Running into the history books

LONDON (Reuters) -- An end-of-season lassitude prevailed as the Paris grand prix final wound to a close in the modest Stade Charlety on the afternoon of September 14.

Hicham El Guerrouj had already clinched the men's overall title and Marion Jones the women's as Tim Montgomery settled into the blocks for the men's 100 metres.

Just 9.78 seconds later the small crowd were on their feet pointing excitedly at the results screen and Montgomery, suddenly the fastest sprinter in history, was being swung around in the air by his joyous coach Trevor Graham.

Moroccan middle distance runner El Guerrouj, already hosting a victory news conference, was dethroned as grand prix champion after statisticians calculated that the extra points for a world record had put Montgomery in first place.

The only people in the stadium who appeared unsurprised by Montgomery's epochal run were the man himself and his new off-track partner Jones.

Montgomery even used Jones's blocks to slice a hundredth of a second off the official world record held by fellow American Maurice Greene. Ben Johnson also clocked 9.79 seconds in the 1988 Seoul Olympic final, a mark never ratified after the Canadian tested positive for drugs.

Perfect conditions

"I was drawn in lane five, the same as Marion who had run just minutes before me," Montgomery told reporters, who had hastily abandoned the rueful El Guerrouj to flock around the new world record holder.

"She ran a great race so when I stepped on the track I decided not to move the blocks. I told myself 'Why not? Let's see what happens'."

Everything was in Montgomery's favour. The wind gauge stayed steady at two metres a second, the maximum allowable limit. His reaction time of 0.104 of a second after the gun was about as quick as humanly possible.

"Everything was perfect," Montgomery agreed. "But I didn't look at the time. I didn't know I had broken the world record until my coach ran on to the track and lifted me up in the air."

The race took place without Greene, who turned up in Paris but opted out of the meeting.

Montgomery had already beaten Greene twice in the Golden League after raising eyebrows at the beginning of the season by saying he believed he was capable of running 9.75 seconds.

"I have talked a lot but I have no regrets," Montgomery said. "I know what I can do."

Second and all but speechless was Britain's European champion Dwain Chambers. Chambers, who had defeated Greene five times in the season, equalled compatriot Linford Christie's European record of 9.87 seconds but never looked like beating Montgomery.

Chambers's strength and Montgomery's speed promise a real threat to Greene, the world's top 100 metres man for the past five years, at next year's Paris world championships.

"I want Maurice when he is at his best," said Montgomery. "Everything is geared toward the 2003 world championships and 2004 Olympic Games. My thing is to go out there and put myself in the class that Maurice is in."

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