[TheChairGuy]

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/trackandfield/news/story?id=4402644

You're not supposed to run the 100 meters that fast when you're 6'5" and 23yo.  Peak happens at about 25-28yo for most sprinters and most are several inches shorter - normally under 6'.

So, this guy is really a freak.  At his height, age and current progress....the 200 meters should be his best event.  At this rate, he might break 19 seconds...which is unbelievably fast.

Tyson Gay of the US has been hobbled by a serious groin pull but glided to an American record of 9.71 seconds.  He's scary good too and shouldn't be overlooked if he can tame his groin situation.

These are exciting times for Track & Field's sprint events!

John

[BobM]

I ran track way back when in high school and it always surprised my when some of the fastest guys in the 60 and 100 were really short in a linebacker style. It was odd to see a tall guy running really fast over a short distance. Of course, longer strides really paid off in the 200 and up distances and in hurdles.

I was one of the taller sprinters back then at 6'1 (with a PB of 10.2 in the 100yd and 22.3 in the 200yd, 23'4" in the long jump and 6'4" in the high jump).

It's all really basically slow-twitch vs fast-twich muscles, or how quickly you can get your legs around, and with longer legs it's harder to do quickly so you really need to take advantage of the extra stride length.

relivin' the past,
Bob

[2bigears]

   fast is fast,he takes 40 to 41 strides at around 9 feet a shot. he is a super runner.

[jimdgoulding]

Heard some pro football scouts have an eye on this guy if he can be taught to run routes and catch a football.  Don't imagine he's had any experience in Jamaica.  I could like him better if he weren't such a show off.  He might be a Jerry Jones kinda guy.

[maxwalrath]

I could like him better if he weren't such a show off.

In defense of his showing off, he is the fastest human being to ever live. 

[rajacat]

I could like him better if he weren't such a show off.

In defense of his showing off, he is the fastest human being to ever live.

Showing off and trash talking is common in all the major sports except baseball where it can be an excuse for a bench clearing brawl. Of course Muhammad Ali was the master of this and did much to popularize it. It doesn't have the stigma attached to it as it did in the past. It would be hard to imagine Jesse Owens trash talking and strutting his stuff.

-Roy

[alan m. kafton]

I simply see "Insane" Bolt as a big kid, celebrating the experience. He's a long way from a mature adult, and fine with me.  I don't expect him to act like Bob Dole at the finish line.

Here's a good analysis of the race:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/18/sports/18bolt.html?_r=1&hpw

[mcullinan]

It was amazing to wATCH HIM IN THE OLYMPICS. I can really appreciate the awesomeness.
Mike

[Photon46]

That was a great race. First and second place finishers demonstrated interesting contrasts in body mechanics. Usain runs with such fluidity and grace, Tyson runs with a fierce precision that seems mechanical in contrast. A professor of physiology was on NPR today talking about the event and said that runners at that level are probably putting a thousand pounds of explosive pressure into every footfall. Usain's seeming floating gait belies the forces he generates.

[rodge827]

Heard some pro football scouts have an eye on this guy if he can be taught to run routes and catch a football.  Don't imagine he's had any experience in Jamaica.  I could like him better if he weren't such a show off.  He might be a Jerry Jones kinda guy.

Nooo waay mon.  He would get smacked ounce by Brian Dawkins , and its bahk on de plaaain to Jahmaaaykah.

[TheChairGuy]

Heard some pro football scouts have an eye on this guy if he can be taught to run routes and catch a football.  Don't imagine he's had any experience in Jamaica.  I could like him better if he weren't such a show off.  He might be a Jerry Jones kinda guy.

Speed itself ain't quite good enough to make it to the NFL

The fastest guy I've ever been up close to see run was Renaldo 'Skeets' Nehemiah (he was in college and I was in High School at the Penn Relays...we were on the track waiting for the Boys 4 x 200' I think while the college 4 x 400' was run...with Skeets as the anchor)

He ran a 44-split and blew the doors off the Villanova anchor. It was unbelievably fast (1980 it must've been) - he was just gliding all the way around the track.

He was tall'ish as he was primarily a hurdler (you need to be fast and tall running over 39" hurdles) at maybe 6' 2".

