From a CBC preview of the Pre Classic. I loved the article and only wish they menntioned Joanthan Gault and LetsRun.com by name.
Of course, Flo-Jo's record comes with asterisks. As we have discussed before, her 100-metre world record registered a 0.0 wind reading, which is a hint that the wind gauge was busted. Most sprint races feature some wind. Results count as records if a tailwind is 2.0 metres per second or lower. Carl Lewis ran 9.78 at the same meet. His wind reading: 5.2 metres per second.
There's also the era. More correctly, The Era.
Flo-Jo's world records straddled Ben Johnson's positive test, and occurred back when out-of-competition drug screening wasn't even a notion. We know Johnson's 9.79 had chemical help, as were many world records — some that still stand — from Eastern Bloc countries. As for other records that predate widespread drug testing, skepticism abounds.
One reporter came at the topic tangentially at a post-race news conference during worlds, asking Jackson if she considered her 21.41 the true world record. Jackson chose not to engage.
"If a person hasn't failed any test, I cannot comment on any world record," she said. "It is the world record."
Maybe the reporter missed the memo, but people don't talk bad about Flo-Jo.
Wind gauge, Steroid Era, rolling start, downhill run. Doesn't matter. It's next to impossible to find someone willing to slight her in public.