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Usain bolt should be racing against Cheetahs not men. I don't see him loosing to anybody except he runs with one leg.(He might probably win too).I reckon with one leg he will be at per with every other person but on two? No way.

If Bolt doesn't win every race he enters this year i will be very VERY surprised.

I still find it so hard to believe anyone can be so fast naturally - that's not to say I suspect him of anything; I don't. It's just such an incredible feat!

Short of injury, illness, a slip, an off-day, burnout, there doesn't seem to be much chance of anyone matching/catching Bolt at the moment. That said, stranger things have happened, and that list isn't so short really...

Some people forget that Tyson Gay was running extremely fast before he picked up his injury, and the timing of it (just before the olympics) will mean he would have been so hungry over winter. Then you have Asafa Powell, don't be suprised if he pulls off one incredible performance this year. Also, there always seems to be one or two names in sprinting each year, so we shall see.

P.S. Great to see Ennis back, but not sure about the title of the article, seems to imply Ennis and Bolt are on the same level of performance.

Hi,

Usain Bolt? Insane Bolt (of lightning) more like. He is so fast over the ground he should race in Formula One not running races! Although I think Lewis Hamilton in a car is faster than him (LOL). USAIN IS GREAT! LOL

When Bolt smashed the world record in Beijing, I was utterly gobsmacked. The only athletic achievement I have seen that had me shaking my head in such disbelief was Michal Johnson's 200m in Atlanta.

The frustrating part was the only thing that kept running through my head was 'He HAS to be on drugs!' The human body is not capable of such feats, especially such athletic superiority over his fellow competitors. I keep thinking of Ben Johnson, Tim Montgomery, Justin Gatlin, all athletes that blew the competition out of the water, but were found to be frauds.

The one thing that is letting me believe Bolt is the real deal is genetics. He is blessed with the Jamaican body structure (longer thigh bones and fast-twitch muscle fibres), and he is 6 foot 5. We havent seen the capabilities of tall men with speed before, so its new territory.

I hope to god it boils down to being blessed with the perfect body structure, because he is such a valuable asset to athletics, a born entertainer that takes your breath away every time he competes.

I saw both Bolt and Powell run in Stockholm last year before the Olympics, and Bolt got the worst start i have ever seen an international standard athlete get (ever, bar none, the worlds worst). But he still nearly caught Powell. Powell just can't get his head mentally right at the big events, so much so that i will stick my neck out and say that if bolt and gay are running Powell probs won't get a medal (at the world champs). But back to Bolt, he is an awesome athlete, i remember reading about him when he was 16 and he was impressive then. So his speed now is of no surprise. Hope he can get that 400m record as well, although i doubt he will spend more than a season on it.

Congrats to him on another record.

Oh completely forgot about Ennis. She has been making great strides forward for a while now, but got unlucky with her injuries (i hope we don't have another Dean Macey in that regard), and i think that a couple of seasons injury free and we should see a top world class athlete.

Phew now i am done!

Since I first saw her perform a few years back, I've always had it in my mind that Jess Ennis is going to be a world, world class athlete and had she remained fit for Beijing, she would've in all likelihood returned with a medal. She appears to be totally focused in mind and body, which can't always be said of other Team GB members, and I'm looking forward to her kicking on this year.

Will Bolt and Ennis dominate 2009?

Yes and No.

kat,

forgive me how can you put sotherton in same bracket as ennis ,still sotherton can't throw? Super 8, is all kelly can be used for now, sad but like an ageing boxer got to know when to quit..or specialize...

or is this really the sad state of track and field in the uk?

thought charles was meant to be sorting this,?

onto 2012, and discovering some real talent..

Bolt is doing wr's for fun...lets hope he's clean..

As much as I think Bolt will dominate 100 and 200 this year (barring injury), and admire his WRs ... I think that it might even be even beyond him to crack the 400 WR. we are talking 43.18 seconds here - this is a HARD World Record to get near to let alone break it. Take a look at the history books and all-time lists and remove the high-altitude performances and you'll see just how often the one lap mark gets broken. I'll give you a clue - not as frequently as the 100!
I'd put rate the mens 400, the 1500 and the triple jump as untouchable at the moment - the 100 and 200 are beatable - Bolt himself can set new marks in them and this was borne out by the 150 - WR pace for 200 even if allowing for him to "coast" (by his standards) through the last 50.

