James covers a distance of 8 meters in the first second of a 100 meter race. Then, he sprints at a speed of 9 meters per second. How far is James from the finish line 9 seconds after the race has started?

Step 1 ：James covers a distance of \(8\) meters in the first second and then sprints at a speed of \(9\) meters per second for the remaining \(8\) seconds.

Step 2 ：The total distance covered by James in \(9\) seconds is \(8 + (9 \times 8) = 80\) meters.

Step 3 ：The distance remaining to the finish line is \(100 - 80 = \boxed{20}\) meters.