bolt would ease up only -because it would be Bob by 1-2m.
quadbravo 2 years ago 7
If Bob Hayes had today's sports technology in his era, todays speedsters would only see his back. Bullet also deserves the HOF, he changed the game during an era when teams ran the ball. His prescence on the field made the Cowboys a superb rushing team. Often he out ran the throw and had to come back to make a catch! He also was a threat as punt returner. I'm sure Don Meridith and Roger Staubach if they could vote would elect him.
EntropyEpoch 3 years ago
Don't know much about his football career, but he's remembered in the UK as THE most convincing Olympic 100m champion of the modern era. He could really shift. The relay leg defies belief.
RichLN 3 years ago
jesus christ. the final leg...wow.
respect.
J91O 3 years ago
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sanweng101 3 years ago
Bob Hayes. I'm not as old as some of you old school 1964 Tokyo guys but I have to admit. 10.06 on a cinder track is huge. If anyone here has run on these old tracks, like dirt, and also run on new ones, all weather, you can tell the difference. Finally, his 8.6 was hand timed but electronically timed at 8.9. Finally, besides Hayes being without the benefit of modern technology, he was also flat footed / pigeon toed. Pretty crazy if you ask me.
goodtomunch 3 years ago
The fastest human being ever, and underrated
Col5Arg0 3 years ago 5
I think his technique is not that bad. He has low heel recovery and nice turn over just like Asafa Powell. I am convinced that his mechanics are good, otherwise you can't run that fast on a cinder track.
domainemain 3 years ago
Does anyone know how fast he did his portion of the relay? I wonder if he beat Carl Lewis' time.
Boudosaved 3 years ago
8.5 seconds its the fastest ever
lhwood777 3 years ago
You know who reminds me of Bob Hayes? Donovan Bailey. Bailey runs a lot like Hayes with that all-too-familiar "rocky run," and they both had ridiculous top-end speed.
GGMcCants 3 years ago
To All you youngsters. This guy ran on a cinder track ,in lane 1(after the 20 km walk). As for football speed. Keep in mind that he still hold several Dallas Cowboy Records and he did that in a 14 game season. Only Ben Johnson of Canada would've come lose and Ben was on roids. I saw both live trust me nothing out there could catch him even today. all I have to say is no one has run 8.6 since then and he did that on cinder.
miisblips 3 years ago 2
OK, I'll admit he is fast but he should NOT be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He isn't even the greatest receiver in Dallas Cowboys history let alone NFL history. I'm not a Cowboys fan but I know that Michael Irvin is WAY better than Bob Hayes.
HurricaneBradshaw 3 years ago
Bob along with merideth and lebaron invented the "bomb".mad3e football exciting and what it is today,he belongs in the hall of fame.
garzaeduardo 3 years ago
Game was totally different when Hayes played--passing was less refined.
holmes113 3 years ago
not only that but the "zone" defense was created back then to be able to defend bob hayes because he could not be covered man to man
uneek321 3 years ago
HurricaneB, since when do u hav to b the best position in a centains teams history to b in the hall of fame??? so wut u r saying is that u think steve young shouldnt b in the hall becuz joe m was better than him???
hlbkings 3 years ago
No, Steve Young is in the Hall of Fame as he should be. Steve Young and Joe Montana are two of the greatest QB's ever. Bob Hayes wasn't even thought of as the best at his position. People say that some other WR's that were better than Bob Hayes shouldn't be in the HOF. Bob Hayes is good but not great.
HurricaneBradshaw 3 years ago
His speed and physical talent that made him the most dangerous receiver at the time led to the creation of zone defenses...I believe for one person to change what the defense does should be in the HOF...He pretty much shaped football a bit by himself.
WilshireX9 3 years ago
Your such an idiot man it's not even funny. You don't don't anything about Bob Hayes so let me clue you in. He revolutionized the wide receiever position because of his speed forcing NFL teams to create the zone defense because he could not be stopped, to this day he still owns several Cowboy receiving records for touchdowns and others, he did all this in just 14 games a season, and if Steve Young could get in the HOF with one ring Bob Hayes should have been in 20 years ago.
sabman 3 years ago
Don't be a moron dude. Steve Young holds serveral NFL records as well as a Super Bowl ring but I'm not talking about Steve Young. A lot of people say that certain WR's that were better than Bob Hayes shouldn't be in the HOF and they all hold records as well.
HurricaneBradshaw 3 years ago
"Bullet" Bob Hayes would be in the football Hall of Fame, except for certain things that happened off the field...on playing ability, he should be in the HOF...