IMHO we should not get carried away with Bolt's magnificent 19.30 in Beijing that beat Johnson's 19.32. Johnson was THE greatest 200-400 runner - Bolt is the greatest 100-200 runner. I think Bolt can currently run a 400 about 2 seconds off world record pace. In order to have any chance of breaking Johnson's 400 mark, Bolt would have to give up 100 altogether and only run 200s intermittently (as Johnson did).

If Bolt can break the 400 without giving up 100s then I'd seriously like to see people checking him for performance enhancing substances throughout his training months (this doesn't happen in Jamaica very much) and not just during competition. I don't think anyone has held the 100, 200 and 400 world records simultaneously in the modern era - we're talking Liddel, Owens, Evans, the Smiths (Calvin and Tommy), Lewis, Burrel, Bailey, Johnson, as well as other greats like Mennea, Watts, Reynolds.

Andyourmum2...everyone has fast twitch muscles, and its a common myth that coloured people have a higher proportion of them compared to white people. This is not true!

But as for amazing natural talent and having the body for it I totally agree!

LeePom I disagree on the 400m record being unbreakable. MJ himself has said he should have gone under 43 seconds so its not as low as it perhaps should be. I'm not saying Bolt will break it any time soon or even at all, but if an outstanding 400m runner comes along its not an out of reach type record (perhaps say the way the Womens 100m is).

Hello all,

well it's an honour to have dialog with Katherine Merry!

#14 Point (9). We all know it's early season and there aren't too many decathlon/heptathlon competitions around even when you look through a whole season's calendar. There will be many world class athletes in these multi events that "have not shown their hand" yet. The Heptathlon is seven events - that's seven events of training and seven events of competition to get injured in or have a disaster. In order for a multi-event athlete to dominate - they have to dominate TOTALLY - have we seen that in the Heptathlon or the Decathlon since the days of Daley Thompson? The only one we could say has dominated the event in recent years for men and women is Kluft (and maybe Clay).


I'd like to see Ennis do well but would prefer it if we did not raise our expectations of her too early.

In relation to post #13 (ChrisBrack) - although you think you disagree with me I think that you prove my point - the only guy who could realistically have broken the 43.18 second mark was Johnson himself - but he's a veteran now and retired. Watts in 1992 and Wariner a few years back got within 0.3 of second - both were 400 specialists but 0.3 is quite a gap as even Johnson said of Wariner in a Beeb interview.

Bolt certainly might do it but he'd have to focus entirely on 400s. He's currently a couple of seconds down on 400 WR pace which seems to me to be a big gap. Perhaps Katherine has an idea on what training effort is required to get from 51.7 to 49.7? It's my guess that it's not that easy!

Did anyone take up my challenge? Remove the altitude-assisted performances from the evolution of the mens 400 (this includes removing the Mexico '68 performances) - and you'll see how tough it is. Just look the the guys who I included in my list who did not manage to hold the 100-200-400 WRs simultaneously - Bolt is there with the greats but he's currently running 45s at 400.

Lee.

I agree with the above statement by LeePom that domination of a multi event is tough with the possibiltity for injury and the consitency required.

However I do feel that we can safely say (as mentioned) that until her decision to no longer compete in heptathlons Carolina Kluft had been totally dominant winning every major championship from 2002-2007 so it is possible. Before that we obviously have to look back to Daley Thompson in decathlon and Jackie-Joyner Kersee in heptathlon.

I also agree that multi event tournaments are few and far between and to prevent injury those who do not have to, often wont complete a full heptathlon/decathlon before major chamopioships i.e already having a qualifying mark from the previous year. Therefore it is quite possible that ennis' world leading score could stand until august and that others in good form may not show it so early in the season.

However I do think we can speculate that by putting in a good early season performace off the back of a major injury she has a chance to dominate this year.
as events are few and far between therefore she will go into the world champs as only one of a few heptahletes to have already won a compettiotn this season.
If she continues to improve within the season the prospects are good for a massive PB and possible domination in Berlin considering this was her first competition back from inury and she wasn't expecting to perform quite so well so early in the season! is this a good or bad omen? I do hope its good!!!!

