27 March 1998Namibia's Frank Federicks clocked the fastest 100m time so
far this year when he recorded 9.96 in Johannesburg's All Africa Invitational today. In
the process he also established the fastest 100m time recorded in South Africa, shaving
100th of a second off the 9.97 mark set by Britain's Linford Christie in the same meeting
in 1995. The two athletes share the distinction of being the only sprinters to go under 10
seconds in South Africa.
Running in pouring rain, and despite the tension generated by three false starts, Fredericks rocketed off the blocks and by the fifty metre mark was pulling clear of second-placed Deji Aliu (NGR) who finished over five yards behind Fredericks in 10.22.