Discussion: Bolt!

Watching Donovan Bailey win the 100m in Atlanta was a pretty damn awesome thing to watch BUT watching Bolt just run sub 9.7 and pretty much jog through the final 20-25m was the most amazing pieces of athleticism I've ever seen. He just made a lot of world class athletes look absolutely normal. He is so far ahead of the rest of the World. Sub 9.6 someday soon.

In orienteering who have the Bolt's been?

Annichen?
Tero

He's got a serious chance of beating Johnsons 200m record 19.32, and I didn't think I'd be saying that for a long while.
Bolt's been outclassing the opposition since he was a kid, even won World Juniors 3 or 4 years too young....so he might just not be on the juice??

No not "juice" - Actinen A

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/sport/olympics20...

After Bailey and Christie won 100m Gold for CAN and GBR it is great to see a Jamaican born 100m gold winner win for Jamaica.

He is not human.....he shut it down at 70 m and ran with his arms out.....sub 9.6....how bout sub 9.5!!

Very impressive to watch....those long strides sure eat up ground quick. He will win the 200 as well no doubt.

>He's got a serious chance of beating Johnsons 200m record 19.32, and I >didn't think I'd be saying that for a long while.

Although as most Canadians know Michael Johnson wasn't very good at the 150m distance. :-)

Bolt is unbelievable - I've seen nothing like it since Michael Johnson. Nor do I see any reason to think he's getting any advantage over the others from use of "juice".

Here in Scotland we also remember the big showdown over 150m. And that the fastest man in the world over the distance that day, despite easing down in Bolt-like fashion, was, um, Ian Mackie...

I really wish he had run all the way through the line. I'd rather see the 9.5X than the celebration. But he's young so I hope there will be plenty more opportunities to see him do it.

He pretty much made top elite sprinters look like, well... not so much elite after all, that was awsome! I don't know how you really prepare yourself to beat this guy when he is that much faster!

Have heard a lot about how he's the "wrong" shape for a sprinter - mostly regarding his height. I think though, the more we see of those 10 paces in the middle of the race where he blew it apart, the more tall sprinters we'll also start to see....

yes, i think the same way. the height might be a "problem" at the start, where he "just" ran as fast as the others but in the middle part when it comes to the to top speed he is simply faster and he got away.

He had the slowest reaction time in the race but was leading after 3 strides. His height is no dis advantage because he can carry himself like a 6ft guy, but with the stride length of an 8ft guy. He also said he is not interested in world records -yet- and just wanted to enjoy the event and get the gold, which he did after 40m of the race.

That article is terrible. It mentions 'Actinen A' three times but never explains what it does.

@Tomr_R: you found the reaction times? are they on a webpage? would be interesting to see them? a link would be perfect! :)

i was wrong, he was 7th fastest. This is interesting though:

http://www.sportsscientists.com/2008/08/beijing-20...

it would be interesting to compare 10 split graphs with the other runners as well as some previous top guys Like Greene, Bailey, Lewis etc.

Reaction times are all on official results:

http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/AT/C73A/...

I'm assuming he had a strong incentive to NOT break the world record (or to minimize the time dropped from the WR). I've gotta believe a bonus for a world record would be much more lucrative at a European track meet than he could receive based on his Olympic performance.

I imagine there are fincancial incentives to breaking the WR many times as opposed to a few times

e.g. Isinbeyeva in the Pole Vault. She gets $50000 per record.

In my memory, another pole vaulter, Sergei Bubka (sp?), takes the cake for professionally managing world records, although perhaps on a different pay scale.

Also in my memory, only Bob Beamon had a more astounding track&field/athletics performance than Bolt, and I don't get the same feeling as with Ben Johnson's yellow eyed, bulging-everything exhibition.

Vasily Alexeyev, the great Soviet super-heavyweight weightlifter, was supposed to get an extra bonus if he beat the world record 100 times. He only made it up to 80.

Who are the orienteering world record holders? (A propos this other thread"...)

Int'l results through 2006
[Thanks, Blair.]

wasnt the 200m final another display of blowing away the best sprinters in the world. If Bolt is not on the "juice" then we have some pretty exciting sprint races to watch in the next few years (or 10 years as he is only 22 yo today). It has made people want to watch the sprints again. I thought Michael johnson's world record in the 200m was going to stand for a long long time. So did he. Good run mon.

Before any haters throw the D word about, here is Bolts PB progression. No miraculous PB smashes or sudden bursting onto the scene, just years of hard work and mind boggling talent.

400m
2001 age 15 - 45.35

200m
2001 age 15 - 21.73
2002 age 16 - 20.58
2003 age 17 - 20.13
2004 age 18 - 19.93
2005 age 19 - 19.99
2006 age 20 - 19.88
2007 age 21 - 19.75

100m
2007 age 21 - 10.03

Rashid - how bout the 1500 race final? I can watch that over and over and over again. A lot of movement from front to back, race dynamics. Those guys look like they are sprinting the whole way, and then find another gear at the end. Too bad Lagat looks like he's suddenly bursting off the scene.

Ramzi, now theres a guy im suspicious of. Ran amazingly in Helsinki, vanished for a year and then re appeared at the Olympics with no previous form for the last 18 months. Hmmmm.

Tom: You do have high standards - calling a silver at the World Champs "no previous form"!

Meanwhile, adding Bolt's progression this year is the exact opposite of steady progression ...

2001 age 15 - 21.73
2002 age 16 - 20.58
2003 age 17 - 20.13
2004 age 18 - 19.93
2005 age 19 - 19.99
2006 age 20 - 19.88
2007 age 21 - 19.75
2008 age 22 - 19.30

100m
2007 age 21 - 10.03
2008 age 22 - 9.69 (at 9:60 pace)

Not that steady progression proves anything: Dwain Chambers was British Schools Champion and Junior World record holder.

i as talking more about this year, but yes that is good, but he really does appear at big races and than mysteriously vanish again.

This whole discussion about "forbidden stuff" is completely senseless. do you think that one of the guys in the sprint finals is clean?

Even if they are all dopers, Bolt is still the greatest doper on earth and has crushed all of his cheating opponents. I believe he is clean though. Look at all of the other dopers of the past. They have all been very muscular, power runners, Bolt is different. He isnt as muscly and his height and stride length can account for a lot of his pace. In this day and age I feel for the sake of the sport we should be hopeing that these guys are clean and not blaming them straight away. I feel that some of Bolt's sudden PB increase this year is down to a young guy whose potential has been slowed over the last few seasons due to injury and is only now making good his potential. Most of his 05' and 06' seasons were ruined by injury.

more muscles doesnt mean more doping... and I tell you, none of them is clean. but I think that if nobody would dope, bolt would still win ... maybe no WRs but he would be the #1! :)