James Ray Hines (September 10, 1946 – June 3, 2023) was an American track and field athlete and National Football League (NFL) player, who held the 100-meter world record for 15 years.

In 1968, he became the first man to officially break the 10-second barrier in the 100 meters, and won individual and relay gold at the Mexico City Olympics.

[2] Born in Dumas, Arkansas, Hines was raised in Oakland, California, and graduated from McClymonds High School in 1964.

He was a baseball player in his younger years[3] until he was spotted by track coach Jim Coleman as a running talent, and Hines became a sprinter.

That evening of June 20, 1968, at Hughes Stadium has been dubbed by track and field historians as the "Night of Speed".

A few months later, at the 1968 Summer Olympics, Hines – a black athlete – found himself in a tense situation, with racial riots going on in his home country and a threat of a boycott by the black athletes of the U.S. team, who were disturbed by the controversial idea of admitting apartheid South Africa to the Games and revelations linking the head of the International Olympic Committee, Avery Brundage, to a racist and antisemitic country club.