French newspaper L’Equipe is reporting that at the US Trials for the Seoul Olympics, Florence Griffith-Joyner became “Flo-Jo” by flying in 10.49 in the 100m quarterfinals, two months before winning three titles Olympic (100m, 200m, 4x100m) in South Korea.
The problem is that day; the wind was blowing very hard in the Michael Carroll Stadium. So strong that the triple jump competition, parallel to the 100m straight, gave rise to enormous measurements, in particular for an obviously unapproved world record from Willie Banks at 18.20 + 5.2m/s.
But two women’s 100m quarterfinals showed zero wind, including that of Flo-Jo. In 1995, the Australian biomechanist Nicholas Linthorne, wrote a report at the request of the International Federation, which said: “The wind should have been measured between +5m/s and +7m/s during the 10.49 race.
The official world record for the women’s 100m should be the 10.61 that Griffith-Joyner achieved in the final at the same US Olympic Trials. “Clearly, one can wonder if Elaine Thompson-Herah not only broke Flo-Jo’s Olympic record this Saturday but also equalled her “real” world record. And it was nearly no wind, according to L´Équipe, a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sport.
