American Ronnie Baker made an impressive start to his Olympic season after posting a world-leading 9.94 seconds to win the men’s 100 meters invitational at the 2021 Texas Relays hosted at the Mike Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas, on Saturday.
Back-to-Back World-Leading Times At Texas Relays
Baker, who ran twice during the indoor season before switching off to focus his attention on training, opened his outdoor term with a record-breaking performance after taking down the long-standing meeting record of 9.97 seconds, which was set in 1992 by Nigerian Olapade Adeniken.
The time also improved the previous 2021 world-leading mark of 9.97, which was set at this same meeting on Friday by Benjamin Azamati of West Texas A&M.
Despite winning the race and setting the best mark for the year, Baker, who suffered a hamstring injury in 2019 and wasn’t able to compete in the COVID-19 pandemic hit 2020 campaign, admits that there were certain parts of his race that he will need to work on.
Asked what he was working on in today’s race, the 27-year-old said he was “just tried focusing on the first 30m.
Still Has Work To Do
He added: “I know my coach is going to get on me because honestly it probably wasn’t the greatest but I came out with the win so I am excited about that.
Baker, who won two NCAA Indoor 60m titles and won a bronze medal over the same distance at the 2018 World Indoor Championships, outlined what he will be working on in training.
“I feel like I didn’t have a drive phase,” he told the Longhorn Network during his post-race interview. “I feel like I came up a little high in the beginning. If I can work on that and drive a little bit longer I can accelerate better down the end of the race.”
Finishing a distant second was Bryce Robinson in 10.10 while Cordero Gray was even further back at 10.39.
Kiara Parker won the women’s 100m with a time of 11.20 (1.7 m/s). Kristina Knott of the Philippines finished second in 11.54.
