Gwen Torrence vs Florence Griffith Joyner vs Evelyn Ashford .( US Trials 88 Indianapolis )100m

100 Meters - July 17, 15.10 Hr (+1.2w)
1. 6. Florence Griffith Joyner (WCAC) 10.61
2. 5. Evelyn Ashford (Mazda) 10.81
3. 3. Gwen Torrence (AW) 10.91
4. 4. Sheila Echols (AW) 11.00
5. 2. Alice Brown (Unat) 11.04
6. 8. Dannette Young (Reebok) 11.19
7. 7. Jennifer Inniss (Atoms) 11.21
1. Gail Devers (WCAC) Dnc
Florence Griffith Joyner dominated the 100 meters, not merely with her remarkable nails and peacock like outfits, but more because of
her remarkable sprinting prowess. At one point in her career the nails on her left hand were 6 inches long, but these were trimmed
down after the '86 season. By 1988 the only reason people were watching her were the times she was running - 10.89 for 100 and 22.15
over 200 before the trials - and the outfits. She turned out in a black bodysuit for the 100 heats, switched to purple with the left leg
cutaway for the second round, and followed that with green in the semis and blue/white for the final. All these outfits served to focus
attention (and money) on Griffith Joyner, and her times spoke for themselves. In the heats she ran the fastest time ever seen under any
conditions - 10.60, and displayed awesome power in winning by more than 5 meters ahead of Dannette Young, a 11.10 runner. Sheila
Echols, Gwen Torrence and Evelyn Ashford won their heats impressively, and 2 1/2 hours later they were out for the quarter-finals. The
first race saw Griffith Joyner get an excellent start and flow away from Diane Williams and Gail Devers. Flo-Jo's reaction was the same
as that of the crowd on learning that the time was 10.49 - "I can't believe the time". More stupefying than the time was the wind reading
of 0.0w. The officials claimed that the wind gauge was correct, though the wind gauge on the adjacent triple jump runway showed
+4.3w. The problem was that the wind was swirling, and the wind at the start - the most important point of assistance - was almost
certainly strongly assisting. It is likely that the race was aided by 0.15-0.20 seconds, but with the rules as they are, this was a perfectly
legal 10.49. Sheila Echols ran 10.83 in the next heat with a similar 0.0w reading, but Gwen Torrence's 10.78 in the final heat had a
reading of 5.0w. The 5 qualifiers behind Griffith-Joyner averaged 11.08, but in the next round, with wind of +1.3 to +1.5, averaged
11.39. Warning bells should have sounded – both at the US and IAAF federation offices. Not surprisingly, the manufacturers of the
gauge insisted that the apparatus was in perfect working order, but there were reports that the gauge occasionally took two or three
races to warm up.
Griffith Joyner again showed a quick pick-up to draw clear of Ashford in her semi-final at the 30m mark. The two of them
finished almost 3 meters clear of the rest of the field, with Griffith Joyner's time of 10.70 being the #2 all-time mark. Echols edged
Torrence 10.99 to 11.00 after the latter closed from 4th place in the last 15 meters. In the final Griffith Joyner again started quickly, and
built a meter lead by halfway which she steadily increased to two meters, crossing the line in 10.61 - again the #2 all-time performance,
which would have been 2/100ths quicker if she had bothered with a finishing lean. While the 10.49 is the WR, the OT final run of 10.61
should be considered the best on record under legal wind conditions. Ashford was a clear second with Torrence a safe third accelerating
away from Echols.