And when Jamaican sprinter Don Quarrie arrived at Southern Cal in the late 1960s, he eschewed the school's newly installed, top-of-the-line synthetic track in favor of an old cinder track.

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Two years after breaking that record, Smith would become the Olympic 200m champion amid well-documented controversy, but it could be argued that his 19.5, set on a cinder track, was an even greater performance.

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