About Armin Hary
Armin Hary (German pronunciation: [ˈaʁmiːn ˈhaːʁi]; (born 22 March 1937) is a retired German sprinter who won the 1960 Olympic 100 meters dash. He was the first non-American to win the event since Percy Williams of Canada took the gold medal in 1928, the only German to ever win the event in the history of the Olympics, the first man to run 100 meters in 10.0 seconds and the last White man to establish a world record in 100 meters dash. == Early life == After playing soccer all throughout his childhood Hary switched to sprinting at age 14. Only a few years later, in 1958, he won his first international title when he came first in the 100 m and the 4 × 100 m at the European Championships. Also in 1958, Hary appeared to have run a new world record with a time of 10.0 seconds, but the track's slope of 11 centimetres (4.33 in) was found to exceed the maximum allowed 10 centimetres (3.94 in). == World record == On June 21, 1960 at Letzigrund Stadium in Zurich Hary ran into the history books by running the 100 m in 10.0 seconds, a new world record. But the judges were so shocked, they said it must have been a false start. Hary was allowed a repeat run and ran another 10.0 seconds 35 minutes later. == Olympic Games 1960 in Rome == That same year, at the Olympics, he achieved his greatest moment of fame. After a nerve-wracking number of near-starts the six men finally came off the mark together, but within two strides Hary had accelerated to a half-meter lead.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.