There has never been a sprinter in history that has dominated the Olympic games like Usain "Lightning" Bolt. Bolt not only broke the 200m world record... but it was Michael Johnson's record (19.32) - the record that was set in 1996 by a miraculous 0.34 seconds, a record many thought would stand for generations ... and, Bolt broke that world record running into a headwind at near sea level, beating a field of the best in the world, by 10 meters!! To put it in perspective, the 200m time of 19.30 is a milestone - no man had ever run under 19.60 but Michael Johnson, and Johnson set his WR with a +o.4 m/s tailwind. Bolt set his record in a 0.9 m/s headwind - certainly a factor for a 6'5" sprinter. No 200m world record in at least 20 years has been set with a headwind of that speed. (When looking at the margin of victory in the photo above, note that the guy in red - Churandy Martina, was disqualified for running out of his lane as was Walter Spearman. USA's Shawn Crawford took the Silver and Walter Dix, the Bronze). This is the first time any person has set world records in the 100 and 200m races at the Olympic games.
After Bolt's performance in the 100m, I predicted he would break this record but one has to wonder. Is Bolt at a place in a moment in time where he is at his physical pinnacle or is this guy capable of more? Is this just a freak occurrence, an anomaly? Bolt is just 21, much of this speed is natural, he simply hasn't had a long career of training.
Again, out of corporate greed, NBC has withheld coverage of the event that occurred at 10:30 am EST this morning so they can appease their corporate sponsor, Chevy, by showing it tonight - 12 hours after the fact. I picked up up a few bootlegs from Britain and watched it. Gives me chills - Watch it
As the commentators say, he is like "a man running among boys."
Absolutely extraordinary... undoubtedly the track event of the Games. Bolt steals the show. Lightning strikes twice... this time he ran through the tape unlike the 100m:
No comments:
Post a Comment