CairoKid 3 years ago
Lawrence Taylor had more off-the-field problems than Bullet Bob Hayes. LT got in the Hall of Fame first-ballot, while Bullet Bob continues to get screwed based solely on his off-the-field problems. DO I SMELL A DOUBLE STANDARD HERE?!
Bullet Bob is once again a Senior candidate. Let's hope the double standard ends this time around!
SuperDroogie187 3 years ago 2
@HurricaneBradshaw I am a Brit, and (like most of my fellow 'limeys') I am dead ignorant about American football ... but I will take your word for it that Michael Irvin is better at that sport than Bob Hayes ever was.
That said, Bob Hayes was WAY better at athletics than Michael Irvin.
TheEctomorph 5 months ago
Jocelyn Delecour, France's last leg runner, famously said to Paul Drayton before the relay final that "you can't win, all you have is Bob Hayes." Drayton was able to reply, after the race "all you need..."
By the way, I just checked, and Hayes ran a windaided 9.91 semi, the first time anyone broke 10.0 auto-timed.
ddenuci 3 years ago 2
Why is Bullet Bob Hayes in Lane 1 in the 100M finals? Don't they normally award the best lanes (4 &5) to the sprinters who had the best times during the semifinals? I'm assuming Hayes had the best times in the semies.
ddenuci 3 years ago
He was the fastest human on earth and when drafted by the Cowboys, the other NFL teams had to create a new defense to cover him. It was named the "Zone defense" and even with his statistics he is NOT IN THE NFL HALL OF FAME!!!!!!! For shame HOF voters!!!!
tarbuckle111 3 years ago
I read that he ran that anchor in 8.6 seconds. The next fastest anchor in history is Carl Lewis' when he ran an 8.85. That's incredible.
azumah 3 years ago
damn dis dude ran the anchor leg in like 8 seconds!!
larryxillest 3 years ago
Even in this steroid era, players have gotten bigger but the top end speed hasn't really been surpassed for skill positions like WRs. Guys like Gault, Deion, Bo Jackson, and D. Green are still far faster then what we see today and that was over 20 years ago. LBs and DL are faster but the skill positions seem to be maxed out, its rare even in the combine to see anyone break 4.2, most can't break 4.3.
FortySixBlitz 3 years ago
no he wouldnbt he would get beat by .23 seconds and actually he would smoke evryone else beacsue the technologyt we have now is alot better than the technology then
jon5777 4 years ago
omfg
marighand 4 years ago
If Hayes ran today he would get smoked by the current competition...Track has evolved so deal with it and stop living in the past...
freein2339 4 years ago
There's a couple of things you haven't considered about Bob's ability. He was running on a cinder track, he was only 21 years old and only trained after the football season was over. His anchor leg was the fastest ever run and has not been beaten by the guys from today, especially Asafa. I believe the 2nd fastest anchor leg was Carl Lewis at 8.9 and change. That in itself speaks for his speed compared to today's sprinters.
danielcbarrett 3 years ago
Also, that day, he left one of his shoes in his room and had to borrow a size 10 left shoe from a teammate (Tommy Farrell). The cinder track was also a little chewed up from the 10K runners the day before.
All of that and he still blew everyone away! Amazing.
thegorn68 3 years ago 2
If Bob Hayes was a young track star today he would still be the world's fastest human, no doubt about it. He would be a recipient of current track training techniques. The guy played football and ran track in the spring
almost as a hobby!
EntropyEpoch 3 years ago 2
imagine if he was all juiced up, running on a new track and with a decent pair of spikes? He would blow the current field away!
dtrain70 4 years ago
Bob Hayes is and was the fastest human to ever live...No one could beat hayes. If he ran on the same track that they have today he would run it in 8 seconds no human can achieve that...It's a shame that he never made it into the NFL hall of fame.
steeda1984 4 years ago
Here is were I scare all of you... On that anchor leg race in 64... Hayes was running with a pulled hamstring which was aggravated by his 100 run... Now imagine if he had been healthy that day...
osmosis68 4 years ago
oh my balls thats nuts
gummybearsgonewild 4 years ago
Looks like he's about to start flying towards the end. Awesome.
pleasureavalanche 4 years ago
I watched this on TV at the time and couldn't believe my eyes. It's as if the others were jogging or just warming up. He simply flew by them.
dinger20 4 years ago
Thank you for sharing this Bob Hayes moment. I went to the Cowboy games back in the 60's in Dallas and the guy could put on a terrific show. He could outrun anybody that was chasing him!
coinsmr 4 years ago
What the hell is wrong with you people? This is not a racial issue. Can't you just admire this spectacular performance?