Who do you take over 20 metres?
Under current rules, Armin Hary would be gone. The guy had big stones! In the Olympic final, after one false start was called on him, he came right back and “reacted” in the final in 0.03 sec after the gun. The minimum reaction time considered possible and therefore allowed today is 0.100 sec. (although I’d seen Ben react in 0.099)
What he used to do, on the set command, was wait till all others had been set for over 1 sec, then come up himself, pause- and then take off! He knew that the starter had been holding everyone for so long that he’d fire the gun the instant Hary stopped moving. The tactic of waiting to respond after the set command was outlawed a few years later, after some of the Americans adopted it, particularly in events on the turn, where the starts are harder to see.
In any event, none of this would have helped him much against BJ. Hary’s electronic time in Rome was 10.38.
Bud Greenspan did a wonderful job with the Olympiad series, “Fastest Men on Earth”, which included Armin Harry.
If anyone has this videotape, please email me off line.