Bolt -- world record...again.

I won't vouch for his cleanliness, but I will throw in a couple points for the "reasons not to be a skeptic" column:

1) Bolt's sudden rise out of nowhere was NOT a situation where he used to be mortal in his event and then suddenly inexpicably leaped to another level (unlike a lot of roid cases), instead it was a situation where he was SIMPLY NOT DOING the event. It wasn't that long ago that Bolt's primary event was thought to be the 400 and he wasn't even competing in the 100. He just started 100 training within the last couple years and, once he did, soared to the top of that event damn near immediately. He didn't inexplicably leap to the top from mediocrity, he's been at the top almost from the moment he switched his training focus to shorter distances. Perhaps this is just a case where the greatest natural sprinter who ever lived was focusing on the wrong event for a while.

2) The sprinting world's simply never seen a body like Bolt's before, a guy 6'5" with that kind of explosiveness and naturally perfect long stride, those are gifts roids don't give. It's not a situation like Marion Jones or Ben Johnson where a normally proportioned body just figured out how to go faster than anyone else, Bolt's body is something different than we've ever seen in sprinting before.

I just heard someone on ESPN draw the analogy that it was like Bolt was 30 years ahead in the evolution of sprinters. It's accepted that athletes get bigger and faster as time goes on, but usually it's a gradual process. But, with Bolt, it's almost as if that process was accelerated and this guy was dropped in a few decades early in the sprinting evolutionary process.

 

He's the Secretariat of sprinters.

 

1 4 656 Usain Bolt JAM 9.58 (WR) 0.146
2 5 1183 Tyson Gay USA 9.71 (NR) 0.144
3 6 665 Asafa Powell JAM 9.84 (SB) 0.134
4 3 111 Daniel Bailey ANT 9.93 0.129
5 8 1116 Richard Thompson TRI 9.93 (SB) 0.119
6 1 492 Dwain Chambers GBR 10.00 (SB) 0.123
7 2 1110 Marc Burns TRI 10.00 (SB) 0.165
8 7 1215 Darvis Patton USA 10.34 0.149

He wasn't even the fastest out of the blocks. If Bolt drops his reaction time down around 0.100, we'll see him go 9.4.

 

Either allow steroids in every sport, or call complete bullshit on all of this. No way will I ever believe that a person can shave so much off a world record or demolish a number just because they are that much better than the hundreds of thousands of people to try the sport before them.

That includes Phelps, James, Woods and all the others. I'm convinced that one of the three I just mentioned will fall to HGH or steroids in the next five years.

 

The height has nothing to do with his starts. Having longer legs would actually help him get a stronger explosion out of the blocks.

It's quite possible he just sucks at starts. Some of the fastest runners I've seen in my lifetime, such as a kid I coached who won the state championship in the 100 meter dash a few years back, had the worst starts in the world. By the 40 meter dash he was in first place though because he was so fast. Similarly, I've had mediocre runner who would be the fastest man out of the blocks, but pretty bad thereafter.

 

That's like saying if the high-schooler that runs a 3:59 mile, could just run a 3:53, he'd be the best high-schooler ever.

It's nearly impossible.

 

just watched the video of the race.

That's absolutely incredible. And I don't think there's any doubt he can go faster. Just insane.

 

FWIW, the 400 is still a sprint.

That aside, the most amazing thing about this race was that Tyson Gay ran an absolutely wonderful race -- and still finished more than .1 back. Gay may be one of the fastest guys of all time at this point, and yet he may never have a damn thing to show for it once Bolt is done.

FWIW, the 400 is still a sprin

 

So you're saying the 400 is a sprint?

You're right about Gay. A shame that he won't get much recognition for his ability. Bad timing, I guess.

 

Bolt is a freak. I believe a sub 9 is possible with him.

 

How'd you like to be Asafa Powell? You run a 9.84 and not only are you not the world champion, you're not even the fastest guy on the damn island.

 

This is one of the dumbest things I've ever read. Sub-9??? Are you freaking kidding me?