A moment in time: Hot night's scorching times

Carl Lewis edging out Leroy Burrell in the 100m final. Photo / AP

Athletics had never seen a sprint race like it. On this day in 1991, on a hot August night in Tokyo, eight men participated in what was immediately labelled "the greatest 100m race in terms of depth we have ever seen".

Tokyo hosted the world championships, their first major athletics event since the 1964 Olympics. All the big guns were in town, including Leroy Burrell, Carl Lewis, Linford Christie and Raymond Stewart, as well as rising talents such as Frankie Fredericks and Dennis Mitchell.

The 24-year-old Burrell was the man to beat, having set the world record of 9.90s three months earlier. Double Olympic 100m gold medallist Lewis (30) was enjoying a resurgence in the twilight of his career. Christie was the European champion and had won the 1990 Auckland Commonwealth Games title in 9.93s.

The Jamaican Stewart was a veteran of two Olympic 100m finals and had held the No 1 ranking the previous year. Mitchell had placed fourth at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and Fredericks was African champion.

Lewis had beaten his Santa Monica team-mate Burrell in only one of their last six races. Their styles contrasted greatly; the bullocking, stocky Burrell versus the gliding grace of the 1.88m Lewis - one commentator likened it to Mike Tyson versus Muhammad Ali on a running track.

Lewis made his customary slow start and was nearly last as the field accelerated. Burrell and Mitchell set the early pace, before Lewis embarked on one of the great comebacks in 100m history.

Over the last 30m, he soared through the field, passing Stewart, Fredericks and Christie. In the last few paces, he overtook Mitchell and was neck-and-neck with Burrell as they crossed the line.

"Burrell wins it," yelled veteran British commentator David Coleman. "It's close, very close ... very close indeed."

Coleman infamously got it wrong - Lewis had crossed first in a new world record of 9.86s while Burrell beat his own mark with 9.88s.

For the first time, six men broke the 10-second barrier in the same race, with Christie (9.92s) setting a new European record and Fredericks (9.95s) lowering the African record. The 25-year-old Mitchell (9.91s) claimed bronze in a personal best he never surpassed and Stewart (9.96s) set a Jamaican record.

"It's the happiest day of my career," a tearful Lewis said. "But there is no way I could have done it without Leroy. He has set the tone all year."

Lewis' record stood for three years, although he - along with four others in the field - have since faced allegations (or served suspensions) around banned stimulants.

Five days after the 100m final, Lewis was involved in an epic long jump competition which saw Mike Powell break Bob Beamon's 23-year-old world record.

Unbeaten in the event for 10 years, Lewis produced the longest jumps of his career: a wind-assisted best of 8.91m, along with legal efforts of 8.87m and 8.84m. But Powell trumped Lewis with his fifth-round leap of 8.95m, 5cm further than Beamon's famous mark. No athlete since has jumped within 20cm of Powell's record.

Fastest final

1991 world championships 100m final

1. Carl Lewis — 9.86s (WR)
2. Leroy Burrell — 9.88s (PB)
3. Dennis Mitchell — 9.91s (PB)
4. Linford Christie — 9.92s (AR)
5. Frankie Fredericks — 9.95s (AR)
6. Raymond Stewart — 9.96s (NR)
7. Robson de Silva — 10.12s
8. Bruny Surin — 10.14s