Shuhei Tada Clocked 9.94 Seconds in 100m Dash

Though with a tailwind of 4.5 m per second, Shuhei Tada, junior at Kansei Gakuin University, clocked 9.94 seconds in a 100m dash race in Kanagawa, June 10. It was a historic event in Japan of a record below 10 seconds being ever marked in the 100 m dash.

Shuhei Tada said after the race:

"I was surprised myself at the record I had clocked. In fact, I thought it was some mistake.

"I used to fail mostly at the start and I deliberately changed my way of shifting my waist in certain ways. This season I believe I have failed less at the start and that helped my entire race improve quite a bit.

"At the Tokyo Olympics three years later, I'll make sure to break the 10-second barrier to race with the world's top speed runners."

Justin Gatlin of the US who ran the race along Tada said he was surprised at Tada's performance.

Right after the race in which he had marked 9.94, Tada challenged the final race. With a tailwind this time of 1.9m, Tada marked 10.08 seconds - good enough to rank 7th in Japan and cleared the qualifying standard of the World Championships slated in August this year.

Shuhei Tada will join other leading speed runners in the All Japan Championships starting this month, and his contests with Yoshihide Kiryu, Ryota Yamagata, and Cambridge Asuka are expected to draw public attention.

The legendary speed runner Koji Ito, holder of Japan's 100 m dash record of 10.00 seconds and currently skipper of the reinforcement division of the Japan Association of Athletics Federation comments:

"I was fortunate to witness with my own eyes the moment the 10-second barrier was broken.

"Tada is very skillful at the start now and capable of controlling his pitches. He raced the way he had imagined today." (Nathan Shiga)

Source: NHK