World Athletics Championships

[Matt the Shrimp]

What can you say about Usain Bolt, except that he is a total phenomenon?! Unbelievable.

Really lovely to see Asafa Powell a bit more relaxed as well. I guess he's come to terms with the fact that Bolt is in a league of his own. Poor Tyson Gay - to run a PB and a national record was utterly phenomenal. He must be sitting there shaking his head, wondering how he ran 9.71s but not win.

9.58s was just mind-blowing - especially since he spent the last few metres checking to see where Gay was and then to look at the clock as he crossed the line. I reckon Bolt can go under 9.5s. Whether he can get to 9.4s - which is what he reckons he can do - remains to be seen.

History in the making. What a guy.

Matt

 

[Davros]

I love the way he seems to save it for the big occasions too, a true showman, utterly confident in his ability, and damn well he might be.

The funniest bit was before the race, and how all the others sprinters pretend to be confident and cocky, to try and be like Bolt, because that is what he does.... but why do that as surely your gonna get tonked!

The race aint for gold anymore, its for Silver, long live the Bolt.

I cant wait to see him smash 9.5, but knowing what he's like, he will save that for the next worlds or 2012.

Its just incredible to think that when i was growing up, the WR was aounrd 9.87 and people would occasionally pip 0.01 off of it every couple of years or so, but this guy has knocked 0.16 off it in 2 years at whats looks like relative ease!

Just doing some maths, and he was running at an average of 37.58 km/h (23.35 m/h)

 

[pringlejon]

reaching top speed of just over 27mph too!!! that's quicker than most people cycle!

 

[The General]

I believe he has done a "flying" 100m's in about 8.4 secs!! (not sure when this was, but guessing when he run the 200m)

Kev

 

[Uncle Leo]

I believe he has done a "flying" 100m's in about 8.4 secs!! (not sure when this was, but guessing when he run the 200m)

Kev

I *think* that was when he did that 150m race in manchester earlier this year.

 

[Jonny_Stokes]

Phenomenal, wasn't it?

Still, great gold for Ennis, and Dai Green looks good for a medal too - very impressed with his semi-final run.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

When can Bolt start to be considered the greatest ever sportsman?

The way he's obliterated the competition, I think he's already the greatest ever athlete. How much longer until he's mentioned in the same breadth as Ali, Pele, Bradman etc?

 

[canveyshrimper]

Probably not far off, but one achievement that IMO will never be beaten (or equalled) is that of Zatopek who won 5000m, 10000m & the marathon in Helsinki in 1952.

He's certainly on a par with Michael Johnson who is probably the greatest male athlete of recent times.

 

[Matt the Shrimp]

He's certainly on a par with Michael Johnson who is probably the greatest male athlete of recent times.

Both your & YB's assessments are a bit harsh on, for instance, Kenenisa Bekele - who has just won his 4th consecutive World Championship gold medal at 10,000m, who is double Olympic Champion at 5,000m and 10,000m and who also won the 10,000m Olympic Gold in Athens.

Bekele might not be as fast as Bolt over 100m, but he's a man that can make 10km look exciting with the sheer intensity of his lapping speed, as he winds it up towards the end. He has won every major event at every distance he has entered in the last 4 years - at 3,000, 5,000 and 10,000m.

Bolt is a phenomenon, and there's no question he's already vying with Michael Johnson and Jesse Owens to be seen as the greatest sprinters of all time... but greatest athlete does the likes of Zatopek, Bekele and Gebreselassie a big disservice. The lack of glamour surrounding their events does not make their achievements any less astonishing.

After all... and here's a bizarre but amusing way of looking at it: I could probably (just!) run 100m quicker than Bolt can do 200m.

Bekele can complete 10km considerably faster than I can manage 5km - in fact, Bekele has got time to sit down and have a pint before I've finished my 5km.

:dizzy:

 

[canveyshrimper]

Fair comment Matt, and you are right that distance running beyond 1500m isn't deemed glamourous. Others worth a mention are Viren double Olympic Champion of 1972 & 1976, and Yifter the shifter from 1980.

Nice comparisons between your & Bolt's timings, I could easily do 100m in 9.58, although mine would be minutes.

 

[Pubey]

When can Bolt start to be considered the greatest ever sportsman?

The way he's obliterated the competition, I think he's already the greatest ever athlete. How much longer until he's mentioned in the same breadth as Ali, Pele, Moussa etc?

corrected....

 

[Uncle Leo]

When can Bolt start to be considered the greatest ever sportsman?

One hell of a competitive heat of course, but I reckon he has to be 'in the conversation' now. Excellent points from MtS and H regarding Bekele (how good was that final lap yesterday?) and Zatopek.

The scary thing about Bolt is that there is probably much more to come; sprinters don't tend to reach their peak until their late 20s/early 30s, plus you have to bear in mind that Bolt has only been running the 100m seriously for a couple of years.

I'd love to see him give the 400m a go in a few years - physically he should be well suited to that event.

 

[Davros]

Unbelievable run by Bekele last night, i cant believe his second 5k, it was only marginally outside Mo Farrahs PB for 5k! that is some standard!

My favourite bit however was the mascott running down the start and finish straight with abotu 3 laps to go... that thing is a legend!

I also thought it was touching when the mascot hugged Jessica Ennis when she looked like she was about to cry!

 

[loz]

Fair comment Matt, and you are right that distance running beyond 1500m isn't deemed glamourous. Others worth a mention are Viren double Olympic Champion of 1972 & 1976, and Yifter the shifter from 1980.

Nice comparisons between your & Bolt's timings, I could easily do 100m in 9.58, although mine would be minutes.

I'd give Sergei Bubka a mention as well in the field. 6 consecutive World Championship golds, and broke the pole vault world record 17 times outdoors and 18 times inside.... competely dominated his event for a good decade.

 

[Uncle Leo]

I'd give Sergei Bubka a mention as well in the field. 6 consecutive World Championship golds, and broke the pole vault world record 17 times outdoors and 18 times inside.... competely dominated his event for a good decade.

Good call, although one 'con' for Bubka is his relative lack of success in the Olympics. Surprisingly, he only won Olympic gold once, although the Eastern Bloc boycott in 1984 very probably denied him another.

 

[canveyshrimper]

I'd give Sergei Bubka a mention as well in the field. 6 consecutive World Championship golds, and broke the pole vault world record 17 times outdoors and 18 times inside.... competely dominated his event for a good decade.

Good shout, as field events tend to be overlooked for the "glamour" of the sprints and middle distance racers.

Another worthy of mention is American discuss thrower Al Oerter who won gold in 4 successive Olympics from Melbourne 1956 to Mexico 1968.

 

[Napster]

Carl Lewis is the man.
Or Jan Železný

 

[Uncle Leo]

Or Jan Železný

We were talking about Železný at work yesterday - always had the hex on Steve Backley in the big events. Backley beat him three times in the European Championships, but never at the Olympics. A true big time player was Mr Železný.

Shout out for Ed Moses here.

 

[canveyshrimper]

Carl Lewis is the man.
Or Jan Železný

Can't agree about Carl Lewis, although he was vocal in his opposition to Ben Johnson for his use of performance enhancing drugs. There have always been rumours over Lewis, and his collusion with the USAAA to pass over alleged positive tests.

Agreed about Zelezny.

 

[Uncle Leo]

Back to these Worlds, a mixed morning for Britain with two of the three in the Women's 1,500m bombing out, but all the blokes going through in the 400 and 200.

Three potential medals for GB tonight with Ohuruogu in the 400m, Greene in the 400m hurdles and Idowu in the triple jump. Looking forward to it!