One word:
Nosireebob.
Before the 1964 Summer games in Tokyo had even begun, Bobby Hayes was already the world-record holder in five sprint events – including a blistering 9.1 clocking in the 100-yard dash. Running on a chewed cinder track in Tokyo’s National Stadium, he won two gold medals with world-record times in the 100-meter dash and as anchor of the United States’ 400-meter relay team. Hayes earned individual gold with a blazing 10.06 in the 100, but it was his performance in the 4x100 that was truly for the ages. Taking the baton from teammate Richard Stebbins with the U.S. in
sixth place, Hayes ran perhaps the fastest 100-meters in history – conservatively estimated at under nine seconds flat – to win the event going away. Two weeks later ... he was back in Jacksonville playing football for Jake Gaither and the Florida A&M Rattlers.
Bobby Hayes is one of the most-underrated great athletes of the 20th Century.