As for Usain Bolt I think its safe to say barring he will dominate the sprints 100 and 200 for a second season and consolidate his position as not only tyhe fastest sprinter of all time but possibly one of the greats of the sport which takes greater longevity and consistency to go with the awesome talent and speed.

With his build the 400m world record is achievable for Bolt which the great Johnson actually intimated himself. However I would agree with another statement that Johnson has made and that some on this blog have made that it would take at least a season concentrated on 400m training to achieve this.

Forgot to add a note of caution to the comments on ennis

The personal best she recently set would have only been good enough to beat kelly sotheton to 5th place in last years beijing olympics with a high overall perfromance seen in the olympic heptathlon. So compettion will be fierce and perhaps many are right to say that it is unlikely ennis will dominate this season.

Hello all,

I totally agree with posts #16 and #17. Crafty22202 has said what I tried to say but has said it so much better.

Also I could not believe that I overlooked Joyner-Kersee. Thanks for pointing out that omission to me!

Both Ennis and particularly Sotherton have to improve their javelin performances. Maybe Steve Backley or Jan Zelesny could give Sotherton and Ennis a few pointers (pun intended)? Did anyone really try to sort out Sotherton's technique?

Hello again

Im not sure about putting it much better considering some of the basic spelling and punctuation errors on reading it back. I suppose I have to work on reading things through properly before posting.

I have a strong interest in multi-events because of the performance and dedication it takes and I have to say watching Dean Macey probably also has a lot to do with that interest. Sadly I was a little too young in the 80's to observe Daleys performances first hand.

Anyway back to the point in hand.
I think Kelly (Sotherton) has tried to start over with the javelin a number of times but there is obviously something inherent in the technique which she just can't quite get. Although not huge she has a good frame to get a lot more distance on her javelin throws but has really struggled to get that technique right under pressure.

Interesting you mention Steve Backley because I believe she did actually take advice from him and his old coach shortly after the Athens olympics when Charles van commenee (now Head coach of UK athletics)quit as her overall coach. However things didnt seem to improve and she moved to another not so illustrioous yet consistent perfomer for the UK in javelin Mick Hill. Although this is not to the discredit of Hill (a very accomplished javelin thrower who uk athletics would love to have at this moment in time) he just got rather overshadowed by the top drawer quality of Backley.

Anyway back to the point I was trying to make in that sotherton has tried just about everything to improve her javelin since it cost her a lot of points in Athens yet she hasnt't beaten the perrsonal best of 40 or so metres she set in 2004 before those olympics. So I just think there is something about the event that she is unable to ascertain and the fact this has continued for five yeatrs prior to that olympics suggests she may never be able to break that jinx.

"6) AndYourMum2
You are right Bolt is a very valuable asset to athletics and is a born entertainer, so do you like me, think that when the governing body are coming out and giving him a hard time and reminding him of his responsibily about how to behave, they should be actually patting him on the back for being our shining star in T&F at the moment, and telling him to keep up the good work?!"


I completely agree with you. In all sports it the athletes with charisma that grab the hearts and minds of fans. Take Lewis Hamilton for example, he has a mixed relationship with the public because the PR machine has moulded him into something that isnt genuine. Likeability comes with affability and being true to yourself, not trying to be something youre not. The public cannot and do not want to relate to athletes whose feelings and emotions are filtered. Long may Bolt continue to dance and joke around on and off the track.

Hi all i disagree totally with Leepom #11 comment about testing dont happen in Jamaica very often. Any of the jamaican athletes will tell you how aften they are tested right here in Jamaica, and i am talking about unanounce test, out of competion test.

And of course we now haw our own facility to carry out test which was set up earlier this year.

BOLT to the world

Hello all,

#21.

I think the US athletes and US athletic authorities will certainly disagree with you on what you claim.

Even you yourself remark "And of course we now haw[SIC] our own facility to carry out test which was set up earlier this year." absolutely PROVES my point - prior to this year you did not have the necessary facilities, did you?

