It's amazing to say!!! But Jeff Demps, yes the Jeff Demps that we have watched develop over the last four years, is the greatest high school sprinter of all time. Tonight, just hours after setting a state record of 10.12, he came back in the quarterfinals of the Olympic Trials to run a new personal best and a wind legal national record time of 10.01!!!
In fact, let's put this into perspective. He blew the doors off of the previous record holders. The 32-year-old state record of 10.16--demolished! And the national record set in 2005 by J-Mee Samuels of 10.08--in his dust! Okay, so the Florida pride is flowing pretty good here, but seriously the season he has put in this year has just been unbelieveable! And to cap it off with two huge performances in a few hours of 10.12 and 10.01 is just unreal.
"I knew I could get the record," Demps told MileSplit US national editor Scott Bush afterwards, "but I still have more to do here."
Let's not forget of course that it's not over yet. Jeff now advances to the semifinals tomorrow at about 5:30PM Eastern Time where he will go against the best of the best. If he qualifies, the finals (deciding who makes Team USA for the Bejing Olympics) will be at 7:50PM Eastern that same night. Joining Demps in the semis tomorrow will be our four other Floridians: Walter Dix, Xavier Carter, Chris Hargrett, and John Capel. Go Florida!
