11.67 isn't a bad time for a sprinter, even better if you are a female but when you are 50 years old it is absolutely ridiculous. Saw in today's Herald Sun that Merlene Ottey is part of the Slovenian 4x100m team for the European titles at 50 years of age so I went on the internet to see how fast she had run this year. I was shocked to discover that she run 11.67 only 2 weeks ago!

I was chatting to this guy at the Play Boy mansion when I was there for NYE earlier this year and he was telling me that he was a sprinter and had run 9.95 back in 1983 and was hoping to run 10.60 at 50 (he turns 50 in September). I asked his name and it was Willie Gault (he left T&F to play in the NFL and won a super bowl). He was impressed when I told him that his time must have been wind assisted, as it's not a name that appears on the all time list. His best legal time was 10.10 and 13.26 in the 110H.

Anyway, looked up his results and he has run 10.76w which is almost/equally as impressive as Merlene's time.

1982 10.10A 1.9 2rB NCAA Provo UT 5 Jun
1983 9.95w 8.9 1 Knoxville TN 2 Apr
1983 10.17 -0.7 1 Tokyo 8 May
1992 10.65 -0.6 8r1 MSR Walnut CA 18 Apr
2004 10.85w 2.4 2r3 Scott Irvine CA 2 May
2005 10.73 0.6 3r1 Oxy Inv Eagle Rock CA 7 May
2005 10.60w 2.8 1r1-40 Culver City CA 11 Jun
2006 10.72 1.0 1-40 Indianapolis IN 24 Jun
2007 10.88 1.3 4r2 Scott Irvine CA 28 Apr
2008 10.76w 2.8 2r3 Lister Los Angeles CA 26 Apr
2008 10.80 0.0 3r2 Oxy Inv Eagle Rock CA 10 May
2009 10.80 1.4 6r3 MSR Walnut CA 17 Apr
2010 10.76w 2.4 4rB Lister Los Angeles CA 24 Apr


Merlene Ottey

1981 11.07 2.0 1s1 Austin TX 29 May
1982 11.03 1.4 2 Brisbane 4 Oct
1983 11.07 0.5 1 Lincoln NE 6 May
1984 11.01 0.0 1 Walnut CA 25 Jul
1985 10.92 1.0 1 MSR Walnut CA 28 Apr
1986 11.06 0.4 1 Sevilla 24 May
1987 10.87 1.1 1 Walnut CA 31 May
1988 11.00 -0.9 1 Saint-Denis 7 Jun
1989 10.95 1.3 1 BNP Villeneuve d'Ascq 25 Jun
1990 10.78 1.7 1 Sevilla 30 May
1991 10.79 1.7 1 Vigo 23 Jul
1991 10.78w 2.3 1s2 WC Tokyo 27 Aug
1992 10.80 1.6 1 Salamanca 13 Jul
1993 10.82 -0.3 2 WC Stuttgart 16 Aug
1994 10.78 0.4 1 GPF Paris 3 Sep
1995 10.85 1.4 2s1 WC Göteborg 7 Aug
1996 10.74 AR 1.3 1 GPF Milano 7 Sep
1997 10.83 0.9 2 VD Bruxelles 22 Aug
1998 11.01 1.1 3rA DNG Stockholm 5 Aug
1999 11.01 0.8 1 Sparkassen Dortmund 26 Jun
2000 10.99 -1.2 1 Lambrakis Thessaloníki 30 Aug
2000 10.91w 2.4 1 Gold Coast 10 Sep
2001 11.31A 0.3 2 Engen Pretoria 23 Mar
2002 11.28 1.1 1 Velenje 25 May
2003 11.25 -0.5 1 ECp-1 Velenje 21 Jun
2004 11.09 NR 2.0 1 Naimette-Xhovémont 3 Aug
2006 11.34 1.8 1 Glasgow 12 Aug
2007 11.56 -1.8 3rA Malles 4 Aug
2008 11.60 1.3 2 Maribor 11 Jul
2008 11.56w 2.9 1h1 NC Maribor 19 Jul
2010 11.67 0.9 2h2 Krka Novo Mesto 13 Jul

Just out of curiosity JR, I was in LA for NYE - could you have gotten me in to the party?

I think Merlene just edges him out, especially 11.09 at 44!