Let's get one thing straight - I like Bolt and want him to do well - but then I also liked Marion Jones, Dwain Chambers, Tim Montgomery, Justin Gatlin, too...
Hence you'll have to forgive me for being a bit cynical.

We see American and British athletes get caught for taking performance enhancing drugs - big names get caught. It's always a sad day when someone is caught like this - a sad day for athletics. But at least it proves that the checks are catching people.

I don't see many Jamaican athletes get caught - this can mean either:
1) Jamaican Athletes never cheat. Never.
2) Or - The testing in Jamaica is not catching the cheats.

(Noone ever got cheating in the former GDR, btw! ;-) )

Lee.

Hi all

22 leepom you got to understand, we did not have a facility of our own, but that did not stop the testing of our athletes on a regular basis.
WADA came to jamaica on a regular basic to conduct the testing of our atheles. And yes we have had atheles who have tested positive in the past, in fact the most recent was at our national trials last year, when Buckley was tested positive and whose name was taken off the relay team for the olympic.
And yes that was before we set up our own facility, and was not the only atheles who had tested positive from Jamaica in the past.

Patrict Jarrett test positive when he was one of the favourites going into the world championship, Steve Mullings when he was at the top of his game in college and Merlene Ottey who was later clear by the Jamaica federation and up held by the IAAF. chech your facts.

Hello all,

#22 - Yes - I stand corrected - your checks have cuaght some cheats.

In the UK we did not hear about these athletes being caught that you mentioned in your post (above). This could be due to lack of publicity as they are not big names (not like Gatlin or Jones, for example - really big news). The only "big" Jamaican name was Ottey who (I think) was later cleared.

But as for WADA visiting Jamaica regularly to do the testing - well, I'm sorry but that's just not the same as having your own facilities for doing unannounced regular checks.

Lee.

Hi all

LeePow, i want to share something with you.

Bolt Usain
Information
Central American and Caribbean Youth Championships: 2002 (1st, 200m & 1st, 400m) National Championships: 2008 (1st, 100m)
Personal Best - Outdoor
Performance Wind Place Date
100 Metres 9.69 0.00 Beijing (National Stadium) 16/08/2008
200 Metres 19.30 -0.90 Beijing (National Stadium) 20/08/2008
400 Metres 45.28 Kingston (NS), JAM 05/05/2007
Progression - Outdoor
Season Performance Wind Place Date
100 Metres 2008 9.69 0.00 Beijing (National Stadium) 16/08/2008
2007 10.03 0.70 Réthimno 18/07/2007
200 Metres 2008 19.30 -0.90 Beijing (National Stadium) 20/08/2008
2007 19.75 0.20 Kingston (NS), JAM 24/06/2007
2006 19.88 0.40 Lausanne 11/07/2006
2005 19.99 1.80 London (CP) 22/07/2005
2004 19.93 1.40 Devonshire 11/04/2004
2003 20.13 0.00 Bridgetown 20/07/2003
2002 20.58 1.40 Kingston, JAM 18/07/2002
2001 21.73 0.60 Debrecen 14/07/2001
400 Metres 2009 45.54 Kingston (NS), JAM 21/02/2009
2007 45.28 Kingston (NS), JAM 05/05/2007
2006 47.58 Kingston (SEF), JAM 29/01/2006
2003 45.35 Kingston, JAM 05/04/2003

Hi all

LeePow

Look at Usain record since 2001 as a 14 year old school boy until now, and tell me what you think. By the way that information was taken from the IAAF web site, check it for yourself.

i an not surprise by his exploit, he is a special athlete from those long time day not just now.

He was good at 100, 200 and 400.

Under his school coach mr. Bailey, then fitz Coleman and now Glen Mills.

Dont take my word for it check it out for yourself.

Hello all,

Thanks for giving me the info on Usain Bolt, Jamicanranger.

I am not sure what you are trying to prove to me here - please take a look at my previous posts. I think I have made it clear that I like Bolt. I also think that I have already made it clear that I think he is the greatest 100-200 runner and is currently about 2 seconds behind WR pace for 400. Thanks for proving me right about Bolt's 400 with your last post!

Regards,

LeepoM.

