Leroy Burrell sprints to new world record in 100 meter dash at Switzerland track meet

Jet, July 25, 1994

Leroy Burrell recently regained his claim as the world's fastest human when he recorded a 9.85 time in the 100 meter race at Lausanne, Switzerland.

Burrell, 27, recaptured the record he held for 2 1/2 months in 1991 by blazing to victory in 9.85 seconds at the Athletissima IAAF Grand Prix meet. Carl Lewis shattered Burrell's previous mark of 9.90 with a 9.86 clocking at the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo.

"I'm just happy to have broken the world record again," said Burrell. With Santa Monica Track Club teammate Lewis not competing over a disagreement over an appearance fee, Burrell led a pack of three runners who broke 10 seconds.

"It's just one of those days when it all came together," Burrell, from Philadelphia, said. "I still feel I can run faster and my goal is to be ranked No. 1."

Davidson Ezinwa of Nigeria edged Dennis Mitchell for second as both were timed in 9.99. Burrell was aided by a wind of 1.2 meters per second on a warm humid evening.