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Has anyone ever heard of the old-time professional athlete, Richard Perry Williams.
In the book "The Super Athletes"published in the 1960's by David Willoughby,between 1904-1910 Williams ran 100 yards in 9 flat(on three separate occasions) and 100 meters in 9 4/5 sec.
Willoughby states,"if rated according to the normal trend of the 100 yard sprint record with the date of performance, it would seem that William's time in 1906 of 9 seconds flat was equilalent to a time in 1965 of only 8.55 seconds.Since no present-day sprinter has remotely approached that figure,it would appear R.P. Williams was indeed the fastest sprinter of all-time.He also stated the AAU has declined to give any consideration to William's records simply because he was a professional.
R.P.Williams began his coaching career in 1899 at Tufts College,Mass.A year later he was tested by the famous anthropometrist,DR. Dudley Allen Sargent,at Havard University.Jim Thorpe said "Williams is the fastest sprinter who ever lived."
Here is a summary of his athletic and gymnastic accomplishments:
100 Yard dash 9.0 (three times);100 Meter dash 9 4/5;mile run 4 min 25 sec;running broad jump 26 ft. 01/2in;vertical jump 34.9 in;running high kick 10 ft 3in;standing jump off one foot 9 ft. 6 in.;shot put(16 lbs) 47 ft 9 in.;(12 lbs) 57 ft 3 in;circling bases(baseball) 12 seconds flat; chinning the bar , 48 times;dipping on paralle bars 55 times;
R.P. Williams was in more than one book;
In Roberto L. Quercetani's very comprehensive book "Athletics: A History
of Modern Track and Field Athletics (1860-2000)," p. 43, he writes:
"In America wide publicity was given to some incredible times credited
to a 'pro' by the name of R.P. Williams, who between 1904 and 1906
collected four 9 1/5 marks over 100 yards, and even a 9 flat, apparently
recorde by three timers at Winthrop, MA., in 1906. Williams was also
credited with 47 2/5 in the quarter-mile on a course with four curves,
hence over two laps! If there was a 'trick' of some sort ... we
obviously cannot say what it was, but these exploits certainly sound
somewhat 'fishy.'"
In the book "The Super Athletes"published in the 1960's by David Willoughby,between 1904-1910 Williams ran 100 yards in 9 flat(on three separate occasions) and 100 meters in 9 4/5 sec.
Willoughby states,"if rated according to the normal trend of the 100 yard sprint record with the date of performance, it would seem that William's time in 1906 of 9 seconds flat was equilalent to a time in 1965 of only 8.55 seconds.Since no present-day sprinter has remotely approached that figure,it would appear R.P. Williams was indeed the fastest sprinter of all-time.He also stated the AAU has declined to give any consideration to William's records simply because he was a professional.
R.P.Williams began his coaching career in 1899 at Tufts College,Mass.A year later he was tested by the famous anthropometrist,DR. Dudley Allen Sargent,at Havard University.Jim Thorpe said "Williams is the fastest sprinter who ever lived."
Here is a summary of his athletic and gymnastic accomplishments:
100 Yard dash 9.0 (three times);100 Meter dash 9 4/5;mile run 4 min 25 sec;running broad jump 26 ft. 01/2in;vertical jump 34.9 in;running high kick 10 ft 3in;standing jump off one foot 9 ft. 6 in.;shot put(16 lbs) 47 ft 9 in.;(12 lbs) 57 ft 3 in;circling bases(baseball) 12 seconds flat; chinning the bar , 48 times;dipping on paralle bars 55 times;
R.P. Williams was in more than one book;
In Roberto L. Quercetani's very comprehensive book "Athletics: A History
of Modern Track and Field Athletics (1860-2000)," p. 43, he writes:
"In America wide publicity was given to some incredible times credited
to a 'pro' by the name of R.P. Williams, who between 1904 and 1906
collected four 9 1/5 marks over 100 yards, and even a 9 flat, apparently
recorde by three timers at Winthrop, MA., in 1906. Williams was also
credited with 47 2/5 in the quarter-mile on a course with four curves,
hence over two laps! If there was a 'trick' of some sort ... we
obviously cannot say what it was, but these exploits certainly sound
somewhat 'fishy.'"
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