Time to move on to another discussion thread, everyone?

just to re-itarate, the facts about bolt. He was an outstanding junior and if you study athelics. You would know about his ability. Sometimes great atheletes come along,. We need just to sit back and enjoy them, while they are around. Michael Johnson, Coe, Ovett, Ed Moses. Sometimes people are just given god given talent.

Bolts 400m time in 2003 shows his potential in that area. I'd like to see him try and put the 100m wr as low as possible this summer and then next season start to focus on 400m. Unless puts his focus into the event nobody will know for sure how good he could be.
On the tennis boards people can debate for ever is Federer better than Samprass or Borg, but at least in Athletics we can directly compare athletes by looking at their times, yeah modern training methods probably help to some degree, but I for one would love to see Bolt pit himself agains MJ's wr. I actually think that with the extra competition from Bolt, Wariner could get close to the WR as well.

I agree, what a race with bolt, merrit and wariner all on form....I'd say:
1st Wariner...because of experience
2nd Merrit....because of youth and form
3rd Bolt...finishing fast as he will have misjudged the race due to lack of experience! Culd be the fastest ever 100m finish of a 400m!
Does anyone know what that is btw?

Hello all,

#32 - Idsupa,

I don't have any stats - and some guys look like they are finishing fast in the final 100 of a 400 because the other guys blasted through the first 300 and are "hanging on" and trying to "hold form". However, Butch Reynolds (400 WR holder from 1988-1999, 43.29) might be the fastest finisher - see if you can find film of the '88 400 final from Seoul - Reynolds finished like a train but the brilliant youngster Steve Lewis just held on after blasting through 300.
Reynolds often ran even 100 splits for the 400. Therefore its either Reynolds or Johnson in my humble opinion!

Lee.

Thanks LeePom
I will try and check out some footage. I remember thinking Jeremy Wariner when in form would finish fast also. I presume the key to 400m running is to maintain the speed you have built up, thats why with a little speed endurance in a one off race I believe Bolt could run 44 secs, possibly even right now, if he judged it right!

Hello all,

Idsupa post #34 -

Just for you!:



This is way off track (pun intended) but your question was such a good one that I have given these links. Interesting reading and thanks to the contributors.

Lee.

Thanks LeePom, top stuff! Blimey Reynolds had some finishing power in that race. A little like Wariner in his day...I wonder whether Wariner can get that back this season having gone back now to Clyde Hart, or it may take him until next season?

Hello all,

Idsupa #36.

if you can go through the stats in the second link that I put in my #35 post you'll see...
43.18 - 11.5 Michael JOHNSON Sevilla'99
43.29 - 11.2 Butch REYNOLDS Zürich'88
43.50 - 12.1 Quincy WATTS Barcelona'92
43.81 - 11.9 Danny EVERETT New Orleans'92
43.86 - 11.7 Lee EVANS Mexico'68
43.87 - 11.8 Steve LEWIS Seoul'88
43.93 - 12.1 Jeremy WARINER Helsinki'05
43.97 - 11.4 Larry JAMES Mexico'68
44.09 - 11.9 Alvin HARRISON Atlanta'96
44.09 - 11.7 Jerome YOUNG New Orleans'98

...This doesn't include Wariner's 43.45 from a couple of years ago - the stats pre-date that run, I think, and the times have been calculated using television analysis at 100 frames/sec. Anyway, even including Wariner's 43.45, it is unlikely that anyone has finished the last 400 as quickly as Reynolds (Larry James was at altitude in '68).
Seeing Reynolds' 43.29 even now gives me goosebumps - the guy was a brute (and I mean that in a positive way!).

Getting back to your earlier comments about Bolt at 400 - IMHO he'd need two solid and injury-free seasons specialising at 400s (no 100 training) in order to get the aerobic conditioning that Reynolds, Johnson, Wariner and Merrit have - 100s and 200s are run on oxygen-debt principles - the 400 is not. When Bolt has that conditioning behind him then he could challenge the 400 WR - he might get under 45s now but that won't even get him into a final these days.

Well, Project BOLT had as much firepower as a cannon on the sunken Mary Rose - what on earth was Chambers thinking? I think its about time he went and got a real job and paid back the IAAF.

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