The most devastating 9.69 seconds in sporting history
Usain Bolt delivered. Nobody else stood a chance. Dr Ross Tucker, Health24's FitnessDoc, described it as "quite simply the most devastating display of 100m sprinting I have ever seen".
The "race" that everyone had predicted never materialised - Bolt was just too good (and Powell bad, it has to be said).
Advertisement
The world record in the 100m is always a special occasion. When it comes on the biggest stage in world sport, the Olympic Games, it's that much more spectacular. And it does not get much more spectacular than the sight of a man destroying the next seven fastest men in the world, celebrating about 20m from the finish line, pumping his fist against his chest with 10m still to go, and still breaking the world record by 0.03 seconds. Truly incredible.
A race of surprises...except for the world record
The only thing about this race that was not surprising was that the world record was broken. Everything else was something of a shock. Those shocks began in the semi-final, when Tyson Gay, the world champion from the US failed to qualify after finishing fifth in his heat.
That meant that the much-anticipated showdown between the three giants of world sprinting - Bolt, Asafa Powell and Gay - failed to materialise.
In any event, Gay's presence in the final would hardly have made a difference, so dominant was Bolt. But it is a great shame that he hurt himself in the US trials, because perhaps he might have pushed Bolt a little harder and we'd have seen 9.65, so comfortable was the Jamaican in the absence of any rivals in this race.
Powell fails - slower in the final than the semi
The next big surprise was the failure of Asafa Powell to deliver in the final. The big Jamaican, who had beaten Bolt earlier this year, was completely unable to raise his game when it mattered, and finished a very disappointing fifth place. His time in the final? 9.95 seconds. His time in the evening's earlier semi-final? 9.91 seconds.
Which means that, for the second big championships in a row, he actually ran a slower race in the final than in a qualifying heat. That performance will serve only to reinforce the perception that Powell is not a big-race runner.
Last year, we mentioned the word "choker", which is a little harsh, of course, but Powell has tried for the past year to shake that particular title. This time, he failed, and the title fits a little better. On second thought, perhaps his performance wasn't such a surprise, after all.
Thanks to Powell's disappointing run, the minor medals were won by Richard Thompson of Trinidad and Tobago (silver in 9.89 s) and Walter Dix of the USA (9.91 s for bronze), which was the third big surprise. Fourth went to Churandy Martina of Netherlands Antilles, in a national record, which would have been their first medal - 0.02 seconds denied them that glory.
Bolt - the star of the show, a magnificent performance
But the star of the show was Bolt. The race was expected to be close, fast and exciting. It was two of the three, but "close" is not a word that fits this final. The main reason was that Bolt was ridiculously fast.
His start was, as usual, not particularly spectacular. After about 30m of running, he was mid-pack, with Thompson in lane five slightly ahead of him. Powell also got off to a good start. But after about 30m, as Bolt's head came up, he took control of the race and the men who up to that point had looked competitive suddenly looked very ordinary.
There cannot be a runner with this kind of acceleration from 30m in the history of the event. Of course, every generation has runners who are dangerous in the latter half of the race, but Bolt, running 9.69s, moved away from men running 9.89s and created a 0.2s lead by the finish line. It was astonishing sprinting.
When the cameras showed the race from the front, you could see Bolt actually glancing across to his right, where he knew the big threats would come from. Bolt virtually ran the 100m Olympic final as a tactical race - he knew where his rivals were, he created a lead between 30m and 80m, and then he celebrated.
About 20m from the line, his arms dropped to his side. About 10m from the line, he leaned backwards, and gave himself a chest thump with his right hand. He crossed the line and kept running, bouncing all the way to the back straight as the crowd erupted. That celebration cost Bolt some time - who knows how much? Perhaps he was capable of 9.65 seconds had he continued at the same rhythm.
In the end, it didn't matter. Bolt had the time to celebrate mid race, to look natural and easy running 9.69 seconds.
Usain Bolt - a new "breed" of sprinter
Bolt is a different type of sprinter - previous champions, like Maurice Greene have been muscular, powerful, strong men, who burn up the track with the sheer force of their running.
Bolt is different - he bounces, flows like water, and looks incredibly easy running faster than anyone else has ever been able to. I would love to see a biomechanics analysis of the race, but for a basic illustration of the difference, consider that Bolt took 41 steps to run the race; everyone else took 44 steps.
What is the physiology that underlies this advantage? Very difficult to say... explosive muscles, certainly. Muscle power, yes. But there's something there that no scientist can measure.
I believe the big difference is neurological. It is the ability of the brain/central nervous system to control and co-ordinate the muscles, creating the spring. There is something called the stretch-shortening cycle, where energy that is stored on landing is harnessed during the push-off phase, so that the muscle-tendon unit acts like a spring.
It's possible to measure this stretch-shortening cycle activity, but not during sprinting like this. I believe (and this is a bald assertion, admittedly) that what sets Bolt apart is his muscle tendon unit and the ability of the brain to co-ordinate the timing and sequence of muscle activation.
Science can't measure this, but the next time you see a repeat of this race, watch Bolt compared to the men either side of him, and you can see it. And so just watching Bolt allows us to appreciate what it takes to be the world's fastest man.
In all of 9.69 seconds.
(Health24's FitnessDoc, Dr Ross Tucker, August 2008. Dr Tucker also blogs on www.sportsscientists.com)
in Tokyo have I seen such a fantastic 100m, six runners sub 10?. Admittedly I was impressed by the record breaking perfomance however I was disappointed by Asafa. I doubt in our lifetime we will see anyone breaking 9.69s... - theDriver
BOLT' S FAST BOLT
2008/08/18 10:24:26 AM
WHEN, AND AT WHAT TIME IS BOLT RUNNING THE 200M? THIS ONE WILL BE EVEN MORE SPECTACULAR!! - KARIN
The difference
2008/08/18 10:56:29 AM
If you look at the new generation of speed coaching material from the US you can see that a lot more stress is put on the neurological development of an athlete. Also the basketball players' strength training is more power related where the focus is more neurological. Effort are more on improving the communication between brain and muscle/tendon unit(vertical more than 127cm). I think that there are a lot more athletes like this on the horizon. Not just in sprinting. SA sport beware!! - Francois (netballcoach)
BOLT in 200m
2008/08/18 11:04:07 AM
Karin, I think the final is on Tuesday at 16:10. Better set the PVR or take the day off! - Danie
Lightning Bolt
2008/08/18 12:03:41 PM
A truly phenominal race! The script had Asafa challenging for the Gold but then he failed dismally as lightning Bolt streaked away from the field.I doubt his record will be broken if it were to be broken it would probably be by him also.Michael Johnson 200m record better be aware. - Easy E
A Fan is Born.
2008/08/18 12:24:22 PM
At 23 years of age I have never once been interested in sprinting in my life before..until the day Usain Bolt stepped on the scene and broke the world record for the first time in New York (i think it was)..this final has only heightened my interest and now i just cant get enough! This man is an absolute freak of nature..i believe he will break 9.69 sooner rather than later.. - Nick Key
sprint
2008/08/18 12:46:54 PM
I have never seen sprinter like Usain 9.69 is great - bongani
' real records'
2008/08/18 01:15:45 PM
in jamaica no positive result found and records are created like nothing in this Olimpics, now the word know from where the fastes person come from. - mp muna
Bookmark with:
What are social bookmarks?