The 49'ers tried to make him a receiver and he had 2-3 undistinguished years in SF as I remember it.  After that trial, he went back to hurdling and dominated track for another few years until retirement.

John

[alan m. kafton]

20 great pics.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/gallery/featured/GAL1159140/1/index.htm?bcnn=yes

[Mightyburner]

It would be hard to imagine Jesse Owens trash talking and strutting his stuff.

-Roy
[/quote]

That's because with the exception of Jack Johnson, prior to the mid-1960s, Black athletes didn't talk trash (at least not in public) for fear of being banned or worse.  Much worse.

Bolt's showboating bothered me for about a nanasecond but then like Maxwalrath said "he's the fastest human being to ever live" so he can talk all the trash he wants.  He backs it up.   

[rajacat]

Trash talking among white athletes wasn't that common during that time period.
I hope that track and field doesn't become like professional wrestling. A little showboating is OK but when it becomes like a sideshow it detracts from the sport.

That's one reason why I like baseball. Narcissistic behavior is relatively restrained. If a player makes unbelievable catch he doesn't dance a jig and woof it up. He acts like it's routine. Even when a player hits a walk-off home run there's none of the demonstrations that have plagued football in recent years. There might be a team pile-on but there is no getting in the face of the opponents. It's more about team than the individual. In pro tennis, aside from McEnroe, Conners and Nastase, the vast majority of players act like adults.

-Roy   

[BobM]

The fastest guy I've ever been up close to see run was Renaldo 'Skeets' Nehemiah (he was in college and I was in High School at the Penn Relays...we were on the track waiting for the Boys 4 x 200' I think while the college 4 x 400' was run...with Skeets as the anchor)

He ran a 44-split and blew the doors off the Villanova anchor. It was unbelievably fast (1980 it must've been) - he was just gliding all the way around the track.

Nonetheless, the 49'ers tried to make him a receiver and he had 2-3 undistinguished years in SF as I remember it.  After that trail, he went back to hurdling and dominated track for another few years until retirement.

John

Yeah, I remember him and jumped against him in high school (we graduated the same year). He completely dominated most of the events he competed in, and he competed in a lot (you were allowed 4 at every meet but I think he competed in 6 or 8 depending on where he was needed). I jumped against him in the Eastern States. He qualified for the finals with one long jump and then won them with a second jump. Yup, only 2 jumps to win the event to all the rest of us in the finals making 6 in total for the event. Then he won the 100 hurdles easily and a few other events. What was amazing when watching him was how fluidly he ran and how long his stride was, just like Bolt.

[TheChairGuy]

Ha, I had no idea he was a long jumper, too, Bob.

A multi-faceted guy - for sure

wikipedia says he was 6' 1" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaldo_Nehemiah), but he looked a little taller than that to me with those long, gazelle strides and my 5'9" vantage point.

John

[jwes]

Interesting points about trash talking.  I viewed all that more as celebration by an enthusiastic young guy - but I guess it could have been arrogance.  I don't get that from him though.

On football, I was also thinking about Renaldo N.  Wonder if Bolt would be different.  He's also not used to being bumped off the line by a DB or linebacker.  But wow, can you imagine him on a slant route across the middle?

[TheChairGuy]

19.19 in the 200 meters and another World Record

http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/news;_ylt=AkL6QXJcdO3GvaWKaF201MFAyMIF?slug=ap-worlds-bolt&prov=ap&type=lgns

For perspective....it took almost 2 decades for Michael Johnson to erase Pietro Mennea's (altitude aided) 19.72 from Mexico City.  Carl Lewis and a host of others tried and failed beforehand. 

Now, Usain Bolt smashes Michael Johnson's incredible 19.32 record not once, but twice in the past year.

This event is a more natural fit over the 100 meters for a sprinter 6' 5" tall....sub-19 beckons I think   The man is really amazing to watch.

Scary was that he was the fastest outta' the blocks by a substantial amount...as well as the fastest running around both the turn and straightaway.  He is just a seriously phenomonal athlete.

John

[BobM]

I would love to see what Bolt could do in the long jump. Yes there's some technique to be learned, but with that speed he should be able to get way out in the pit just from momentum alone.

[carusoracer]

Incredible to watch history...Man was he really moving breaking another record in the 200.
Second place was 19.81