Lematair First Caucasian Under 10 Seconds

Sprinter wins 100 meters in 9.98 seconds to claim French national championship.

Christophe Lematair, a 20-year old French sprinter running the 100 meters in his country’s national championships, became the first caucasian in history to break sprinting’s sacred 10-second barrier with a 9.98-second clocking on Friday night.

“This was my goal to break it of course,” Lematair said. “One has to run under 10sec in order to be part of the world’s best. I will be recognised as the first white man to run it, but today is mainly historical for myself!”

Lematair’s time is the fastest run by a European this season, just ahead of Great Britain’s Dwain Chambers, who ran 9.99 last month in Bergen.

For more: IAAF.org